Consensus vital in class size debate
Cariboo Press
Sun 04 Sep 2005
Page: 0006
Section:
Penticton Western - Opinion
Byline:
Source:

As think tanks and teachers debate the effect of class
size on student achievement, it is important to find an objective way of
reaching consensus on the issue to make sure students are not the losers.

A recent paper from the C.D. Howe Institute claims smaller classes cannot be empirically
proven to improve student achievement.

Teachers groups - joined in many cases by parents and politicians - dispute
this claim, both because it overlooks other contrary research and because they
say the main source of data - standardized tests - should not and cannot be used
as an effective measurement of student achievement.

Given the ambiguity on the empirical front, the debate often turns to
anecdotal and economic information.

Those who argue for smaller classes have a certain intuitive logic on their
side. It seems reasonable that fewer students equals more teacher time per
student equals better performance.

But teachers come at a relatively high economic cost. Those who argue that
that money - essentially skimmed off the top of every Canadian resident who is
not a teacher - may not need to be spent or at the very least could be better
spent.

This situation, already muddied by the diametrically opposed viewpoints on
the basic issues surrounding class size, is further complicated when brought
into the arena of right-left politics.

In B.C. at least, the main voice of teachers is the BCTF. It is, rightly,
viewed with some suspicion. At the very least its primary mandate is to
guarantee the maximum number of jobs at the highest possible pay with the most
reasonable (read: lowest) level of work. Their unbridled support of the NDP in
the last provincial election further taints their claims as the objective
guardians of educational standards. Class size is as relevant to teacher
workload as it is to student achievement: it is difficult to picture the BCTF
arguing for larger class sizes even if they accepted research showing larger
classes were acceptable.

But similar charges are rightly made against a government whose policies
favour the almighty dollar and whose anti-labour bias raises questions about the
selective and questionable use of statistics to undergird their policies.

In the end, it is unlikely that there is either a formula or a number that
will accurately predict the ideal class size, even if it were somehow able to
take into consideration complex factors such as teacher experience, geography
and class composition.

The best number is that which has support - or at least consent - from
taxpayers and parents who pick up the bill, teachers who do the work and
government, which is responsible for managing education.

The relatively inflexible rules currently imposed are as wrongheaded as
allowing class size to be a bargaining position with student achievement and
taxpayer dollars in the balance.

It is time for teachers groups and the government to bury political
differences, relinquish their bid for near exclusive power over the issue and
push for a local, conciliatory approach in a discussion that takes place apart
from the heat of contract negotiations.

This formula is likely the only that will provide workable solutions that
will balance students best interests with the cost of education.

Copyright 2003 penticton

Edition:
Length: 534 words