An investigation into kindergarten class sizes by The Detroit News prompted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to respond.
Reporters looked into nearly 800 elementary school classes and found that 63% had at least 25 students. Gov. Whitmer says those numbers are not appropriate.
“I think the science would tell us that we’ve got to bring down class sizes,” Whitmer told reporters after an event promoting college financial aid.
The News’ three-month investigation into class sizes was a shock. Thousands of children in elementary schools across the state are learning in classrooms with 30 or more children.
“There’s a lot of work to do in this space,” Whitmer told Detroit News reporters. “I think it’s really important we put all the old […] arguments aside and focus on what kids today need and what science says is going to be the best for our outcomes.”
Large class sizes for young learners was a problem across the board in both charters and traditional public schools (private schools were not included in the investigation because they do not have to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests).
Why small class sizes matter for kids
A 1985 study conducted in Tennessee used a pool of thousands of kindergarteners in varying class sizes to study its effect on student success.
The students in smaller class sizes succeeded more than their peers. One report found that students who were placed in the smaller classes were 2 to 5 months ahead of students who were learning in larger classes, reports U.S. News & World Report.
Other studies have found similar results for students in smaller versus larger class sizes.
Students furthest from opportunity are also more at risk of being placed in classes with more children.
Students receiving meal subsidies are 60% to 70% more likely to be in large classes than their peers, says a 2016 study from the University of Michigan.
The divide between rural and urban student class sizes is huge–one in four ninth graders in urban districts are in a class of 40 or more students; for rural students, it’s one in 50.
In addition, Black ninth graders are more than three times as likely as white students to be learning in large classes, the study says.
Class size affects teachers, too
Teachers nationwide have raised the alarm on the importance of smaller class sizes.
The country’s largest teacher’s union, the National Education Association, has been vocal on the class size front. Teachers nationwide are striking for smaller class sizes and caseloads.
To fairly compensate teachers working in more challenging conditions, like large classes, some districts pay more.
Detroit Public Schools Community District, the state’s largest school district, pays teachers a premium for working in class sizes over certain limits.
Thanks to a contract with the teacher’s union, educators are paid $2,000 extra for one student over the maximum. Two students over the maximum means a teacher makes an extra $3,000 annually, while five students over the maximum pays out $6,000.
