Class Size and Education

The smaller the class, the more attention a teacher can give to each student. Students then can receive better education and learning outcomes. Nearly a quarter of a century after a groundbreaking study, Project STAR, was begun in Tennessee, there is general agreement that smaller classes are better than larger ones. 


In South Australia, teachers want the average class size reduced from 30 to 20 students. In the Northern Territory, AEU branch president Nadine Williams says the current ratio of one teacher to 22 children is a problem in the Territory where needs are great. The union is seeking a staff-student ratio of no more than one to 15 up to Year 3. In NSW a class size reduction for the early years was introduced in 2004, with the targets being 20 for the first year of school, 22 for Year 1 and 24 for Year 2.
Blatchford, a world authority on class size, says  “One solution to make more strategic use of context for pupils learning together, with a deliberate attempt to minimise the teacher’s input, where pupils have more control over the learning that takes place.” He says professional development should be used to help teachers harness the opportunities of small classes, and help teachers develop strategies for realising educational objectives in large classes.However, infrastructure NSW has recommended the state government to increase the shared use of school assets and absorb 90 per cent of new school places on existing school sites. This means that 225,000 extra students will be sharing the same space as and public facilities with other businesses. 




The Premier Barry O’Farrell states that the government will need to rule out 225,000 students into existing public schools. The opposition spokeswoman for education, Carmel Tebbutt, said the government last year reported 400 new schools would be needed in NSW over the next 15 years. However the Infrastructure NSW report says just 29 new schools are expected to be built. 

Mr Robertson said the government would need to employ an extra 16,340 teachers in order to maintain the existing student to teacher ratio of 15.3 per cent. At the same time, The NSW Education Minister Adrain Piccoli just cut $1.7 billion in the Education budget, making schools and other education institutions are a "hard call". He has guaranteed that class sizes will not continue to increase between now and 2016. Does this mean that some students will not be able to attend some schools? Not only do governments cut down the budget of education fees, as well as employing more teachers and cramming students into a large classroom.

Parents are worried about these education rights in Australia and effects of it to children. These students are not getting the education they are suppose to get. It has affected fairness to education and the learning outcomes of teaching as more attention needs to be paid to each students in class.

Reference:
University of London 
research: Blatchford, P., Bassett, P., and Brown, P. (2005) Teachers‟ and pupils‟ behaviour in large and small classes: a systematic observation study of pupils aged 10/11 years. Journal of Educational 
Psychology, 97,3, 454-467
http://www.classsizeresearch.org.uk/Blatchford.%20Behaviour.%2010-11.pdf 

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/schools-forced-to-cram-kids-in/story-e6freuzi-1226489484231