Washington Learns….about class size

(Part 3 in a continuing look at the recommendations being formed by the Washington Learns k-12 taskforce. Class size begins on page 32.)

Let’s start off with the recommendation, then go into the commentary:

We recommend that schools be resourced with core teachers for class sizes of 15 for grades K-3 and 25 for grades 4-12. With these class size recommendations, a K-5 elementary school would have an average class size of 18.

A class size of 15 would be swell! There’d only be, like, 15 of the little blighters, and that’s a fight I think I can win!

Here’s the thing I Thought a Think thinks, though—where will you put all these kids? In my district the maximum class size for 3rd grade is 24 kids. If that size is lowered to 15, you’d need three rooms now where once you needed two, which is a drain on facilities.

The second objection I have is really a question: is class size more important, or teacher quality? The effect size for small classes cited in the report is .25 (.5 for low-SES students), which is statistically significant, sure, but is it significant enough to justify the money that would need to be spent?

Third: Lowering class size hasn’t exactly been a rousing success in Florida. Granted, that’s a far different environment than what we have here in Washington, but one could imagine that the problems are likely to be the same.

This one seems like a non-starter to me. The costs aren’t outlined in this draft document we’re reading off of, but I’m willing to bet that the class size initiative alone would cost as much as the other proposals in the report put together.