Published in the Toronto Star
Sun. May 16, 2010.
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/810122---class-size-is-the-biggest-dead-end-in-the-world-writer-tells-provincial-liberal-think-tank#comments
Malcolm Gladwell’s reported claim on the impact of class size reduction is an unfortunate piece of hyperbole, undoubtedly intended to provoke but misleading as stated. In fact there is solid evidence that smaller classes in primary grades can have positive impacts on student outcomes if they are part of an overall plan to improve teaching practices. As a general principle and unhappily for the widespread desire for simple answers to complex questions, improving outcomes in education requires attention to many factors, as Gladwell himself acknowledged in his address. The quality of teaching, while very important as Gladwell suggests, is not independent of the context.
Sincerely,
- Gerry Connelly, Co Director Education Sustainability Development Academy, York University
- Sue Ferguson, Coordinator, The Learning Consortium, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education
- Michael Fullan, Special Policy Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario
- Joan M. Green, Former Director of Education, Founding CEO of EQAO, International Education Consultant
- Bill Hogarth, Retired Director of Education, Education Consultant
- Ken Leithwood, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- Ben Levin, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- Penny Milton, CEO Canadian Education Association
- Jim Slotta, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- Charles Ungerleider, Professor, Sociology of Education, The University of British Columbia
Please see the following for further information on the issue of class size:
Canadian Council on Learning. (2005, September 14). Making sense of the class size debate. Retrieved from http://www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/LessonsInLearning/Sep-14-05-Making-sense-of-the-class-size-debate.pdf
Canadian Education Association. (2008). Class size reduction: What the literature suggests about what works. Retrieved from http://www.cea-ace.ca/media/en/ClassSizeReduction.pdf
Thank you for setting the record straight and for sharing the papers from the CCL and the CEA. What you are doing as leading educators and researchers to provide facts in the face of rhetoric and hyperbole is very important and much appreciated. We can only hope that your reasoned, research-grounded and forward-looking analyses are able to influence public policy more than the musings of charismatic authors.
ReplyDeleteThat said, good for the policy makers in Ontario for inviting in people with different perspectives and for getting public education on the front page. Better yet for your team for ensuring that the facts get equal time.
As for the issue itself, British Columbia, like many jurisdictions noted in your papers, is working in a legislated context of smaller class sizes in kindergarten and primary. Clearly this is in keeping with the preponderance of research that suggests that smaller class sizes, within the right instruction/assessment contexts and for an extended period (in our case K-3), are of benefit, particularly for students with life or learning challenges. It will be interesting to see whether or not we can, through rigorous research, determine whether or not the effect has been positive for learners in the long run.
Keven Elder
Superintendent of Schools
Saanich, British Columbia
I find it odd that this blog calls itself "facts in Education" and then proceeds to hold up the "opinion" of Malcolm Gladwell . . . and then proceeds to add more commentary. I guess that it is a fact that Gladwell did make these comments, but I'd be more interested in reading the statistics from which Gladwell made his conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI like Gladwell . . . a lot. But I believe he stops short when he talks about class sizes. Yes, finding the right profile for a teacher might have a bigger impact than class size, but class size does make a difference. And whereas Gladwell admits that no one has been able to develop a system for selecting strong potential teacher candidates, we do know how to reduce class sizes.
Ask any parent what they believe an ideal class size would be, ask private schools what class sizes they recommend, ask any public school teacher or administrator how big a class should be - you will get the same answer . . . somewhere between 20 and 25 students, depending on age, composition, etc.
Ask anyone trying reduce the amount of taxes spent on public education and they will say that class size doesn't matter.