My son is in 4th grade and has 25 students in his class this year. We got his report card and I think it must belong to an other student that's how off I feel it is. Areas where he obviously struggles have good marks and areas that come easy to him he is not "meeting goal" that's the way my town grades. At the parent teacher conference The teacher had problems explaining to me how she comes up with the grading. I honestly think she has too many students and can't keep track of them. So my question has turned into a rant... Sorry. What grade is your child in and how many students are in their class? Do you feel class size effects a child's learning or the teachers ability to properly manage each child's development?
There are 16 in my son's full day kindergarten class. I definitely think class size impacts learning, but it isn't ALL there is to it.
My daughter is in kindergarten and goes to a private school. I chose this school because it is small there are about 70 children enrolled in it. Her class has 6 kids. I think that the kids get more attention including one on one time with a smaller group. The teacher has also told me that all her students this year are way ahead of what she had expected.
So yes I think kids learn more and do better in a smaller group. Not just with school work but with manors and how they treat others. I think it must be really hard for any teacher to have a class of more than 20 students.
I have a 3rd grader with 24 in his class, and a 6th grader with 31 in his. Both of my children are A students, but they do mention that it is hard to learn when so many kids just want to goof off. If the teacher is not good about keeping the kids in line, it will affect the ability to learn.
I am a substitute aide in kindergarten, and I know the names and abilities of the kids in all 3 classes (about 50 kids), and I am just a sub who is only there a few days a week. I think she would have to be a really bad teacher to not know the abilities of your child. Maybe she was just having a rough day! Conferences can be just as stressful for a teacher as they are for a parent.
Our town has cut back, as many others, so unfortunately retiring teacher's are not being replaced. In PK-2 he had less than 18 students per class and this year, in 3rd, he has 23. It is not large by comparison, but there is a notable difference in what he is able to take out of each class.There have been numerous studies on learning and class size. As I recall, there is little difference until you pass some tipping point number and I do not recall what it is and I am sure it changes depending on the grade level.
As for your situation, what is "goal" and when should it be met? Our school system uses the same grading, but it is based on what they want the child to know by the end of the year. So, very few students are meeting goal at this point in the year. So, it may be that your son is age appropriate for this time in the school year, but has not met the end of year goals for fourth grade. It is unfortunate that the teacher could not explain this better or that the school has not provided an outline of the "grading" policies.
Hi! My son's public 5th grade class has 21 and there are three 5th grade classrooms and all 3 have similar numbers, whereas the the Catholic school down the street has about 29 or 30 to a classroom and no aid. Our school also seems to have a similar system of grades.
My second grader has 19 in his class, and kindergartener has 23. Class size definitely affects learning and the teacher's ability to work with each child. The teacher has less time for each child and more work overall (adding to a huge responsibility already-see the previous post on Do we ask too much of our public school teachers). However, the school should have a set criteria to determine whether or not children are "meeting goal." It shouldn't just be the teacher randomly deciding how to grade. Maybe it's a new grading system, or she's new to the school/district so it was difficult for her to explain? 25 kids is on the higher end for classroom size, but seems like it should still be manageable for the teacher to get to know each child and accurately assess them and grade them.
Well I would not be well if she could not explain the grades..
But I will tell you 4th grade is a notorious grade for kids to experience, sometimes for the first time, some struggles.
They are no longer learning to read or do math, they are now actually expected to have mastered all of the past concepts and are moving on to higher concepts. If they get behind, it will quickly become apparent.
I remember our daughter was not on the first Honor Roll the first part of 4th grade. She was mortified.. She had always been on the first honor roll. She was not asking questions in class, because she had never really had questions before. She had always just understood the subjects prior to this. We had to coach her to ask questions, ask for help, tell the teacher she did not understand..
Does your 4th grade change classes for the different subjects?
Our kids did starting in second grade.. They may have a home room, but Math they may go to a different class with a certain teacher and another for language arts. But the children that had never had an assortment of teachers, had a little bit of of trouble getting used to that.
What I would suggest is to maybe send her a list of what it is you want to know and ask her to either email it to you, or to please schedule a meeting with you so you can help your son met these goals.
