tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/class-size-14941/articlesClass size – The Conversation2024-01-16T17:45:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210952024-01-16T17:45:20Z2024-01-16T17:45:20ZSaskatchewan teacher strike: It’s about bargaining for the common good<p>For the first time in more than a decade and for only the <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/explainer-a-brief-history-of-teachers-strikes-in-saskatchewan">fourth time since 1973</a>, people in Saskatchewan are facing interruptions to schooling due to teacher labour unrest.</p>
<p>While a <a href="https://regina.ctvnews.ca/teachers-hit-the-picket-line-as-saskatchewan-deep-freeze-continues-1.6726764">Jan. 16 province-wide teachers’ strike</a> means only <a href="https://regina.ctvnews.ca/no-teacher-wanted-this-stf-president-says-5-day-strike-notice-was-about-giving-sask-parents-time-1.6723525">a single day</a> of job action, there is a real possibility strike actions could escalate over the next few weeks. </p>
<p>That’s particularly the case with 90 per cent of Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) members having participated in an October vote about job action against the government — and
<a href="https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/buckle-up-sask-teachers-union-votes-95-in-favour-of-potential-job-action-1.6619971">95 per cent of those voting teachers</a> backing job action. </p>
<p>The strike follows early December news that conciliation talks between the STF and the Government of Saskatchewan had broken off. </p>
<p>According to the teachers’ union, the <a href="https://www.stf.sk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/12-13-2023_STF-Message-to-Saskatchewan-Parents-and-Students.pdf">central issues</a> in this dispute are <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/teachers-union-frustrated-with-province-not-addressing-growing-class-sizes">class size</a>, “classroom complexity” (<a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/what-is-classroom-complexity-and-why-does-it-matter-to-the-stf">the diversity of student needs in any one classroom,</a>), <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/stf-bargaining-update">related support for students</a>, <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/stf-says-job-action-virtually-inevitable-after-failed-talks-with-province">workplace violence</a>, meaningful actions to <a href="https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/sask-teachers-union-province-at-odds-on-key-issues-as-contract-talks-languish-1.6672626">reconciliation education</a> and other in-class issues. </p>
<p>For their part, teachers have not made their wage demands public, suggesting that for them, wages are not the central issue in this round of bargaining.</p>
<p>Both <a href="https://x.com/evanbrayshow/status/1735045295543669098?s=20">conservative commentators</a> <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10180136/saskatchewan-premier-scott-moe-state-of-education/">and the premier</a> have argued the bargaining table is not the place for teachers to negotiate concerns about classroom issues. </p>
<p>The province, focused on wages, has tabled an offer that keeps wages at below inflation <a href="https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2023/june/29/government-trustee-bargaining-committee-tables-fair-deal-for-teachers">levels for the next three years</a>. </p>
<p>In other provinces, teachers’ unions have successfully argued that classroom size is directly related to workload, which has always been a collective bargaining matter. </p>
<p>Although bargaining is sometimes interpreted narrowly as a discussion over wages and benefits it is not, by its nature, limited to that. Bargaining can — and has — acted as a democratic tool to expand public resources to areas beyond workplace compensation.</p>
<h2>Bargaining classroom size</h2>
<p>In Ontario, the <a href="https://www.pssbp.ca/wp-content/uploads/Teachers-Meshed-Agreement-2019-2022-FINAL-emailed-for-signatures-March-1-2021-PDF.pdf">Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario</a> has negotiated that the boards and government provide ongoing classroom size data to the union in order to determine future classroom ratios. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://osstftoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/HotLinked-2019-2022-OSSTF-Collective-Agreement-Finalised-with-All-Signatures-1.pdf">Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation</a> has language on class size in its collective agreements with specific classroom ratios. </p>
<p>Similar negotiations have occurred in Québec over <a href="https://cpn.gouv.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/03/CPNCA_APEQ_E5_CC-ang_consolide_2023-03-15_V2.pdf">workload issues</a>. </p>
<p>The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation won a <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/16241/index.do">dramatic ruling</a> before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016. The court ruled the government’s decision to unilaterally prevent teachers <a href="https://canliiconnects.org/en/commentaries/44636">from bargaining classroom size and composition</a> was a violation of their constitutional rights to bargaining collectively. </p>
<p>The decision resulted in hiring hundreds of new teachers to address chronically underfunded classrooms in that province.</p>
<h2>Cuts to education</h2>
<p>The dispute in Saskatchewan did not come out of nowhere. </p>
<p>There has been a 10 per cent drop in <a href="https://www.stf.sk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Education-in-Saskatchewan-Facts-and-Statistics_11-Oct-2023.pdf">per-student funding since 2012-2013</a>. </p>
<p>In 2017, the Saskatchewan Party government <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskatchewan-government-decides-not-to-amalgamate-school-boards-1.4035499">cut funding to public education</a> by $22 million from the previous fiscal year. In the same period, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10027832/saskatoon-schools-enrolment-spikes/#">enrolments have risen to record numbers</a>. </p>
<p>These issues pushed teachers to a collective bargaining dispute in <a href="https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/top-stories-of-2020-teachers-strike-avoided-as-pandemic-surged-into-saskatchewan">2019, but it was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. </p>
<h2>Staffing crises</h2>
<p>Post-pandemic, teacher morale and turnover have reached crisis levels. </p>
<p>Samantha Becotte, the STF’s president, noted there has been a general crisis in <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9940451/canada-teacher-shortage">education across the country</a> evident in teacher shortages, with <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9848620/saskatchewan-teachers-contract-talks/#">an attrition rate of about 40 per cent among educators in the first five years of their careers</a>.</p>
<p>Becotte’s comments align with research showing attrition rates have hovered <a href="https://archipel.uqam.ca/12263/1/2013_Karsenti%2C%20T%20et%20Collin%2C%20S_Education.pdf">at close to 50 per cent</a> over about the last decade. </p>
<p>Government underfunding has also led to creeping <a href="https://leaderpost.com/opinion/heather-ganshorn-medeana-moussa-beware-privatization-creep-in-education-system">privatization</a>. </p>
<p>Squeezed board budgets have meant an increase in fees to some Saskatoon and Regina parents <a href="https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/upped-lunch-hour-supervision-fees-for-sask-parents-as-school-resumes">for lunch-time supervision</a>.</p>
<p>These cuts have also resulted in <a href="https://www.stf.sk.ca/about-stf/news/bargaining-impasse-declared-teachers-to-hold-sanctions-vote/#">dramatic declines in classroom supports</a>. Numbers have dropped for many educational roles, including for <a href="https://pubsaskdev.blob.core.windows.net/pubsask-prod/90049/2022-23%252BEducation%252BSector%252BStaffing%252BProfile%252B-%252Bprov.pdf">educational assistants, English as an additional language teachers, counsellors, librarians, psychologists and other pathologists</a>. </p>
<h2>‘Parents rights’ issues</h2>
<p>On top of this, the government called a special session of the legislature in September 2023 to bring in a hastily drafted bill to <a href="https://theconversation.com/saskatchewan-naming-and-pronoun-policy-the-best-interests-of-children-must-guide-provincial-parental-consent-rules-212431">restrict the ability of transgender and gender-diverse children from</a> being able to identify with their preferred pronouns at school. </p>
<p>The government said this was an issue <a href="https://regina.ctvnews.ca/parents-bill-of-rights-officially-introduced-in-sask-legislature-beginning-pronoun-policy-s-push-into-law-1.6598701">of parents’ rights</a>. Yet many others interpreted it as an attack on the ability of teachers to provide necessary support and guidance to kids in a safe and supportive environment. </p>
<p>For some, it speaks to a hostile position of the government towards teachers, since the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-name-pronoun-policy-new-school-year-1.6956559">STF has opposed the policy and pledged support for teachers who refuse to abide by it</a>.</p>
<h2>Bargaining as important tool</h2>
<p>Trying to prevent teachers from including issues surrounding unmet student needs in bargaining is to effectively leave the public in the dark on the conditions of our schools and render governments largely unaccountable. </p>
<p>The most important tool that all unionized workers have at their disposal is their ability to collectively bargain. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-union-activism-helped-shift-the-u-s-election-debate-on-education-147620">How teachers' union activism helped shift the U.S. election debate on education</a>
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<p>As researchers with the Center for Innovation in Worker Organization at Rutgers University have documented, unions across North America have leveraged broad public support to <a href="https://smlr.rutgers.edu/faculty-research-engagement/center-innovation-worker-organization-ciwo/bargaining-common-good">bargain for issues related to the common good</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/Centers/CIWO/ciwo_bcg-memo.pdf">Many of these campaigns</a> have been waged by teachers’ unions. Unions have bargained for many things, including linguistic and cultural resources for teachers, more diverse staffing, anti-racism education, green education — and importantly for teachers in Saskatchewan — smaller classroom sizes. </p>
<h2>Unions driving change</h2>
<p>Unions beyond the education sector <a href="https://archives.nupge.ca/sites/default/files/documents/New-Forms-of-Privatization-2016.pdf">in Canada</a> have <a href="https://cupe.ca/sites/cupe/files/bargaining_and_privatization_guide_en.pdf">made similar gains</a>. </p>
<p>For example, in 1981-1982, the <a href="http://www.justlabour.yorku.ca/volume19/pdfs/04_nichols_press.pdf">Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)</a> waged a strike to extend paid maternity leave benefits to workers. CUPW’s success encouraged other unions to take a similar position and today public maternity/paternity leave is a universal <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html">public program</a>. </p>
<p>Unions and their members have real power when they use the tools available to them to seek real workplace and community change.</p>
<h2>Bargaining about trade-offs</h2>
<p>To be sure, bargaining is about trade-offs. Prioritizing issues related to what unions identify as key “common good” themes might mean that other issues cannot be highlighted. </p>
<p>Workers might forego larger wage increases for smaller classroom sizes or for increased resources for issues like reconciliation with Indigenous nations.</p>
<p>But that is a choice workers will democratically make through their union. In the case of Saskatchewan teachers, the numbers do not lie. While salaries and benefits will always be an issue, there is overwhelming teacher support for existing bargaining proposals. </p>
<p>We believe this democratic mandate is significant — and one that could lead to safer and more just educational experiences for workers and students across the province.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Enoch is a member of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Chronically underfunded classrooms with fewer supports to meet student needs is a core issue for Saskatchewan teachers.Charles Smith, Associate Professor, Political Studies, University of SaskatchewanSimon Enoch, Adjunct professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1703782021-11-10T02:12:54Z2021-11-10T02:12:54ZWhy Australian uni students have a right to know class sizes before they sign up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430952/original/file-20211109-23-yssrle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=561%2C0%2C2561%2C1697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Proliferating metrics and rankings in recent decades have, for better or worse, reshaped the priorities of universities around the world. Despite this “<a href="https://responsiblemetrics.org/the-metric-tide/">metric tide</a>”, Australian universities provide little reliable, publicly available data on their class sizes. To this day, there is no mechanism for reporting how many students are allocated to the various types of classes at universities in Australia.</p>
<p>The result is a clear lack of systematic evidence on how universities organise their teaching in terms of class sizes. We also don’t know for sure how this may have changed over the years. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-a-university-as-the-digital-competition-grows-162766">What to look for when choosing a university as the digital competition grows</a>
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<h2>3 reasons we need to know about class sizes</h2>
<p>From a policy perspective, having reliable, publicly available data on Australian universities’ class sizes matters for a number of reasons. </p>
<p>First, class size metrics would provide prospective students with more meaningful information about a key aspect of their future learning experience. </p>
<p>University rankings such as the <a href="https://www.shanghairanking.com/">Academic Ranking of World Universities</a> are mostly geared towards research performance. They provide little guidance on how universities value and approach their teaching.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/resources/2019-staff-appendix-2-student-staff-ratios">Student-staff ratios</a> are part of <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/top-universities-best-student-staff-ratio-2021">some rankings at least</a>, but this information is similarly limited. These ratios do not provide accurate information on the actual sizes of the various classes students attend. They also generally <a href="https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au/university-ratings-rankings/2022/undergraduate/student:teacher-ratio">do not distinguish between different fields of study</a>. </p>
<p>All this means student-staff ratios are a limited source of information. </p>
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<p>Second, class sizes could have impacts on students’ learning outcomes and levels of satisfaction. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775707000271">studies</a> suggest student outcomes get worse as classes at universities get larger. Other <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X20933836">studies paint a more complex picture</a>. These suggest the the effect of increasing class size on students’ achievement differs substantially between academic disciplines. It also depends on the student demographics. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/think-our-unis-are-all-much-the-same-look-more-closely-and-you-will-find-diversity-164319">Think our unis are all much the same? Look more closely and you will find diversity</a>
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<p>The picture of the relationship between class sizes and student satisfaction remains <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775711000641">similarly inconclusive</a>. </p>
