Long, long ago I taught a year of high school English. In comparing classes, an iron rule quickly emerged: The smaller the class, the easier to teach. More dialog with each student, fewer discipline problems, more control, fewer papers to correct, etc.
So naturally teachers favor smaller classes, especially when they can pitch it to the public as better for the students. I’m sure that the required hiring of more unionized teachers has nothing to do with their position.
But the research unmistakenly shows very little correlation between class size and student performance. Sounds counterintuitive. I think it is because teachers prepare more and get “up” for a bigger class. Less informality, more organized and hard-hitting lectures, and tighter discipline are necessary to keep them on task. Naturally, that is more work for the teacher.
