Overcrowded Classrooms in Public Schools

 

Overcrowded Classrooms   

                                                                      

One of the challenges in schools today are overcrowded classrooms.   Ideally, the class size would cap at 25 students or even at 20 students but teachers face the issue of having 30 plus students in their classroom which is not uncommon.  Unfortunately, classrooms have increased in size throughout the recent years and have created a number of issues for the teachers and schools.

There are several disadvantages of teaching in an overcrowded classroom.   It can be overwhelming and frustrating for the teacher and students cannot get the one-on-one attention they need may fall further behind.  “The chance of students successfully improving proficiency on a standardized test decreases as the number of students in the classroom increases.” ¹

In addition, the overall noise level is increased in the classroom which can be a distraction for the students and teachers.  It is makes it more difficult for teachers to assess students individually and provide them with feedback. ³    “Large classes packed with students provide more opportunities for personality conflicts, tension, and general disruptive behavior.”  Even the best teachers can find it difficult to manage their overcrowded classroom successfully.¹ 

Furthermore, overcrowding leads to less access to equipment and technology.  There is often not enough space at many schools to accommodate a larger classroom or have a science or computer lab or an auditorium to hold events or assemblies.

  

States with The Best Pupil: Teacher Ratios

Increasing class size and overcrowded schools are the greatest impact of poorly managed growth. If school expansion and construction of new schools does not keep pace with increasing student enrollment then student performance may decline along with the quality of the school experience for students, their families and teachers. ²

                                       

The chart above shows the average ratio of pupils to teachers in the 50 states for the 2013-2014 school year. A ratio of more than 20 students per teacher is generally considered undesirable. In fact, 12 states have adopted laws requiring a ratio of 20 students or less per teacher.

Note that the pupil:teacher ratio is NOT the same as average class size.  For example, to get average class size for grades K-3, one must add 9 or 10 students to the pupil:teacher ratio.

The darkest blue states above generally have the most severe overcrowding problems.  But overcrowded school districts can be found within many of the other districts.  By the 2024-2025 school year, the number of students attending public schools will increase by 6%. This trend is not uniform.  Nevada will experience a 26% increase in enrollment by 2024 while that of West Virginia will decline by 11%. ²

California schools have long been among the most crowded in the nation. A 2007 report characterized the impact as:

“Overcrowding creates unsafe environments and makes teaching and learning more difficult. Schools may need to teach students in auditoriums, gymnasiums, storage rooms, and other areas never intended to be used for instructional purposes.  Schools with too little space may not be able to maintain specially equipped rooms such as science labs or libraries because these spaces need to be “flexible” for teaching multiple subjects.” ²

A study of factors affecting the number of high school students going on to college noted:

“Overcrowding reduces students’ ability to pay attention and increases school violence.  In such schools, students achieve less; rates of teacher and student absenteeism are higher than at schools that do not have these problems.  Sometimes overcrowding is addressed by putting students on year-round, multi-track schedules with fewer days of school. These students suffer interrupted and lost instructional time; limited access to advanced courses and specialized programs; ill-timed breaks and correspondingly limited access to extracurricular activities and enrichment programs; and poorer academic performance.” ²

Research shows that school overcrowding has varying effects on student achievement. A North Carolina study noted that:

“Severely crowded schools [>130% of capacity] have a negative impact on reading achievement, but no discernible impact on math achievement.” ²

Research has also linked overcrowded schools to increased bullying.

Overcrowding has an impact on teacher effectiveness and job satisfaction. A 2012 study of the relationship between school variables and teacher satisfaction, contained the following conclusion:

“As school budgets decrease and the numbers of students increase, it is critical that school districts continue to invest in efforts that will keep class sizes from becoming too large. Perhaps smaller class sizes allow teachers to work with students who show problematic behaviors or students with community challenges such as poverty and under preparedness more effectively; this idea will need to be explored through further study.  Nevertheless, smaller class sizes help teachers to be more satisfied with their jobs and smaller class sizes have also been shown to positively affect student achievement^{.” 2}

                                    

Personal

I worked as a tutor with elementary school aged children in reading, spelling and math.  I tried to develop ways to make the subject fun and interesting so that it is not boring to the student which was no easy task.  As a tutor, it was important to me to be able to reach the student and make things clearer for them so that they can understand.  These students are from non-overcrowded classrooms and already have fallen behind in class.  I realize that not all students learn the same way and some learn faster than others.  Depending on the student, sometimes I have to work equally as hard as the student who is struggling in school.   If I can make a difference in at least one child’s education, I know I was able to fulfill my job as a tutor.  I believe both the teacher and student would suffer as a result of an overcrowded classroom.   The students who are struggling in class and need the extra help may have to work by themselves because the teacher does not have the time to give the students the extra attention or even walk around the classroom to determine how the students are doing.  When students do not understand a subject or feel that the teacher is not clear in their explanation, it leaves them confused and creates a lack of desire to learn.  Teaching a large class can be difficult and overwhelming for some teachers and some choose to leave the profession rather than to deal with the daily stress.

Members of the Community Affected

 

“As a teacher we have an expectation that all students must succeed in school and in order for us to do that we have to have enough time to work with each child.  But when we are negatively impacted with a large population of kids in one classroom that’s pretty much impossible because we do not have assistant teachers in the classroom like we used to have many years ago.  For 6^th grade at my school, our maximum per class can be as many as 35 students per teacher and having to make sure every single child succeeds within the school year, that is pretty much impossible.  I teach 6^th grade and for example last year in my class, I had one child reading at a second-grade reading level and then I have kids reading a college level.  I have such a huge range of kids; it makes it pretty much impossible to ensure that my lower range kids are given the attention needed because we as teachers are expected to challenge those kids are that are at the other end of the spectrum.  One year I actually had 37 students in my class, an ideal classroom would be 20 students per teacher with one assistant teacher.”

      -Suzanne W., 6^th grade Teacher

 

  “I feel that it can be stressful for the teacher because what I experience is that there’s a lot of kids that talk over the teacher and it disturbs everyone else when they are trying to pay attention.”

    -Mikayla W., 5^th grader

“The effects of overcrowding have a direct financial impact on schools.  Schools rely on state funding and with an influx of immigrants, legal or otherwise, puts a strain on fixed resources and new schools are not being built fast enough or accommodate the influx of students.”

     -Gary D., Senior Technology Analyst

¹ Meador, Derrick, June 22, 2019

  https://www.thoughtco.com/teaching-in-an-overcrowded-classroom, June 22, 2019.

²  https://www.ceds.org/school.html

³ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/reader-center/los-angeles-teachers-strike-class-size.html