<p>It is ultimately undeniable, however, that smaller classes provide students with better access to and more interaction with their lecturer or tutor. This is particularly important for tutorial classes, which are meant to <a href="https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/tutorials">enable high levels of interaction</a>. It is reasonable to assume smaller tutorial classes make it easier to provide students with more detailed and targeted feedback. </p>
<p>Third, publishing reliable information on class sizes would eventually lead to better understanding of trends and their potential impacts on students’ learning experiences. </p>
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<p>Ample anecdotal evidence suggests Australian universities’ class sizes have increased dramatically over recent decades. For example, tutorial class sizes of more than 35 students are not uncommon these days. Only a decade ago an upper limit of 20 students appears to have been the norm. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, these numbers are a long way from what tutorial classes looked like before mass higher education. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2017.12149">A 2017 study</a> has shown UK universities in the 1960s, for example, had tutorial classes of only about four students on average. The picture at Australian universities would probably not have been too different given the similarities of these two higher education systems. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-mass-university-is-good-for-equity-but-must-it-also-be-bad-for-learning-40168">The mass university is good for equity, but must it also be bad for learning?</a>
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<h2>How could class sizes be reported?</h2>
<p>To make university class-size data usable for prospective students and other stakeholders, consistent reporting standards would need to be agreed. Any published class-size metrics should clearly distinguish different modes of delivery, such as online or face-to-face, and different levels of education, such as undergraduate or postgraduate. </p>
<p>Metrics should also reflect the variety of sessions students typically attend. These include lectures, seminars, tutorials or lab classes. Information on class sizes is much more meaningful for group-based and highly interactive teaching activities such as tutorials than for less interactive activities such as lectures. </p>
<p>Logistically, collating class-size metrics should not be too onerous for universities. The information already exists in their learning management or business intelligence systems. The public reporting of data on class sizes could use existing mechanisms such as the annual Quality Indicators for Leaning and Teaching (<a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/">QILT</a>).</p>
<p>Overall, from a higher education policy perspective, publishing relevant class-size metrics would greatly enhance the transparency of Australian universities’ teaching offerings. It would provide students with meaningful information about what to expect at the university of their choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170378/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Woelert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You’d think class sizes would be an important consideration for students when choosing a university, but universities don’t make that information public. They should.Peter Woelert, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531292021-02-12T13:18:10Z2021-02-12T13:18:10ZHow US Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona can stop the teacher shortage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383819/original/file-20210211-21-8qlx3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C22%2C5020%2C3314&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. Secretary of Education nominee Miguel Cardona testifies during his confirmation hearing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/secretary-of-education-nominee-miguel-cardona-testifies-news-photo/1230952226?adppopup=true">Susan Walsh/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/who-is-the-new-u-s-education-secretary-miguel-cardona/">Miguel Cardona</a> – President Joe Biden’s choice for secretary of education – faces <a href="https://joebiden.com/education/">several urgent and contentious priorities</a>, including reopening schools safely, addressing systemic racism within schools, and reversing the ever-growing teacher shortage. Here, four experts explain how to recruit more people to become educators in the nation’s public schools.</em></p>
<h2>1. Increase pay and reduce class sizes</h2>
<p><strong>Bob Spires, associate professor of education, University of Richmond</strong> </p>
<p>The <a href="https://tsa.ed.gov/#/home/">teacher shortage</a> has <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/coming-crisis-teaching">become a crisis</a> in the United States. In 2018, there was an estimated <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/low-relative-pay-and-high-incidence-of-moonlighting-play-a-role-in-the-teacher-shortage-particularly-in-high-poverty-schools-the-third-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-marke/">shortage of over 100,000</a> K-12 teachers. Meanwhile, the demand for K-12 teaching jobs is expected to continue to increase <a href="https://www.educationcorner.com/job-outlook-for-teachers.html">5% per year</a> through 2028.</p>
<p>Part of the reason for the shortage has to do with pay and working conditions. On average, teachers make <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/low-relative-pay-and-high-incidence-of-moonlighting-play-a-role-in-the-teacher-shortage-particularly-in-high-poverty-schools-the-third-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-marke/">roughly 20% less</a> than other college graduates, according to research from the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that focuses on worker issues. A majority of teachers <a href="https://www.epi.org/press/59-percent-of-teachers-take-on-additional-paid-work-to-supplement-their-pay/#:%7E:text=News%20from%20EPI%2059%20percent,work%20to%20supplement%20their%20pay&text=For%20these%20teachers%2C%20moonlighting%20made,teachers%20in%20high%2Dpoverty%20schools">work additional jobs</a> – either within or outside their schools – to supplement their pay. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, class sizes continue to grow, which teacher unions say <a href="https://www.cta.org/our-advocacy/class-size-matters">negatively affects teachers and students</a>, despite statements to the contrary <a href="https://educationpost.org/betsy-devos-wants-larger-class-sizes-and-fewer-teachers/">by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos</a>. Peer-reviewed research bears out that smaller classes are <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2016/06/class-size">academically, socially and economically beneficial</a>, especially to low-income and minority students.</p>
<p>To curb the shortage, I believe educational leaders and policymakers must take proactive steps at the local, state and federal levels to increase pay and resources for teachers, and alleviate pressure by reducing class sizes.</p>
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<img alt="Teacher at desk in school classroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C6%2C4415%2C2955&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382280/original/file-20210203-15-5vp7oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Even before COVID-19, teachers were reporting ever-increasing levels of dissatisfaction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/judy-chan-a-teacher-at-yung-wing-school-p-s-124-prepares-news-photo/1271416170">Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>2. Improve morale and recruit diverse teachers</h2>
<p><strong>Doris A. Santoro, professor of education, Bowdoin College</strong></p>
<p>During the pandemic, teachers’ work has been filled with <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/07/reopening-schools-debates-teachers-fear-covid-19/4413729001/">uncertainty and anxiety</a>. Their ways of finding <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-teacher-demoralization-isnt-the-same-as-teacher-burnout/2020/11">meaning and value</a> as educators have been upended through necessary safety measures that have radically altered their work. </p>
<p>There are no romantic “before times” for most public school educators. Before COVID-19, teachers were reporting <a href="https://pdkpoll.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pdkpoll51-2019.pdf">ever-increasing</a> levels of dissatisfaction. Schools were already facing continuing teacher shortages, with one estimate as high as <a href="https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.27.3696">109,000 teachers working without certification</a> in the U.S. in 2017-18. <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-turnover-brief">High teacher turnover</a> both <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/04/29/teacher-turnover-and-the-disruption-of-teacher-staffing/">disrupts student learning and can degrade the work environment</a> for those who remain.</p>
<p>These conditions may indicate the demoralization of a profession. And yet the profession could become better appreciated as a result of this pandemic. Families are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/03/27/teachers-deserve-make-billion-dollars-shonda-rhimes-plus-other-homeschooling-parents-appreciating-educators/">learning firsthand</a> about the demands of teaching as many students learn from home.</p>
<p>Significant <a href="https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-teacher-recruitment-and-retention/">state and local efforts</a> are underway to recruit educators to eliminate the teacher shortage. Some of these efforts focus on <a href="https://ccsso.org/resource-library/vision-and-guidance-diverse-and-learner-ready-teacher-workforce">attracting teachers</a> who are Black, Indigenous or other people of color. Nationwide, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/27/americas-public-school-teachers-are-far-less-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-than-their-students/">only 20% of teachers</a> identify as people of color, while the population of students of color is over 50%. </p>
<p>Policymakers, education leaders and teachers will need to confront the historic and current reasons for these shortages, including the <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/65-years-after-brown-v-board-where-are-all-the-black-educators/2019/05">mass dismissal of Black teachers and principals</a> after Brown v. Board of Education, and classroom practices that leave many teachers of color <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/black-teachers-feel-pigeonholed-report-finds/2016/11">feeling devalued and alienated</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Bring back joy</h2>
<p><strong>Diane B. Hirshberg, professor of education policy at the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage</strong></p>
<p>For several decades now, teachers have been judged on how well their students do <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar08/vol65/num06/Testing-the-Joy-Out-of-Learning.aspx">on standardized tests</a>.</p>
<p>These efforts have led teachers to use lessons that are <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2015/12/reversing-deprofessionalization">narrow and often scripted</a> and that focus mostly on core subjects.</p>
<p>For many teachers, this has <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/teacher-quits-over-emphasis-standardized-tests-it-takes-joy-out-2D79439972">taken joy</a> out of what they do.</p>
<p>Giving teachers a canned curriculum and requiring them to follow a schedule and materials developed by people from a different state – or by a big publishing house – can leave teachers feeling as if their own expertise is <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ986817">not recognized or valued</a>. Also, this takes the creativity out of teaching and connecting with students, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/20/why-todays-college-students-dont-want-to-be-teachers/">diminishes the gratification</a> that comes from seeing their efforts and expertise transform the lives of their students. </p>
<p>Reversing the teacher shortage, in my view, will require Secretary Cardona to push for a system that fosters innovation, rewards expertise in teachers’ careers and uses standardized tests to inform – but not dictate – teacher practice. This requires collaboration among teacher education institutions, states and the Department of Education to transform both teacher preparation and classroom practice. It will require significant investment and patience, but I believe the payoff both for students and the economy will be profound.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6876%2C4879&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Teacher hugs a young student outside a classroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6876%2C4879&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382534/original/file-20210204-14-1nqume2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For some teachers, standardized testing regimes have taken some of the joy out of classrooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kelly-harper-left-one-of-four-finalists-for-the-national-news-photo/1137246325?adppopup=true">Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Build education leadership</h2>
<p><strong>Richard L. Schwab, professor of educational leadership and dean emeritus, University of Connecticut</strong></p>
<p>To boost student achievement and teacher morale, <a href="https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/pages/how-leadership-influences-student-learning.aspx">research shows</a> you need highly educated and experienced school principals and district leaders. </p>
<p>Thriving businesses invest heavily in <a href="https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-we-do/leadership-development-training-what-we-do/">leadership development</a>. They commit to training employees who show leadership potential. As in business, effective leaders in education require the right skills and proper support. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/pages/launching-redesign-university-principal-preparation-programs.aspx">Researchers have identified</a> five components of effective principal training programs. They include a coherent curriculum, supervised experiences, active recruiting, cohort structure and continuous engagement with participants.</p>
<p>Examples of programs working with local school districts to do it differently include ours at the University of Connecticut <a href="https://ucapp.education.uconn.edu/">Administrator Preparation Program</a>, University of Washington’s <a href="https://www.danforth.uw.edu">Danforth Educational Leadership Program</a>, University of Denver’s <a href="https://morgridge.du.edu/programs/educational-leadership-policy-studies/certificate">Ritchie Program for School Leaders</a> and the <a href="https://education.uic.edu/academics/programs/school-leadership">Urban Educational Leadership Program</a> at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They are highly selective and seek to recruit high-potential district educators. Their faculty includes university scholars teaching alongside seasoned practitioners, and they offer extensive clinical placements for participants, who must demonstrate competence as instructional leaders.</p>
<p>Secretary Cardona – who was himself an adjunct professor in Connecticut’s APP program – can help expand such programs nationally, for example by creating seed grants that encourage school-university partnerships and making graduate student loans forgivable to help qualified teachers pursue leadership positions.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane B Hirshberg's research on teacher supply, demand, turnover and salary issues in Alaska has been supported by the Alaska State Legislature and the University of Alaska. Other research on education policy issues has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ford Foundation.
