A Discussion of Small Class SizesIntroductionA low student-teacher ratio is often used as a selling point for parents seeking a better education for their children or to pass legislation that establishes a maximum student-teacher ratio for specific school levels. When ratios are used to support argumentation, they are often presented in such a way as to slant the examples in favor of the argument. When such statistics are used for schools, they often represent averages and become very vulnerable to manipulation and further debate. This paper will discuss the issue of small class sizes and the data that has been formulated and presented in the past. When a class is large, it is often detrimental to the education of the overall group with a diverse field of students with varying degrees of learning ability. As a result, the class may spend less time with the higher-level academic students in order to keep the less academic students up to date with lesson plans, or the opposite may occur. For this reason, student-teacher ratios are a good topic for advanced or honors classes. Many analysts have found that additional school resources play a negligible role in improving student outcomes while children are in school. Yet many economists have collected data showing that students who attend well-funded schools grow up to be more successful in the job market than children whose education takes place in under-resourced schools. Positive Learning Experience Having spent all of my K-12 school years in public schools with the maximum class sizes allowed by law, my study of the article “The Lasting Effects of Small Classrooms” provided me with some interesting information about how my experiences could have influenced my early education. I participated...... middle of paper...... adding a teacher's aide. The advantages of a small class size are obvious, while the teaching methods of such a group are not. Works Cited Finn, J. D., Gerber, S. B., & Achilles, C. M. (2001). The lasting effects of small classes. Teachers College Record, 103, 145-183. Finn, J. D., Pannozzo, G. M., Achilles, C. M. (2003). The “whys” of class size: Student behavior in small classes. Review of Educational Research, 73, 321-368.Clark, A.M., Anderson, R.C., Kuo, L.(2003). Collaborative reasoning: Expanding the ways children can talk and think in school. Educational Psychology Review, 15, 181-198. Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. (2006). Why minimal guidance when teaching doesn't work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery-based, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 75-86