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There is currently a major problem in school districts in Arizona. Currently, the teacher
shortage has caused a rise in student to teacher ratios. It isn’t uncommon for teachers
to say they simply have no more room for students, but are told to make room. This
2016.) Studies show that students in lower student to teacher ratios typically perform
better academically. This can be due to a variety of causes. If a teacher has a class of
over thirty students, they typically won’t get to do as much actual teaching than if they
had a class of only twenty students. Typically those extra students can cause greater
distraction, lead to less one on one time with the teacher, and cause a wider range of
academic needs. You typically see large classes struggling with the ideology of a
teacher teaching to the test. This way the teacher feels like they are at least hitting the
requirements, but not necessarily spending the time on content that they should.
(Mathis, W. 2016.) A class of twenty students is typically much easier to manage than a
class of over thirty students. When teachers are presented bigger class sizes, they end
up dedicating more time to classroom management than teaching. (Thng, Yi Xe. 2017.)
In a science classroom, a large class size can lead to even dangerous learning
environments. As said above, large class sizes lead to less one on one instruction and
greater behavioral issues. Now add experiments to that mix. It becomes difficult for
teachers to properly manage a large class size through experiments. There typically
seems to be a higher rate of accidents in a science classroom that have large classes.
(Fortes, P. 2010)
The stakeholders in solving this problem is the students, teachers, parents, and
attention every student receives from the teacher. Teachers would spend more time
teaching and would spend less time acting as glorified babysitters. Parents would see
academic progress in their students quicker, and would be less frustrated by students
work and test scores. A better educated population leads to a more effective
community.
The barriers and challenges of reducing class sizes is obvious, money and teacher
shortages. A huge part of the problem in Arizona is there just isn’t enough funding. The
lack of funding leads to a lack of supplies and among other things, a lack of money for
teachers’ salaries. Without money to pay teachers, it is really hard to expect teachers to
want to teach in Arizona. Teacher shortages are leading to large class sizes. In my
current placement, we have a class that has more students than there is tables for them
to sit at. Unfortunately hearing about class sizes over thirty students is becoming the
Internal Strengths
There seems to be a growing problem in the state of Arizona regarding overcrowded
classrooms. There are just far too many students and not enough teachers to keep the
classroom size manageable. Schools are trying to tackle this by encouraging more
technology in the classroom. Some schools are even switching into one-on-one schools
purposes. There also is growing apps and tech tools that help encourage differentiation
through the tool to make it an easy one stop shop for teachers. Some schools are even
classroom ratios.
Internal Weaknesses
A weakness that is by the largest for schools in general is funding. Without proper
funding it is hard to have salaries in which to attract teachers. With the lack of teachers,
there is additionally a greater workload on teachers that are currently there. This is the
greatest contributor to the excessively large class sizes that we are seeing become
commonplace. When teachers try to use the technology to try and bridge the gap so
they can at least attempt to differentiate in their classrooms, they are met with a series
of obstacles. Some students just don’t respect the technology. It isn’t uncommon for
students to not come prepared to class. This causes flipped classrooms to become
almost useless. The increased technology in the classroom can even go on to lead to
increased distractions in the classroom. So the very technology that is supposed to be a
External Opportunities
There are a variety of opportunites in the community that could help with the problem at
hand. There are schools that have PTOs that help fundraise to provide equipment and
class necessitites to the school to lower the amount of expendatures the school does
so they can spend on more important things. There is also a growing number of STEM
based after school programs. These programs can be asked to work in partnership with
the schools, or even be an additional tool for students who need additional help or
challenge. More than a few businesses would also love to sponsor schools and help
External Challenges
External challenges that occur for overcrowded classroom is first and foremost politics.
There are so many politics involved in school funding. It comes down to politicians
creating the guidelines without teacher imput that creates some of the biggest hurdles.
Some politicans that are helping write the policies on fundings and guidelines for school
districts often have never even set foot in a classroom as an observer. There also
comes an issue of space. Even if there were enough teachers to lower the ratio, there
may not be enough classrooms. Without enough classrooms, it makes everything else
Stakeholder Analysis
students, teachers, parents, and communities as a whole. All the stated stakeholders
have quite a bit to lose if the problem is unresolved, and even more to gain if the
Students are the primary stakeholders. This is the group that has the most to be gained
from reaching a solution. Class size has a big impact on the education of a student. The
bigger the class size, the more likely that students can “fall through the cracks”, and be
cheated out of a higher quality education. A large class size could also increase their
class also have reduced amounts of one on one teacher interaction which could lead to
less understanding and clarification of content. The overall lesser education they
receive than if they were in a smaller class size could have dramatic effects on their
chances of success in future classes, university, and careers. In a smaller class size
classroom, students would gain more one on one teacher time, more individualized
instruction, and a better quality of education. A student would need to be an advocate
for their own education. Parents, administrators, and the community are often clueless
as to what happens on a daily basis in a classroom. A student who explains how they
interpret and are affected by the class size can make a difference. A group of students
working together to advocate for an answer could help bring attention to the issue to
Teachers are another stakeholder with a lot to gain or lose from this problem. The
problem for teachers is a lot of stress. A crowded classroom leads to more students
teaching, and more work in general for a teacher. Teachers are expected to do so much
for their students, but there does come a time when there is simply too much. Seven
big contributor to teacher burnout. There is a huge shortage of teachers in Arizona. The
increasing class sizes are causing teachers to take on larger loads, and stressing them
out more. By reducing the classroom sizes, there could be a decrease in the turn
around of teachers. There could even possibly be a return of teachers back to the field
with class size reduction. Teachers need to advocate for the needs that they have.
Frankly, they don’t get paid enough for all the extra work that large class sizes are
putting on them. Working with unions and making the issues known to the public can be
being a parent. Their education is a big source of stress for parents. They are
continuously worrying about if their student is getting the help that they need. A student
likely to come to a parent for help or tutoring. As a result, a parent starts to question the
education that their student is receiving. A parent advocating for the reduction of class
sizes can better get the attention of administration and politicians than a student or
teacher can.
classrooms that reduce the education of entire generations of students can cause
to compete for jobs due to citizens lack of qualifications. Students who fell through the
cracks that otherwise wouldn’t have, could have made significant impacts on the
they could successfully end oversized classrooms and better their communities as a
whole.
References
Fortes, Pauline. 2010. Dealing with Large Classes: A Real Challenge. International of
Colorado Boulder.
Thng, Yi Xe. 2017. The Effects of Class Size on Student Behavioral Outcomes: The
of Education.