Diane Hirshberg was founding director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Doris Santoro is a Fellow with the National Education Policy Center. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard L. Schwab is faculty member with the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education where the UCAPP program mentioned is located. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Spires does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Four experts weigh in on ways to replenish the US teacher workforce and curb burnout.Bob Spires, Associate Professor of Education, University of RichmondDiane B Hirshberg, Professor of Education Policy, University of Alaska AnchorageDoris A. Santoro, Professor of Education, Bowdoin CollegeRichard L. Schwab, Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership and Dean Emeritus, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1460522020-09-30T14:43:18Z2020-09-30T14:43:18ZLarge class sizes during the coronavirus pandemic are a triple whammy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360092/original/file-20200926-22-1tdqi9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5568%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mathematical models can help figure out class sizes and configurations to minimize disruptions and school closures.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Formulating school and childcare centre reopening plans in North America this fall has been a daunting task, as both the pandemic and our scientific knowledge of COVID-19 continue to unfold quickly. </p>
<p>For students attending in person, there are many questions to consider: How important is the cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces? Which age of students should use masks, and when? What is the best approach to cohorting? How large should class sizes be?</p>
<p>Knowledge of how COVID-19 spreads has improved since the pandemic started, but as reopening plans were being developed, we recognized a need to investigate outbreak scenarios in schools and childcare centres. With our combined background in mathematical modelling, epidemiology, environmental sciences and childhood education, we tackled the question of class sizes. </p>
<p>We developed a mathematical model of outbreaks in homes and classrooms. The model made a very surprising prediction: as class sizes go up, the negative impacts of COVID-19 go up exponentially faster. </p>
<h2>A granular approach</h2>
<p>We opted for an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.07.20170407">“individual-based” model</a> where distinct individuals (adults and children) are allowed to interact according to specified rules. This highly granular approach allows us to see the effects of social groupings and individual characteristics on personal outcomes like missed school days. </p>
<p>Using age and household size information obtained from <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/subjects/families_and_households">Canadian census data</a>, we constructed small populations with childhood education centres and associated households consisting of one or more adults and one or more children. Our model is essentially a simulated virtual world of schools and homes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of a childcare centre and associated homes represented in the simulation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360559/original/file-20200929-14-1o5j8rp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of simulated homes (top) and a childcare centre (bottom) in the model. ‘A’ represents parent, ‘T’ represents teacher, circles are children and numbers represent classroom assignments of children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Bauch)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children were allocated to classrooms randomly or by grouping siblings together. We considered childcare centre scenarios with student/educator ratios of 7:3, 8:2 and 15:2. We also considered primary school scenarios with student/educator ratios of 8:1, 15:1 and 30:1. Students could attend class every day or alternate between in-person instruction one week and online learning the next week.</p>
<h2>Influencing factors</h2>
<p>Then we ran our computer simulation of COVID-19 outbreaks in this setting. We assumed that when a symptomatic case of COVID-19 appears in a classroom that it would then be closed for 14 days.</p>
<p>But modelling the impact of class sizes on outbreaks is tricky. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pandemic-learning-gap-1.5732441">Schools have been closed during much of the first wave</a> and so — perhaps unsurprisingly — school-aged children did not account for a significant portion of cases during this period. In addition, children are more likely to be asymptomatic and therefore not reported as having COVID-19. A host of other factors could influence both the risk and size of outbreaks. </p>
<p>So how can we predict what outbreaks in schools might look like, given that schools have not been open in Ontario since March 2020? Since we don’t know all of the right input values to use, we took an approach of “<a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1069.5532&rep=rep1&type=pdf">uncertainty analysis</a>,” a cornerstone of scientific inquiry — admitting that you do not know everything. </p>
<p>This approach meant that we would change the model inputs and study how those affect the predictions. For example, we distinguished between a “high transmission” assumption, where the virus can spread quickly, and a “low transmission” assumption, where the virus spread is being slowed by the use of masks, disinfection and physical distancing. </p>
<h2>Triple whammy</h2>
<p>Across all of the permutations used in our uncertainty analysis, we were surprised to find that when class size doubled, the number of cases and student-days lost to closure more than doubled. Student-days are calculated by multiplying the number of closure days by the number of students affected, and with each class size doubling, they went up by factors of two to five.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing the impact of class size on COVID-19 cases and student-days of lost instruction." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360560/original/file-20200929-16-o5hyb4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Impact of class size on COVID-19 cases (top) and lost student-days of instruction (bottom), for the low transmission model scenario.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Bauch)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When we increased the transmission rate, it changed the total number of cases, but the relative number of cases or student-days lost to closure between the various class size scenarios did not change much: larger classes were always relatively worse than smaller classes, and by about the same factor of two to five.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.07.20170407">We describe this as a “triple whammy.”</a> First, when class sizes are larger, the chances are higher that one of the children will test positive. Second, when that child does test positive and the class is closed, closure of a larger class affects more children. Third, by the time the case is identified, the student might have been transmitting the virus for several days, or someone else in the class may have been asymptomatic and transmitting for many days. This third point is crucial — it is increasingly clear that SARS-CoV-2 can be spread by aerosol particles.</p>
<h2>Other consequences</h2>
<p>The worst scenario, by a wide margin, was the 30:1 ratio in the primary school setting. Switching to a 15:1 ratio with alternating weekly cohorts (15:1A) reduced the number of cases and student-days lost to closure by a factor of around four. And even though higher student/educator ratios allow more students to get in-person instruction, they also cause more disruptions due to more frequent need to close classrooms when a case is identified.</p>
<p>In addition, there are likely to be significant psychological, social and mental health consequences for parents and children when schools and childcare centres close. And since outbreaks can happen at any time, working parents may need to be pulled from their work with little or no advance notice. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-child-cope-with-the-transition-back-to-school-during-covid-19-144530">How to help your child cope with the transition back to school during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>Schools and childcare centres have already reopened. Some districts have been allowed to go with a preferred model that permits smaller class sizes, and this is a step in the right direction.</p>
<p>There are also many examples of how school districts can reduce class size at minimal cost. For instance, kindergarten classes with two teachers could split into two groups, one of which uses the library, gym or spends more time outdoors in activities.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-and-schools-reopening-now-is-the-time-to-embrace-outdoor-education-143734">COVID-19 and schools reopening: Now is the time to embrace outdoor education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>If widespread school closure occurs again this fall, we suggest that re-reopening plans pay close attention to the aspect of class size. While the risk of outbreaks will never be zero even with small classes, it would be prudent for class sizes to be lower, so these disruptions affect the fewest number of children and families possible. In the meantime, for parents and caregivers, the best thing to do is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-child-cope-with-the-transition-back-to-school-during-covid-19-144530">have honest and open conversations</a> around how closures will look like in their family, including arrangements for work and child care.</p>
<p>The math tells us that school or classroom closures will be a reality for many school districts this fall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Bauch receives funding from The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for COVID-19 research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dillon Thomas Browne receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Foundation for Innovation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madhur Anand receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendon Phillips does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools reopening during the current coronavirus pandemic need to calculate class sizes to prevent the spread of disease and minimize disruptions.Chris Bauch, Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of WaterlooBrendon Phillips, Ph.D. student, Applied Mathematics, University of WaterlooDillon Thomas Browne, Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of WaterlooMadhur Anand, Professor & Director, Global Ecological Change & Sustainability Laboratory, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1389452020-05-27T20:08:06Z2020-05-27T20:08:06ZNo big packed lectures allowed if we’re to safely bring uni students back to campus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337526/original/file-20200526-106848-1b73zfq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C169%2C1584%2C1017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Michael Coghlan</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A return to face to face teaching at universities and technical colleges “where possible” is one of the goals of the Morrison government’s <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/3-step-framework-for-a-covidsafe-australia">three step framework</a> for a COVIDsafe Australia. </p>
<p>A look at the <a href="https://arina.biz/downloads.html">space available for teaching</a> shows some return of students is possible.</p>
<p>But nearly all tiered lecture theatres will not comply with the social distancing rule of staying 1.5m apart, assuming they are seated at capacity. Those lectures will have to remain online or the rules around class sizes will need to change.</p>
<h2>Back to the campus</h2>
<p>Universities moved teaching operations off campus to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many lectures and tutorials are now done online.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337533/original/file-20200526-106823-4msdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The campuses have been quiet since teaching moved online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tolomea/4290790205/">Flickr/Gordon Wrigley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Universities have the challenge of working out how to safely get staff, students (and researchers) back to campus.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-have-gone-from-being-a-place-of-privilege-to-a-competitive-market-what-will-they-be-after-coronavirus-137877">Universities have gone from being a place of privilege to a competitive market. What will they be after coronavirus?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But the <a href="https://arina.biz/downloads.html">teaching space data</a> from eight Australian universities reveals a number of problems in returning to campus while meeting social distancing rules. Some of these can be overcome, but others, including the key goal of increasing face to face teaching, will be much harder. </p>
<p>Until we reach Step 3, when up to 100 people may be permitted to gather in one space, opening up a campus is impractical. Under Steps 1 and 2 only 20 people are allowed in one space. </p>
<h2>Come up to the lab</h2>
<p>It should be possible to reestablish most laboratory based teaching and research to meet Step 3 guidelines without too many complications. The space data shows most laboratories provide about 4m² per person on average, although space between benches in some older labs may pose issues.</p>
<p><iframe id="DfCox" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/DfCox/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Where open plan offices are being used, they will have to meet social distancing rules. </p>
<p>Most university open plan offices have a density that is significantly lower than the 4m² average set by the guidelines, although achieving the 1.5m distancing rule may require some adaptations, such as additional screens. </p>
