Here at the Burlingame Voice we have a fine appreciation for the Law of Unintended Consequences. It's a pretty iron-clad law. Some side effect you did not expect will arise and often counter whatever good thing you were trying to accomplish. Today's Wall Street Journal has a piece about the 20+ year experiment in reducing school class sizes to improve learning.
A generation ago, a landmark experiment in Tennessee found that shrinking the number of children in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms led to improved test scores. California limited classes to 20 students in kindergarten through third grade. Over the years, at least half the states have used mandates or incentives to reduce class sizes, but the reductions are one of the most expensive interventions in education, and lately, some places are backing off.
"Small classes do provide modest benefits to the students with respect to academic achievement," said Martin West, an associate professor of education at Harvard, "but the benefits are less strong than being assigned to a particularly effective teacher." “California implemented its program almost overnight,” said Dominic Brewer, dean of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, who followed the reduction. “It created a dramatic increase in the demand for teachers.”
Inexperienced or in some cases uncertified teachers were hired to staff new classrooms, and with so many additional jobs to fill, wealthier districts were able to lure better teachers away from poorer districts. Space also became an issue. “You did end up with kids in small classes,” Dr. Brewer said, “but often they were in a trailer and not necessarily with a quality teacher.”
We have Measure M on the ballot this time and the focus is on facilities as you can read here. B'game has a well-deserved reputation for great schools and that enhances our attractiveness on a number of fronts. And overall spending is up quite a bit while the split between city government and school governance continues. My guess is M will pass since B'gamers resonate with taxes that stay local. I just hope we are spending it in the right way.
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