My big kids (8th, 7th and 5th grades) are at a charter school and there are 20 children in each class. My little one is in K at a local public school and started out with about 28 in her class (way too many for K), but they did create a new class and she now has 22.
I do believe that class size has some impact on learning. However, a lot of it is the teacher's ability to deal with what she has been handed. Good luck. It is so hard to find the right fit for your kiddos.
Is she a new teacher? Or perhaps they got a new grading program and she's still learning it? When I taught, there was a section on the grading program where you could 'weigh' each assignment (tests count for 50% of your grade, daily assignments 40%, homework 10%). But other grading programs I have seen weigh everything the same. Perhaps she doesn't know the program??
When I taught, the norm was about 20-25 in elementary classrooms. So your son's class size sounds about right, maybe high by 2 or 3 kids. Of course, the more kids the harder it is on the teachers, but at some point - one more kid or two doesn't make much of a difference. What matters often is how many special needs kids you have b/c it is more paperwork/meetings/etc when you have more accomodations to keep track of and manage, and so forth. So if she has a lot, then it could be that her other students are put on the back burner. If your son is a behavior issue, teacher could just be focusing on that and fixing his behavior and spending less focus on his actual learning.
in our school.. grades K-3 have 23 or 24..(we were lucky and there are only 20 in my childs class)
In 4 and 5 there are 28 or 29 kids in the class.
When thekids are older .. they dont need so much help.. they are assumed to be more independent..
I would not be upset with 25 kids in a 4th grade class. However if the teacher is not experienced and has poor classroom management skills ti could be a disaster.. Aslo if she has special needs kids.. english language learners.. that can certainly take up time from the group.
When my daughters were in 3rd to 4th grade, class size varried from 23 to 30. A good teacher would not have trouble keeping track of 25 students. My daughters (in high school) have teachers who have well over 100 students and don't seem to have a problem.
If your district grades a specific way, then you should easily be able to obtain information about the grading structure, check online, talk to another teacher, talk to the pricipal, talk to the BOE.
I am a 4th grade teacher and I have 27 students in my class. Would they be provided with more one-on-one and small group time with their teacher with fewer students? Probably. However, regardless of the amount of students in the class, it is not acceptable to not have evidence of student learning and justification for grades. I would give her the benefit of the doubt. Is she a newer teacher? I remember back 8 years ago when I was so dang nervous for my first few rounds of parent-teacher conferences. I could hardly remember my own name! I don't think all parents think much about that side of it. :-)
My daughter goes to a charter school she is in the 1st grade her class is 1st & 2nd grade together 40 kids two teachers who co-teach part of the day the kids are split there is a room divider that gets closed.
Kindergarten = 18
3rd grade = 22
Our school has a commitment to keeping the kindergarten class under 20 and the other grades under 25. So far, so good.
My (4th grade) daughter's class has 22 kids - it's a private school. Public schools in my area now have about 30-35 in 4th grade. Our teacher has a good grasp of the abilities of the students. However, I thought my daughter was a stellar reader and come to find out she's still lacking in reading - low comprehension and other issues. I think the 4th grade has tougher standards than 1-3rd grades. There are higher expectations.
13, but 4th has sunk my oldest kid's grades too.She had all A's, but not anymore.
Kinder, they started out with 30 kids in a class, have added 2 teachers, now DD's class is down to 22, according to the last list I got.
I think a good teacher can handle that amount of kids. DD's teacher is a seasoned veteran & she controls the room very well (I've seen it for myself). If a teacher is disorganized, new or doesn't know what they're doing, they're obviously not going to to do well with a large group of kids. I'd chalk your issues up to that particular teacher, not the amount of kids.
My kids go to a very small Catholic school. In part because of the economy, the classes are fairly small. In my son's 7th grade class there are twelve. In my youngest son's third grade class, there are sixteen. I am very, very glad that the classes are so small. I am a teacher and I know that when our class sizes increased (college English 25 to 29) that I was simply unable to provide all the help that each student needed. I work very hard at giving each student individual attention, but everything gets diluted because I just do not have enough time.
My son is in K and there are 21 kids in his class. Most of what the teacher has observed about our son is dead on. She has some really excellent methods for managing his behavior. Overall we are pleased, but I get the feeling we have been blessed with a truly exceptional teacher this year and I worry we may not fare so well in the future.