<p>Staff will be needed on campus as students return, but simple provisions similar to that used in retail shops, including floor signs and barriers, will be adequate to achieve the distancing guidelines. The continuing trend to move student services online will also help. </p>
<h2>Cramped lecture rooms</h2>
<p>Teaching space is much more problematic. The space data shows it is not possible to deliver conventional lectures in most existing tiered auditoriums during Step 3 restrictions. The absolute limit of 100 students in one space, narrow seat aisles and close seat spacing make them difficult to adapt. </p>
<p>Online lectures will still be necessary for the foreseeable future. </p>
<p>It is possible to deliver small group teaching, in groups of 19 to 100, but the space data we examined show only about one-third of non-lecture and non-laboratory teaching hours could be delivered on campus across a typical 50-hour week. </p>
<p>The smallest room that could accommodate a group of 19 students and an academic is 80m² under Step 3 guidelines. Only about 20% of campus teaching spaces are big enough although this percentage does vary from campus to campus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337532/original/file-20200526-106823-yfw9l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities will need to move the furniture to keep students safely distanced apart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/munnerley/5078086024/">Flickr/Dan Munnerley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Successfully delivering small group teaching will probably require a lot of work on existing course structures and plenty of furniture relocation. But the opportunity to provide this type of teaching to the limit of capacity will be valuable in supporting retention and improving student experience. </p>
<h2>Students love campus life</h2>
<p>A campus is the largest capital investment a university makes and there are valid reasons why this is so. <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/attrition-report-june-2017-19dec2017.pdf?v=1513650539">Attrition</a>, retention and <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys">student experience data</a> all suggest face to face teaching and other aspects of campus life are effective ways to attract, engage and retain undergraduate students.</p>
<p>A campus is also essential to deliver laboratory-based research. STEM research accounts for the majority of university research income and delivers many useful things, including perhaps <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/3-australian-covid-vaccines-are-being-developed-some-fear-that-s-too-many-20200401-p54fy6.html">a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine</a>.</p>
<p>The timing of Step 3 is in the hands of state governments. For example, Queensland says it will move to <a href="https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/government-actions/roadmap-to-easing-queenslands-restrictions">Step 3 on July 10</a> while Tasmania has chosen <a href="http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/releases/tasmanias_roadmap_to_recovery">July 13</a>.</p>
<p>By the start of Semester 2 in late July or early August, it is probable that most states will have moved to Step 3. </p>
<p>UNSW, which moved to a three term model last year, will commence <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Academic-Dates-2020-as-of-1-April-2020.pdf">Term 2 on June 1</a>, too early for Step 3.</p>
<h2>Getting to campus</h2>
<p>Another challenge though for universities is that of getting staff and students to campus on time. The capacity of public transport has been <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/new-social-distancing-rules-on-trains-trams-buses-as-restrictions-ease/news-story/3f96d482a9bfe11210792444198098c7">severely reduced by social distancing</a> rules under Step 3.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-need-to-train-lecturers-in-online-delivery-or-they-risk-students-dropping-out-133921">Universities need to train lecturers in online delivery, or they risk students dropping out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In many cases it will not be practical to operate a campus with a full student or staff load. </p>
<p>Because campus populations are likely to be considerably reduced for a significant period of time, the challenges currently faced by on campus shops, food outlets and recreational facilities will continue.</p>
<p>The faint silver lining to all of this could be a long-term shift towards small group teaching, supplemented by high quality online materials, rather than reverting to the large lecture as we knew it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337825/original/file-20200527-141316-110yqdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students will need to keep their distance at campus cafes and shops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/serdarkaya/35529248015/">Flickr/Kaya</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Hanmer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Not all teaching spaces in universities are big enough to allow students to return to normal study as the pandemic restriction ease.Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1330412020-03-09T20:26:10Z2020-03-09T20:26:10ZMandatory e-learning is a problem in Ontario high schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319367/original/file-20200309-118960-rcjrhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C157%2C4794%2C3086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In-class and face-to-face experiences are uniquely valuable for students and should be protected at all costs. Here, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks at at Queen's Park in Toronto on March 3, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mandatory high school e-learning has become a point of contention in Ontario. The provincial government currently says it will implement <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/high-school-students-mandatory-online-courses-graduation-1.5368305">two mandatory high school e-learning courses</a> — down from an initial proposal to make it compulsory that students take <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2019/03/education-that-works-for-you-2.html">four out of 30 high school courses online</a>. </p>
<p>This change happened after the government faced <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/education-minister-stephen-lecce-announcement-1.5483979">strong resistance from teachers</a>, and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6239822/parents-rejected-increased-class-sizes/">negative responses from parents</a> <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/09/09/ontario-students-overwhelmingly-reject-provinces-e-learning-plans-survey-finds.html">and students</a> about mandatory e-learning. </p>
<p>The Toronto District School Board recently released results of a January 2020 survey that found <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/students-parents-and-teachers-do-not-support-mandatory-e-learning-tdsb-survey-finds-1.4817440">81 per cent of parents, 87 per cent of students and 97 per cent of teachers don’t support</a> two mandatory e-learning requirements. The board emailed the survey to a grade 7-12 student sample, a sample of parents with children who are kindergarten-aged to Grade 12 and all secondary teachers. A total of 428 students, 1,938 parents and 2,730 secondary school teachers responded.</p>
<p>On March 3, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6625163/ontario-schools-class-sizes-e-learning/">Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Ontario will</a> introduce a “<a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2020/03/ontario-announces-a-fair-plan-to-keep-students-in-class.html">policy to give parents the ability to opt their children out of the mandatory online courses required for graduation</a>.”</p>
<p>However, burdening parents with opting out means they’ll need to take time and make an active decision to opt out. This will likely have the most harmful impact on those families who aren’t aware of their ability to choose, or who face social or linguistic barriers accessing school information, including some newcomers. If awareness of opting out fades over time, then the courses become normalized and commonplace in practice. </p>
<p>Proposals to introduce mandatory e-learning into Ontario high schools might be a slippery slope. Will two mandatory courses today evolve into 25 per cent of all courses, or the possibility of high school diplomas offered 100 per cent online? The <em>Toronto Star</em> reported that a confidential document marked “not for distribution” <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/01/13/secret-document-shows-ford-government-changed-its-mind-before-making-online-course-mandatory-for-high-schoolers.html">“envisioned allowing students to get high school diplomas ‘entirely online’ starting in September 2024</a>.” </p>
<p>Will the duty to opt out of online learning today become the duty to opt into classroom learning tomorrow?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319379/original/file-20200309-118951-z71njk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will two mandatory courses today evolve into 25 per cent of all courses required to graduate?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The value of face-to-face</h2>
<p>In-class and face-to-face experiences are uniquely valuable for high school student learning and should be protected at all costs. When students are in the classroom, they learn more than content. Meaningful learning happens through face-to-face interactions with teachers and peers. As the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU_2-4SR-gk">education scholar Nel Noddings</a> notes: “<a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Challenge_to_Care_in_Schools.html?id=LaRDAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">We do not tell our students to care; we show them how to care by creating caring relations with them</a>.”</p>
<p>The students are able to listen to different perspectives, ask questions in the moment, make deeper connections to the material and engage emotionally. In addition, teachers are constantly trying to differentiate learning for students to meet diverse learning needs, interests and styles. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-in-a-globalized-world-109881">Culturally responsive teaching in a globalized world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Research notes that learning is most productive when the teacher and student know one another and have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298563">positive relationship</a>. The knowledge of students that teachers need in order to differentiate teaching and assessment is limited in a wholly online context.</p>
<p>Research is still examining how screen time affects brain development, attention and communication skills. High school students are not adult learners or university students. They are young and their brains are still developing. </p>
<p>A 2019 Angus Reid poll found that <a href="http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019.09.03_Kids-and-Screens.pdf">almost half (46 per cent) of Canadian parents are concerned that their child spends too much time in front of a screen</a>. A report from the United States found that teens already spend an average of <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/landmark-report-us-teens-use-an-average-of-nine-hours-of-media-per-day">nine hours a day</a> in front of a screen. </p>
<h2>Foundations for future-readiness</h2>
<p>The move to e-learning is being marketed to parents as “<a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2019/03/education-that-works-for-you-2.html?_ga=2.251544390.1144905170.1583766623-1505833445.1579287194">modernizing</a>,” but high school students don’t need more screen time to prepare for their futures. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Students who are best prepared for the future … <a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20Paper%20(05.04.2018).pdf">can have a positive impact on their surroundings, influence the future, understand others’ intentions, actions and feelings</a>, and anticipate the short and long-term consequences of what they do.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>That kind of deep understanding is best developed when students and teachers can be together, sharing common spaces across the school. Perhaps this is why some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-tech-free-red-flag-2018-2">technology executives want more in-person learning and less screen time for their own children</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to collaboration and communication, many frameworks
<a href="http://www.edugains.ca/resources21CL/About21stCentury/21CL_21stCenturyCompetencies.pdf">for 21st century learning cite critical thinking</a> as a necessary competency. Students develop these critical thinking abilities through discussion and debate as well as through opportunities for applying ideas in new contexts. </p>
<p>Students learn through the complexities of being together in school. They learn to listen, negotiate and become responsible. They learn to share and to be patient. They develop skills and abilities that are assets in all areas of their lives. <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Beautiful_Risk_of_Education.html?id=dTHvCgAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">This complexity is at the very heart of a good education</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319385/original/file-20200309-118897-1a17e0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mandatory e-learning is about cutting costs in education. Here, striking teachers walk the picket line outside of Northern Secondary School in Toronto, Dec. 4, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s about cutting costs</h2>
<p>E-learning isn’t about modernization. E-learning may instead be a trojan horse for cost-cutting and privatization. Teacher and staff wages make up the bulk of the education budget and the government likely recognises that costs can be cut if fewer teachers are employed to teach students. Ontario has been seeking to do this in two ways. </p>
