by Toni Doswell

Created on: October 12, 2007

Quality education means education that meets the needs of
children as well an education that can compete both here and
abroad. In order to do this, it is necessary that the ratio
of teacher to students be kept low enough ensure that each
child is learning and mastering the subject matter well. In
overcrowded situations, the quality of education suffers, and
in turn, everyone suffers in our society.

With behavior and classroom management being an important
issue in education, overcrowded classrooms only tend to exhaust
the energies of the teachers and exasperate those whose job it
is to deliver educational services. Teachers today have only
a few viable options to keep their classrooms under control.
With smaller classrooms, this is much more attainable. Various
levels of abilities also need to be addressed. In a smaller
classroom, the teacher has opportunities to focus in specifically
on the individual needs of each child. In the overcrowded
classroom, the teacher finds himself/herself just trying to keep
order and make a day. They call it warehousing, which is a sad
case scenario.

Who slips through the cracks? All of the children in a sense
slip through the cracks. If they are homogeneously mixed together
as far as abilities, all suffer. The children who would be higher
achievers cannot achieve as much because of the pace which the
teacher must maintain, which in most cases is at mid-level-not
too high, and not too low. The lower achievers become more
frustrated, because many times they are not able to keep up with
what is going on. If their needs are not being met, they will
become discipline problems. Children which are in the middle
will function, but not even up to their capacity.

Even when children are placed in classes according to ability
rankings, large classes still prevent optimum learning. High,
regular, and low achievers all need time for exploration,
discourse and creativity. Large size classes do not always allow
for these experiences in an orderly way, unless there is additional
help for the teacher. Many times teacher aides are not available.

It can be be budgetary cuts, lack of space, or an influx of people
relocating to a school district that create overcrowding.These causes,
if not soon dealt with will invariably create a quality of education
that is inferior. Because of the national, state and community demands
for excellence in education, students need the opportunity to meet
those demands. As we downsize classes, bring in more teachers, and
lower the teacher to classroom ratio, our students will begin to rise
to the occasion.

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