Smaller classes important to improving: Educators:
Report suggesting size doesn't matter refuted
The Review (Niagara Falls)
Fri 26 Aug 2005
Page: A5

Section: Local
Byline: Monique Beech
Source: Osprey News Network

ST. CATHARINES - Local educators are refuting a recent
report that suggests there is no evidence to prove smaller class sizes boost
student academic performance.

The C.D.
Howe Institute
report, released Tuesday, states money used to lower the number of pupils per
classroom could be better spent on teacher training.

Even at the primary level, the benefits of smaller classes are marginal and
not worth the expense, said Yvan Guillemette, an institute policy analyst with the
Toronto-based think tank.

"It's often sold as a measure that helps students," said Guillemette.

"I found pretty quickly that people who have reviewed this topic were of the
opinion that it doesn't really help students."

The report comes two years into an Ontario government program to cap classes
from junior kindergarten to Grade 3 at an average of 20 pupils. The province
plans to spend $450 million by 2007-08 in an effort to cap class sizes.

Locally, 46 teachers have been added to the District School Board of Niagara
and 30 to the Niagara Catholic District School Board within the last two years
to work toward the new target.

Angelo Di Ianni, director of education for the Niagara Catholic District
School Board, agreed reducing class sizes, by itself, is not the most important
factor in improving classroom instruction. But it is an important investment to
education overall, Di Ianni argued.

"I think it does help the teacher," said Di Ianni. "It helps the students. It
creates a much more manageable classroom environment. Teachers are more able to
focus on individuals and create an ambience where learning can more readily take
place."

A Brock University education professor, who has researched class sizes in
Niagara, agreed and said the government is doing the right thing by reducing
class sizes.

Students develop in a context and "looking at a simple relationship between
the number of children in a class and the scores associated with that doesn't
reveal the true picture," said Mary Lou Vanderlee, who found class size affects
how teachers engage their students.

According to the C.D. Howe report,
reducing class sizes may actually hurt teaching quality. Smaller classes "often
forces provinces to hire more, frequently less qualified teachers."

Applewood School principal Jennifer Ribaric said teachers in Niagara are
still fighting for jobs. She recently hired two qualified teachers, one of whom
was hired under the new government funding to keep class sizes at her small
school at about 20 this year.

"I just think intuitively it makes sense that more one-on-one attention for
students of course will result in higher achievement and learning," said
Ribaric.

Guillemette said research shows reducing classes from 24 or 25 to 20 - as is
the case in much of Ontario - does little to change how teachers engage
students, reduce classroom disruption or improve standardized test scores.

But Ribaric criticized the report for basing part of its commentary on a
Canadian study from the 1970s that examined four classrooms ranging in size from
16 to 37 students and found little difference in achievement in art,
composition, vocabulary, reading and mathematics.

"Students look very different now than they did then," said Ribaric. "They
have greater economic concerns and unique challenges."

Edition: Final
Story Type: News
Length: 530
words