<p>The first is to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5954159/ontario-class-size-changes-fewer-teachers-five-years-fao/">increase class sizes</a>. The second is related to the first: it’s to introduce mandatory e-learning as a way of potentially grouping larger cohorts of students in a virtual classroom, centralizing course preparations and reducing the scope of personalized learning. This contradicts the OECD’s recommendation for 21st century learning that curriculum should be shifting from “predetermined and static” to “<a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20Paper%20(05.04.2018).pdf">adaptable and dynamic</a>.”</p>
<p>In addition to cost-cutting, the move to centralized e-learning also reveals that the government may be planning to <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/01/13/secret-document-shows-ford-government-changed-its-mind-before-making-online-course-mandatory-for-high-schoolers.html">develop private revenue</a> streams. Canadian courses and curriculum are already being sold internationally. It’s quite possible that the government hopes that there will be a future market for an online curriculum.</p>
<p>Mandatory e-learning will not mean more choice for students and parents. In Ontario, fewer teachers and increased class sizes have already resulted in less <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/ontario-teacher-strike-1.5452441">course choice</a>. The loss of face-to-face togetherness in a student’s formative years should not be the benchmark for what modernization looks like in schools today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lana Parker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Forcing parents or students to opt out of mandatory e-learning will only serve to normalize Ontario’s push to cut costs at the expense of what’s best for young people.Lana Parker, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1257032019-10-31T12:53:40Z2019-10-31T12:53:40ZHow much of a difference does the number of kids in a classroom make?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299335/original/file-20191029-183116-1rop417.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chicago's teachers say they are seeking a better deal for their students too.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Chicago-Schools-Strike-City-Budget/d5439ebd493b43d29eee99a833636a3b/8/0">AP Photo/Teresa Crawford</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://apnews.com/702bf38168404d30a703eb357a8fb9de">Chicago’s teachers went on strike</a> in October, suspending instruction for the city’s public school students for <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/31/us/chicago-teacher-strike-thursday-makeup-days/index.html">11 days</a>.</p>
<p>Educators in the nation’s third-largest school district were seeking higher pay and improved benefits. But they also wanted to <a href="https://www.npr.org/local/309/2019/10/10/768891230/how-class-size-demands-could-trigger-a-chicago-teachers-strike">reduce the number of classrooms with large numbers of students</a>.</p>
<p>The deal the union representing Chicago’s teachers struck with the city calls for enforcing limits on class size that are in place but not always heeded. It also commits the authorities to spend <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/chicago/2019/10/30/heres-the-full-tentative-agreement-that-chicagos-union-delegates-will-weigh-tonight/">US$35 million a year</a> to cover the cost of hiring more teacher’s aides to relieve teachers responsible for 32 or more kids in kindergarten through third grade.</p>
<p>Such a change would require more teachers. </p>
<p>Would it also make a difference for kids?</p>
<p>I’ve studied <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=XneK_7sAAAAJ">how schools can boost student achievement</a> for more than two decades and I’ve found that smaller classes are better for students. This is especially the case in the early grades and for students from low-income families. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, though, it is impossible to say <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/685116971/the-los-angeles-teacher-strikes-class-size-conundrum">what class size</a> between 15 and 40 is ideal. However, the evidence suggests that every decline in class size within this range leads to kids learning more.</p>
<h2>Reviewing the research</h2>
<p>Many factors influence educational outcomes. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20160567">Total spending</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/003355399556052">class size</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjr041">teacher quality</a> are important. So is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120701576241">school’s culture</a>, including how school staff work together and learn from each other, and how they respond to student needs. The characteristics of a student’s classmates matter, as does the fit between the student and her teacher. </p>
<p>A randomized study conducted by researcher <a href="http://lilysblackboard.org/2015/12/former-nea-preain-dies-at-91/">Helen Pate Bain</a> and her colleagues in Tennessee in the mid-1980s, called <a href="https://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/STAR-Technical-Report-Part-I.pdf">Project STAR</a>, provided the strongest evidence to date that children learn more when they are in smaller classes.</p>
<p>The researchers randomly assigned nearly 12,000 students and their teachers in kindergarten through third grade in 79 schools to classes with 13-17 students or 22-25 students.</p>
<p>The results were clear: students in the smaller classes performed significantly better on <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F01623737021002097">math and reading tests</a>, with a gain of 4 percentile points or more. The benefits of smaller classes were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/003355399556052">even larger in schools with low-income students</a>.</p>
<p>More recent research indicates that the benefits of being taught in smaller classes persist long after students have moved on to the next grade. They become more likely to complete <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.2.214">high school</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21715">go to college</a> and less likely to end up <a href="https://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01w66343627">becoming parents in their teens</a>, to name some of the most compelling examples.</p>
<p>Many other researchers who have studied the impact of smaller classes in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F01623737021002165">Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjs048">Sweden</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/003355399556061">Israel</a> have found similar connections.</p>
<p>But the evidence is not entirely clear cut. Although most research points to students faring better when they’re taught in small classes, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.01.004">some</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/003355300555060">studies</a> have not found any benefits.</p>
<p>And there’s a big gap in this research. Most studies have looked into how class size affects learning in elementary school, providing <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0162373710392370">little insight</a> when administrators and policymakers make decisions about class sizes for middle and high school students.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299336/original/file-20191029-183147-3z4dzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With 30 students or more in a class, it’s hard for everyone to get their turn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/high-school-kids-raise-hands-teacher-735905167?src=5dKLbz3ym9XlbAmUUhrnRQ-1-8">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Comparing ideals and reality</h2>
<p>In theory, <a href="https://b5.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=b7f93000695b3d0d5abb4b68bd14&id=a0y70000000CbsLAAS">at least 19 state governments</a> have imposed class-size mandates based on classroom averages, and another 10 have binding ones that require schools or districts to maintain a set average.</p>
<p>In reality, these rules vary widely in terms of funding, enforcement and how the authorities measure class size.</p>
<p>For example, in theory, Texas has a maximum class size of 22 for kindergarten through fourth grade, but <a href="https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Schools/Waivers/State_Waivers/Maximum_Class_Size_Exceptions">waivers that allow classes to have larger numbers of students</a> are easy to obtain. Delaware requires a ratio of 22 students per teacher, <a href="http://www.nea.org/home/achievement_Delaware.html">but it counts classroom instructional aides as half a teacher</a>.</p>
<p>Reducing the number of students in each classroom requires employing more teachers, which in turn, means spending more money on salaries and benefits. In some cases, the additional teachers hired may not be as effective as those already in the building. Strictly limiting class size can also drive up school construction costs when there aren’t enough classrooms to accommodate students being split into more groups.</p>
<p>It’s also impossible to maintain consistent sizes in classes, especially in the early grades, since elementary schools tend to be relatively smaller.</p>
<p>Say a school had 71 first-graders, with a class size cap of 24. They could group them into two classrooms of 24 students and another with 23. But if the next year a family with twins moves into a nearby neighborhood, raising the number of second-graders to 73 students, the school would wind up with three second-grade classrooms with 18 students and another with 19.</p>
<p>Taking that step instead of splitting them into two classrooms of 24 students and another with 25 could require hiring a new teacher. School administrators might argue in this situation – correctly – that one additional student would not make much of a difference in terms of what those second-graders would be learning that year. At the same time, those students could wind up benefiting from having fewer classmates. </p>
<p>My example assumes that an additional classroom is available, and an additional qualified teacher can be hired. That’s not always the case.</p>
<h2>Heeding the California precedent</h2>
<p><a href="https://edsource.org/2018/in-push-to-expand-universal-preschool-lessons-to-be-learned-from-californias-class-size-reduction-program/605911">California</a> enacted a voluntary class-size reduction program in 1996 that dramatically reduced class sizes in kindergarten through third grade statewide. To adhere to the new rules capping those classes at 20 students, schools had to <a href="https://www.cta.org/oralhistory">hire 30,000 new teachers</a>.</p>
<p>Many of those new hires lacked experience and standard teaching credentials. Kids, at least initially, didn’t gain as much as expected from being in smaller classes because some of new <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/class-size-reduction-teacher-quality-and-academic-achievement-in-california-public-elementary-schools/">teachers weren’t as good</a> as the ones hired before the rules changed.</p>
<p>And because there weren’t enough classrooms to accommodate them, many schools made do with the portable structures sometimes called “<a href="https://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/apr/20/portable-classrooms-not-always-right-answer-school/">relocatables</a>” or <a href="https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/back-to-school-back-to-trailers/article_5eda0b7a-c437-11e9-a1bb-4f9a532904ee.html">trailers</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://edsource.org/2012/class-size-reduction-program-continues-to-unravel/8730">California rolled back this requirement</a> during the Great Recession. By 2012, many schools had <a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/cefcsp.asp">30 or more children</a> in a classroom. <a href="https://edu.wyoming.gov/data/161-waiver/">Wyoming</a>, likewise, has pared back its ambitious goal of having no more than <a href="https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/wyoming-school-facilities-commission-returns-to-smaller-class-sizes/article_bab7ee92-be31-11e8-9348-433fe5c30702.html">16 children</a> in its kindergarten through third-grade classrooms to <a href="https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/who-decides-when-classroom-holds-too-many-students#stream/0">save money</a>.</p>
<p>Without question, class size matters. But when faced with constraints such as building sizes and tight budgets, the choice to reduce class size can be hard to sustain.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend.</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach has received grant funding from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and the Spencer Foundation to study the impacts of school finance reforms. She is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, serves on the Advisory Council of the Hamilton Project, and is a board member of Chicago HOPES for Kids and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.</span></em></p>Research suggests that kids benefit when there are fewer of them in a classroom. But quickly reducing class size can cause new problems as schools scramble to hire new teachers.Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Professor of Education and Social Policy; Director of the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1254662019-10-18T11:22:29Z2019-10-18T11:22:29ZThe Chicago teachers’ strike isn’t just about kids – it’s about union power too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297568/original/file-20191017-98648-1d02q0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chicago's teachers are on strike for the first time since 2012.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Chicago-Schools-Strike/8370c6493d614f0ab916e55ac439e8a4/2/0">AP Photo/Martha Irvine</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Classes in Chicago’s public schools were canceled starting Oct. 17 as more than 25,000 teachers in the nation’s <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2019/comm/largest-school-districts.html">third-largest school district</a> went on strike in what they’re calling a fight for “<a href="https://abc7chicago.com/education/live-thousands-of-striking-cps-teachers-hit-picket-lines-across-city-/5625169/">justice and equity</a>” for their students.</p>
<p>The strike, the city’s first in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/us/illinois-chicago-teachers-strike/index.html">seven years</a>, marks what has been a tumultuous year for labor negotiations in urban school districts around the country. Thirty thousand Los Angeles school teachers went on a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/22/us/los-angeles-teachers-strike-day-6/index.html">six-day strike</a> in January. The next month, approximately 2,600 teachers walked out of the classroom for <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/14/18224848/denver-teachers-strike-over-deal">three days in Denver</a>, and 3,000 teachers picketed for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/4/18249872/oakland-teachers-strike-pay-raise">a week in Oakland</a>.</p>
<p>Many of the demands the unions are making almost certainly would benefit students. But beneath the rallying cries, these unions are facing a new reality that suggests they are also fighting for something else.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-1466">Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME</a> that workers are free to choose whether to join a union. Since then, we’d argue, teacher strikes have been as much a fight for the soul of the union as they are for the soul of public education. What the teachers’ unions want and need is membership. </p>
<p>The deals that teachers’ unions negotiate with school districts matter more than ever for maintaining their membership and political power in the post-Janus world. As education policy scholars who have studied <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JAZULk0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">teachers’ unions</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NDkwqOQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">teacher collective bargaining</a> for more than a decade, we have read thousands of agreements like the ones negotiated in <a href="https://www.utla.net/news/tentative-agreement-2019">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="https://denverteachers.org/we-fight-we-win/">Denver</a> and <a href="https://oaklandea.org/updates/oea-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-ousd/">Oakland</a> in early 2019 and will soon be forged in Chicago.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents and students joined striking Los Angeles Unified District teachers in front of Evelyn Thurman Gratts Elementary School in Los Angeles in January 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Los-Angeles-Teachers-Strike/0184d7cb63254905a8a32ac0094aa005/36/0">Richard Vogel</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Negotiating for numbers</h2>
<p>What does negotiating for membership look like?</p>
<p>The agreements that unions are securing establish teacher salaries, restrictions on the length of the workday, performance evaluation procedures and other important working conditions. But they also set staffing levels for teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors. In short, teachers are bargaining to increase staffing – and in particular, staff who can also join the union. If they can increase staffing, they can increase membership and ensure their future. </p>
<p>With a 16% raise on the table, the Chicago Teachers’ Union <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/16/20918124/chicago-teachers-union-strike-cps-public-schools-house-delegates">is asking</a> for a contract that guarantees smaller class sizes. With fewer students in each classroom, the school system will need to employ more teachers. In addition, the union aims to increase the number of nonteaching staff employed, such as nurses, librarians, social workers and counselors. All of these new hires will be potential union members.</p>
<p>Consider the <a href="https://www.utla.net/news/tentative-agreement-2019">three-year deal</a> that the teachers’ union secured in Los Angeles in January. Along with a 6% salary increase, the deal included numerous staffing guarantees that equate to more membership for the Los Angeles teachers’ union: 300 nurses, 82 librarians and 77 counselors. Because the contract reduced class size by four students in grades 4 through 12 over the duration of the contract, it requires the school district to add new teachers.</p>
<p>The Oakland teachers’ union followed a similar playbook for their <a href="https://oaklandea.org/updates/oea-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-ousd/">four-year deal</a> in February. The union secured an 11% raise over the next four years and a modest reduction in class size by the 2021-22 school year. Additionally, the new contract lowers the counselor-to-student ratio, establishes new caseload limits for school psychologists and speech and language pathologists and increases staffing levels at schools with 50 or more students who are new to the country.</p>
<p>All of those provisions require the district to add more educators. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297544/original/file-20191017-98666-19ssbqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers, students and supporters rallied in front of City Hall in Oakland, California, in February 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Oakland-Teachers-Strike/99b9ba96c9fc4ec9bfd16e13c8bc4beb/6/0">AP Photo/Jeff Chiu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Organizing charter school teachers</h2>
<p>Not only are teachers’ unions fighting for increased staffing levels, they are using contract negotiations to limit the transfer of teachers to <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/as-teacher-protests-escalate-non-union-educators-express-mixed-feelings/554282/">nonunion schools</a> that pose a threat to their membership levels.</p>
<p>The unions in Los Angeles and Oakland took a hard stance on charter schools in their negotiations. In Los Angeles, the teachers’ union <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/UTLA-talks-Charter-School-LAUSD-Strike-approaching-503401771.html">called for</a> an eight- to 10-month moratorium on new charter schools, something the local school board cannot provide. However, the Los Angeles Unified School District <a href="https://www.utla.net/news/school-board-approves-moratorium-charters">agreed to endorse</a> such a moratorium and lobby California’s governor to that end.</p>
<p>The Oakland teachers’ union secured a nearly identical commitment from the school district to lobby the state legislature for the same moratorium. A final <a href="https://www.cta.org/Issues-and-Action/Charter-Schools.aspx">union-backed bill</a>, which stopped short of a full stop on new charters but which imposed new restrictions, received <a href="https://edsource.org/2019/new-era-for-charter-schools-newsom-signs-bill-with-compromises-he-negotiated/618099">the California governor’s signature</a> in October. The Chicago teachers’ union secured <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-chicago-charter-schools-teachers-union-edit-1026-20161025-story.html">a cap on charter school expansion</a> in their last contract negotiations in 2016. </p>
<p>Even while they attempt to limit charter growth, unions are seeking to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/12/14/the-teachers-unions-have-a-charter-school.html">organize charter teachers</a>. The teachers at more than a quarter of Chicago’s 121 charter schools belong to the Chicago Teachers’ Union. A similar share of the 277 charter schools in Los Angeles are organized by its teachers’ union. Only two of Oakland’s 44 charters, however, are unionized.</p>
<p>The teachers at some of the charter schools in <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-acero-strike-agreement-20181209-story.html">Chicago</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-edu-lausd-strike-accelerated-school-20190114-story.html">Los Angeles</a> went on strike in the past year, for the first in the nation’s history.</p>
<p>All in all, our rough calculations suggest that the <a href="https://achieve.lausd.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=45663&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=73638&PageID=1">staffing provisions</a> in the Los Angeles contract could have added over 1,500 members to the the Los Angeles teachers’ union’s membership. This would equate to about a 5% increase in the union’s ranks of at least <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/13/684645947/los-angeles-teachers-are-moving-forward-with-a-strike">30,000 educators</a>. The Oakland teachers’ union could be getting a similar boost.</p>
<h2>Gaining members</h2>
<p>It’s too early to tell what will happen in Chicago, but a contract with robust staffing guarantees will likely add membership to the union ranks. </p>
<p>In a post-Janus world, unions are showcasing the viability of the picket line as a way to win contracts that bolster membership. Not only that, but because only union members can vote to authorize a strike, union leadership can leverage strike votes to petition – or pressure – nonunion members to join the movement.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles union reports <a href="https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/UTLA_PUB_Sept18-low-rez.pdf">adding over 1,000 members</a> during its strike vote. The Denver union says it <a href="https://www.cpr.org/news/story/the-strength-behind-the-denver-teacher-strike-is-the-unions-swelling-membership">added 250</a> during its authorization vote. </p>
<p>So why are teachers’ unions striking with increased frequency? We believe that unions are fighting for their survival.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/teacher-unions-say-theyre-fighting-for-students-and-schools-what-they-really-want-is-more-members-112735">March 4, 2019</a>.</em></p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>To fund her work on teachers' unions and CBAs, Katharine O. Strunk has received research funding from several philanthropic entities, including Arnold Ventures, the Spencer Foundation, the Walton foundation and an anonymous foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bradley D. Marianno does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers’ unions often say they go on strike to improve conditions for students. A closer look at recent walkouts suggests they are also fighting for something else: membership.Bradley D. Marianno, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy & Leadership, University of Nevada, Las VegasKatharine O. Strunk, Professor of Education Policy and Economics, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190692019-06-26T19:36:38Z2019-06-26T19:36:38ZWhy Jason Kenney’s ‘common sense’ education platform gets it wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281033/original/file-20190624-97777-1kg1tzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C3383%2C1519&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More testing won't improve math achievement. Here, Alberta premier Jason Kenney with Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education, after being sworn into office in Edmonton on April 30, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alberta Premier Jason Kenney wants to “bring common sense to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-ucp-education-plan-ata-teachers-1.5076141">education</a>.” He has insinuated teachers are <a href="https://jumpradio.ca/news/5099538/alberta-teachers-ucp-kenney-education-reforms/">not already accountable</a>
to their students and suggested that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kenney-education-platform-funding-class-size-testing-standardized-1.5070660">“failed teaching fads” including “inquiry learning”</a> are responsible for the decline in <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/david-staples-jason-kenney-would-reverse-course-on-education-reform-photo-radar">student scores measured by the Program for International Student Assessment</a>, better known as <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/251/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment_(PISA).html">PISA</a>. </p>
<p>Both Kenney’s diagnosis and his prescriptions are misguided, even harmful: the main problems plaguing Alberta students’ performance isn’t the way math is taught but inequality and huge classes. </p>
<p>I am an associate professor of education at St. Mary’s University specializing in curriculum and instruction, and a Calgarian with kids of my own. I help educate future elementary teachers, and I’ve taught in California when the use of standardized testing was accelerated. I also research <a href="http://www.socstrpr.org/?page_id=2372">economic inequality</a> and its implications for <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-for-Democracy-in-an-Age-of-Economic-Disparity-1st-Edition/Wright-Maley-Davis/p/book/9781315678603">democracy and education</a>. </p>
<h2>Source of decline?</h2>
<p>Kenney told Albertans that the province has seen a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kenneyjasont/videos/802445530110451/">“devastating reduction” and “disturbing decline in math proficiency</a>,” which jeopardizes the province’s future. Currently, Alberta’s PISA ranking falls <a href="https://education.alberta.ca/media/3402015/pisa-2015-math.pdf">just above average in Canada, behind Québec and B.C.; internationally, Alberta’s ranking is above average</a>.</p>
<p>Scholars point out that it’s problematic to take PISA results at face value because there are issues having to do with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00313831.2016.1258726?needAccess=true">translation and reporting of error rates</a>, with <a href="https://www.uv.es/RELIEVE/v22n1/RELIEVEv22n1_M15eng.pdf">methods, sampling and response rates</a> and with unequal application of standards in all <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/01/04/are-the-pisa-education-results-rigged/#5b14b0d81561">countries</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/problems-with-pisa-why-canadians-should-be-skeptical-of-the-global-test-118096">Problems with PISA: Why Canadians should be skeptical of the global test</a>
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<p>Kenney has criticized the way math is taught. But he might be surprised to learn that the biggest drop in Alberta’s PISA math achievement occurred <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/docs/pisa2006/Pisa2006.en.pdf">between 2003 and 2006</a>. The rollout of the 2007 math curriculum, which he has deemed responsible, <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/hitting-the-books-how-alberta-education-is-rewriting-curriculum-for-the-next-generation-of-students">took four years to implement</a>. If test scores were falling before and after the curriculum changes, then the math curriculum is not the likeliest culprit. </p>
<h2>More testing not the answer</h2>
<p>Kenney has <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/03/27/jason-kenneys-alberta-education_a_23701184/">suggested</a> that Alberta not only return to testing Grade 3, but doing so for Grades 1 and 2 as well. The idea that more testing will improve achievement is, however, contradicted by evidence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281043/original/file-20190624-97794-1tqjtza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Kenney has suggested bringing back standardized testing for Grade 3, and adding it to grades 1 and 2 as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In the United States, the vast increase in testing seen since 2002’s federal <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10/27/443110755/no-child-left-behind-what-worked-what-didnt">No Child Left Behind Act</a> increased scores on state tests (though not on <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/04/07/what-international-test-scores-reveal-about-american-education/">PISA</a>), but at the cost of <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/what-works-may-hurt%E2%80%94side-effects-in-education-9780807759059">diminishing the quality of education</a> as a whole. Since 2000, the global standing of the U.S. in education <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002116.pdf">plummeted from 18th</a> to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/on-the-world-stage-us-students-fall-behind/2016/12/05/610e1e10-b740-11e6-a677-b608fbb3aaf6_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8360e264a22f">to 38th</a>. </p>
<p>More high-stakes testing doesn’t improve the quality of education; it often <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189x07306523">narrows the curriculum</a> and inhibits the development of essential <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2011.607151">thinking skills</a> required of today’s graduates. Put simply, you don’t fatten a pig by weighing it.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reduce-childrens-test-anxiety-with-these-tips-and-a-re-think-of-what-testing-means-111730">Reduce children’s test anxiety with these tips — and a re-think of what testing means</a>
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<h2>Growing economic inequality</h2>
<p>Epidemiologists Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett synthesized global education data from the OECD, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank. They found that for children aged 15 years and younger, math achievement scores are <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7629/1080">inversely correlated</a> to economic inequality: as inequality increases, test scores decline. Scholars have studied this phenomenon since <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gwfcAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&ots=JjcB_V0vF4&sig=1pEtxo8AZp1rkDsgnreBRR4NMMM#v=onepage&q&f=false">at least the 1960s</a>.</p>
<p>Between the years 2000-2015, <a href="https://irpp.org/research-studies/framing-the-new-inequality/">provincial tax policy</a> helped Alberta become the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/19/alberta-income-inequality_n_6186066.html">most unequal</a> <a href="https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/from_gap_to_chasm">province in Canada</a> — a situation that likely <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/sep/18/kate-pickett-richard-wilkinson-mental-wellbeing-inequality-the-spirit-level">impacts the health and wellness</a> of Albertans.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264102873-en.pdf?expires=1554927840&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=DA94E5E0027B254CE204688EC595BED8">economic inequality within a population is a significant indicator of student performance</a>. The performance gap related to inequality <a href="http://files-eu.clickdimensions.com/ei-ieorg-a4ucu/files/oecd2018equityineducation-embargoedcopy.pdf?1539877267533&_cldee=aGVsZW5hLnNjaHVsekBlaS1pZS5vcmc%3D&recipientid=contact-cd8fdaf713b0e3118e4d005056ad0002-7ecf26c888e24500b2d9ecda6e8fc31f&esid=d6ac42ea-15df-4e5d-ad99-b2a835d93d34">widens in adolescence</a>, and Canadian performance deterioration occurred in the context of <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264266490-10-en.pdf?expires=1554930139&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=CC4ED450B62FEFB9791C4DC6B4E262A0">increasing socioeconomic inequality</a>.</p>
<h2>Teacher-student ratios burden achievement</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, Alberta class sizes have soared. Since <a href="https://education.alberta.ca/media/1626474/commissionreport.pdf">Alberta’s Commission on Learning in 2003</a> called for class-size caps, the number of core classes (math, English language arts, social studies and science) that have more than 40 kids crammed into them has <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-school-class-size-crowded-rooms-surged-as-spending-remained-untracked">grown by nearly 600 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>The OECD’s own analysis reveals that when teacher-student ratios increase above 25 “there is a continuous decline in school performance in all <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33691596.pdf">PISA subject domains</a>.” </p>
<p>This year, some Alberta schools <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/public-school-principals-prepare-for-fewer-teachers-larger-classrooms-more-anxiety-next-fall">plan to reduce teaching staff</a>, which will further increase class sizes. The province already needs as many as <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/large-class-sizes-becoming-unmanageable-says-alberta-teachers-association-president">3,000 teachers</a> across the province.</p>
<p>According to a 2014 report, Alberta’s <a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/attachments/research_papers/mixed/Commentary_488.pdf">poorest students outperform their peers worldwide</a>. Canadian education has among the lowest <a href="https://www.oecd.org/publications/equity-in-education-9789264073234-en.htm">socioeconomic gaps in the world</a>, which suggests that teachers and the existing system are acting as life preservers to buoy educational achievement in an inequitable context.</p>
<p>While Kenney has highighted declining math scores in Alberta, their problem-solving success is conveniently ignored. Between (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/34009000.pdf">2003</a> and <a href="http://cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/324/AMatters_No6_EN_Web.pdf">2012</a>), Alberta students’ performance in <a href="https://www.pisa.tum.de/en/domains/problem-solving/">problem solving as measured on PISA</a> has steadily improved: Alberta now ranks behind only <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/389/PISA2015_CPS_EN.pdf">Singapore, British Columbia and Japan</a> in this PISA testing domain. Problem solving is the first stated <a href="http://www.learnalberta.ca/ProgramOfStudy.aspx?ProgramId=26061#">goal of the Alberta K-9 math curriculum</a>. </p>
<h2>Savings and investment</h2>
<p>The Kenney government is investing heavily in corporate tax cuts. There is ample evidence to suggest that these cuts <a href="https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EE17-final-embargoed-for-August-30.pdf">do not lead to job growth</a> and <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/eca/wpaper/2013-264399.html">may even lead to job losses</a>. Across Canada, tax cuts have cost provinces <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/corporate-income-taxes-profit-and-employment-performance-canadas-largest-compa">$12 billion</a> annually since 2000, and have rapidly <a href="https://ips-dc.org/report-corporate-tax-cuts-boost-ceo-pay-not-jobs/">accelerated inequality</a>. </p>
<p>It is important to highlight that inequality destroys <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-ca/Rethinking+Capitalism:+Economics+and+Policy+for+Sustainable+and+Inclusive+Growth-p-9781119120957">economic growth</a> in the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2015-In-It-Together-Chapter1-Overview-Inequality.pdf">long term</a>. Improvements in educational achievement, however, are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09645292.2015.1059801">strongly tied to long-term economic growth</a>, as is investment in teachers and schools. </p>
<p>The Conference Board of Canada reports that the long-term return for every <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/2017/10/26/expanding-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-canada-yields-significant-economic-and-societal-benefits">dollar spent on early childhood education (ages two to four) is $6 in terms of reduced costs on social spending</a> (for example, on prisons, social services and health care, etc.) and improved tax revenues. </p>
<p>Likewise, dollars spent on education from kindergarten to Grade 12 translate to roughly <a href="https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/publications/policy-briefs/school-spending-policy-research-brief-Jackson.pdf">$2 per dollar invested</a>. The Conference Board of Canada concludes “every dollar spent on post-secondary education creates $1.36 <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/Details/education/tertiary.aspx">for the Canadian economy</a>.” Education spending is a substantial <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29672">net-growth investment vehicle</a>, one that is being driven off the road by careless and ignorant policy.</p>
<p>There’s no quick or cheap fix to the mess created by decades of <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/norway-s-oil-savings-just-hit-1-trillion-alberta-has-17-billion-what-s-gives/">Conservative neglect of investment in future needs</a>.</p>
<p>Alberta can improve achievement by cultivating conditions for growth: reduce class sizes to allow more attention from teachers, provide teachers with time and opportunities for professional development and collaboration and implement a progressive system of taxation that helps create a society in which children have adequate resources to thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cory Wright-Maley receives funding from Alberta Education for work on implementing newly mandated Teacher Quality Standards. His views are his own and do not necessarily represent those of his employer.</span></em></p>The main problem plaguing Alberta students’ math performance isn’t the current math curriculum or teacher accountability, but inequality and ballooning class sizes.Cory Wright-Maley, Associate Professor, St. Mary’s University (Calgary)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151222019-06-16T17:23:40Z2019-06-16T17:23:40ZLarge classes make it hard to notice ‘off-task’ kids with bigger questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274191/original/file-20190513-183096-k9i0qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The complexity of student experiences can be lost in larger groups. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The benefits of having smaller classes, particularly in the early elementary school years, are <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/pb_-_class_size.pdf">well-documented</a>. My work as a <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1701">researcher of language and literacy</a> has examined what takes place on the edges of the classroom — precisely the places that are more <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-larger-classes-teachers-cant-attend-to-childrens-needs-110556">difficult to notice when classes are large</a>. </p>
<p>Last year in my province of Alberta it was reported that more than 85 per cent of the kindergarten to Grade 3 classes in five of the province’s largest school districts are <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/day-1-classes-sizes-are-way-over-provincial-guidelines">larger than provincially recommended averages</a>. In the lead-up to the recent provincial election, there was no sign that <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-teachers-association-slams-ucp-education-platform">the United Conservative Party, now newly elected, would prioritize tackling this problem</a>. </p>
<p>I often inquire into what individual children are doing while their teachers are diligently working to effectively teach the curriculum and maintain order in increasingly larger, <a href="https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Human-Rights-Issues/MON-3%20Here%20comes%20everyone.pdf">culturally diverse classrooms</a>, <a href="https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Research/COOR-101-5%20The%20State%20of%20Inclusion%20in%20Alberta%20Schools.pdf">with wide ranges of learning needs</a>.</p>
<p>In particular, I am interested in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1086296X16658982">those children who seem to be chronically “off task” during language arts instructional time</a> — children who are clearly doing something, albeit not exactly what their teacher had in mind. </p>
<p>Here, I share the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351256766/chapters/10.4324/9781351256766-14">story of one such child</a>, whom I will call Charlene, with the aim of illustrating how educators can miss valuable opportunities to attend to particular students when class size <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Learning_to_Teach_in_the_Early_Years_Cla.html?id=Hn1GbwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">and complexity</a> expand. </p>
<h2>Charlene among 49 other students</h2>
<p>Charlene was in the fourth grade and part of a class of 50 students and two teachers. Charlene had an attention disorder and was one among a group of children in the class with individual education plans.</p>
<p>My involvement with the class centred around an interdisciplinary project looking at <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-literacy-today-requires-more-than-a-pencil-and-paper-114154">how children develop literacy in multiple ways</a>. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19388071.2016.1162234?journalCode=ulri20">this project</a>, the students worked in small groups to examine various aspects of the history of Alberta becoming a province.</p>
<p>Charlene’s group investigated the growth of the oil industry. The students began their exploration by developing inquiry questions, and Charlene’s group collectively asked several questions related to oil and Alberta’s economy. Unsurprisingly, the questions they asked reflected the ongoing social, political and economic debate currently taking place in Canada. Their list culminated with the following: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Was the oil boom bad for our Earth, our plants and our wildlife?” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Majority of children took economic angle</h2>
<p>After discussing a broad range of possible questions to pursue, three of the four members of Charlene’s group pursued the economic angle and diligently went about their work. </p>
<p>Charlene, however, always seemed to be at the periphery, not appearing to engage at all with the group’s discussion. Time after time when I would find her three group mates sitting side by side in the computer lab, discussing what they found online with regard to Alberta and oil, Charlene would be seated further away. She was watching puppy videos with the sound turned off. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Charlene acknowledged, with a sheepish smile, her love for animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Charlene’s ongoing puppy viewing, puppy talk and bouts of puppy writing were both a source of interest and annoyance in her group. On one occasion, a group mate exclaimed in frustration, “She’s obsessed with puppies.” Charlene seemed to agree with this statement as she acknowledged, with a sheepish smile, a declaration of her love for animals.</p>
<p>I too found myself concerned and wondering about this seeming breach of what some literacy researchers identify as the <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jaal.571">pleasure-purpose divide</a> — in other words, the frequent mismatch between students’ interests and teacher’s goals for students’ uses of literacy. </p>
<p>Tensions can exist between the students’ desires to pursue texts that their teachers might argue are of lesser quality (for example, comics, trading cards, online videos and fan fiction) and a teacher’s desire to use “high-quality” literature and teach essay-writing skills in the classroom.</p>
<p>I was somewhat comforted because Charlene could verbally explain the oil-extraction and refining process with remarkable precision. However, she had not completed the work she promised her group: a poster advertising oil production in Alberta. </p>
<h2>Puppies vs. price</h2>
<p>Instead, Charlene had written a story of farm animals that lost their lives during an oil spill. It was some time later that it hit me: despite her puppy watching, seeming inattention and separation from the group, Charlene was the only member of her group whose work ultimately took a critical position. </p>
<p>She was the only one to follow the group’s ethically oriented inquiry question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Was the oil boom bad for our Earth, our plants and our wildlife?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What can happen to teachers’ capacities to notice as class sizes creep upward? I am left with some pointed questions. </p>
<p>What might have happened in Charlene’s classroom had her teachers, and I, for that matter, been able to take note of the way she linked her love for animals and concerns regarding oil spills? How might the teachers have been able to assist her and others like her to participate more fully, both academically and socially, in her group’s work, had there been time for them to notice what was happening? </p>
<p>These questions are not to suggest that teachers will necessarily teach differently with fewer students — some research points out <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Visible-Learning-A-Synthesis-of-Over-800-Meta-Analyses-Relating-to-Achievement/Hattie/p/book/9780415476188">teachers might use the same teaching approach regardless of class size</a> — but they may illustrate how easily the complexity of student experiences may be lost in larger groups. </p>
<p>I close with the following musings: What might happen if class sizes gave educators more time to notice the personally meaningful questions and ideas their students are pursuing? What if they had more latitude to adapt their practices to the varied students before them?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Kimberly Lenters receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies (AACES) . </span></em></p>Grade 4 student Charlene seemed chronically off-task – until an educator noticed she was, in fact, the sole student pursuing the question, ‘Was the oil boom bad for our wildlife?’Kimberly Lenters, Associate Professor of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1127352019-03-04T11:39:50Z2019-03-04T11:39:50ZTeacher unions say they’re fighting for students and schools – what they really want is more members<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261755/original/file-20190302-110115-xda7d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teachers, students and supporters rally in front of City Hall in Oakland, Calif., in February. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Oakland-Teachers-Strike/99b9ba96c9fc4ec9bfd16e13c8bc4beb/6/0">Jeff Chiu/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When schoolteachers in Los Angeles went on a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/la-teacher-strike-deal.html">weeklong strike</a> in January, the head of the local teachers union described it as a “<a href="https://edsource.org/2019/teachers-mobilize-in-los-angeles-but-pathway-to-find-way-out-of-strike-is-murky/607146">battle for the soul of public education</a>.” When Denver public school teachers went on a three-day strike in February, they did it in the name of “<a href="https://denverteachers.org/denver-educators-strike-for-their-students-tomorrow/">schools Denver students deserve</a>.”</p>
<p>When teachers began their strike in Oakland on Feb. 26, the local teachers union repeated this message, voicing that they were “<a href="https://oaklandea.org/updates/we-are-fighting-for-the-schools-oakland-students-deserve/">fighting for the schools Oakland students’ deserve</a>” and in a struggle for the “<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/this-is-why-oakland-teachers-are-on-strike.html">soul of public education</a>.” The Oakland teachers’ strike <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/striking-oakland-teachers-reach-deal-end-walkout-includes-11-percent-n978476">ended on March 1</a>.</p>
<p>It’s true, many of the demands the unions are making will likely benefit students. But beneath the rallying cries, unions in the public sector are facing a new reality that suggests they are actually fighting for something else.</p>
<p>Ever since the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/teacher-unions-fallout-supreme-court-janus.html">Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME</a> in 2018 that workers are free to choose whether to join a union, we’d argue that the teacher strikes have been as much a fight for the soul of the union as they are for the soul of public education. What the teachers’ unions really want and need is membership. As one political science professor told The New York Times: “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/teacher-unions-fallout-supreme-court-janus.html">Members and money are power in politics</a>.”</p>
<p>The deals that teachers’ unions negotiate with school districts matter more than ever for maintaining their membership and political power in the post-Janus world. As education policy scholars who have studied <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JAZULk0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">teachers’ unions</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NDkwqOQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">teacher collective bargaining</a> for over a decade, we have read thousands of agreements like the ones just negotiated in Los Angeles, Denver and Oakland. </p>
<h2>Negotiating for numbers</h2>
<p>The agreements that unions are securing establish teacher salaries, restrictions on the length of the workday, performance evaluation procedures and other important working conditions. But they also set staffing levels for teachers, librarians and counselors. In short, if unions can win at the bargaining table they can increase staffing. And if they can increase staffing, they can increase membership and ensure their future. </p>
<p>Consider the deal that the teachers’ union secured in Los Angeles. Along with a 6 percent salary increase – basically the school district’s offer long before the final contract was signed – the deal includes numerous staffing guarantees that equate to more membership for the Los Angeles teachers’ union: 300 nurses, 82 librarians, 77 counselors. The contract reduces class size by four students in grades 4 through 12 over the duration of the contract, requiring the school district to add new teachers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261756/original/file-20190302-110107-uuz5mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Striking Los Angeles Unified District teachers are joined by parents and students in front of Evelyn Thurman Gratts Elementary School in Los Angeles in January.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Los-Angeles-Teachers-Strike/0184d7cb63254905a8a32ac0094aa005/36/0">Richard Vogel</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Oakland teachers’ union used a similar playbook. The union secured an <a href="https://oaklandea.org/updates/oea-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-ousd/">11 percent raise</a> over the next four years and a modest reduction in class size by the 2021-22 school year. Additionally, the new contract lowers the counselor-to-student ratio, establishes new caseload limits for school psychologists and speech and language pathologists, and increases staffing levels at schools with 50 or more students who are new to the country – all provisions that will require the district to add more educators. Finally, the union secured a five-month pause on school closures and consolidations, which will maintain current teaching and support staff positions at those schools.</p>
<h2>Strategy for charter schools</h2>
<p>Not only are teachers’ union fighting for increased staffing levels, but they are also using contract negotiations to limit the transfer of teachers to non-union schools that pose a threat to their membership levels. Both teachers’ unions took a hard stance on charter schools in their negotiations. In Los Angeles, the teachers’ union <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/UTLA-talks-Charter-School-LAUSD-Strike-approaching-503401771.html">called for</a> an eight- to 10-month moratorium on new charter schools, something the Los Angeles Unified School District board cannot provide. However, the Los Angeles Unified School District <a href="https://www.utla.net/news/school-board-approves-moratorium-charters">agreed to endorse</a> such a moratorium and lobby California’s governor to that end.</p>
<p>The Oakland teachers’ union secured a nearly identical commitment from the school district to also lobby the state legislature for the same moratorium. </p>
<p>Even while they attempt to limit charter school growth, the unions are also seeking to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/12/14/the-teachers-unions-have-a-charter-school.html">organize charter school teachers</a>. Of the 277 charter schools in Los Angeles, 65 of them – or 23 percent – are organized by the Los Angeles teachers’ union. In addition, the new LA contract provides union leaders the opportunity to pick a “coordinator” to work with staff at charter schools that share a campus with a traditional public school. This is essentially a foot in the door to draw membership from the charter sector. In Oakland, only two of the 44 charters – or 5 percent – are unionized and are represented by the parent organization of the Oakland teachers union, the California Teachers Association.</p>
<p>All in all, our rough calculations suggest that the <a href="https://achieve.lausd.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=45663&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=73638&PageID=1">staffing provisions</a> in the new Los Angeles contract could add over 1,500 members to the the Los Angeles teachers’ union’s membership. This equates to about a 5 percent increase in the union’s ranks of over <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/13/684645947/los-angeles-teachers-are-moving-forward-with-a-strike">30,000 educators</a>. The Oakland teachers’ union could get a similar boost.</p>
<p>In a post-Janus world, unions are showcasing the viability of the picket line as a way to win contracts that bolster membership. Not only that, because only union members can vote to authorize a strike, union leadership can leverage strike votes to petition – or pressure – non-union members to join the movement. The Los Angeles union reports <a href="https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/UTLA_PUB_Sept18-low-rez.pdf">adding over 1,000 members</a> during their strike vote. The Denver union reports <a href="https://www.cpr.org/news/story/the-strength-behind-the-denver-teacher-strike-is-the-unions-swelling-membership">adding 250</a> of its 3,800 members during its authorization vote. </p>
<p>So why are teachers’ unions striking with increased frequency? Teachers’ unions are striking to fight for benefits their students need. But also – and perhaps more so – they are striking for membership they need to stay viable after Janus. Unions are fighting for their survival.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers’ unions often claim they are striking for better schools on behalf of students. A closer look at recent strikes suggests they are fighting for something else: membership.Bradley D. Marianno, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy & Leadership, University of Nevada, Las VegasKatharine O. Strunk, Professor of Education Policy and Economics, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105562019-01-27T14:53:21Z2019-01-27T14:53:21ZWith larger classes, teachers can’t attend to children’s needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255637/original/file-20190125-108345-1hlfr0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C11%2C7304%2C3735&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Secure attachments between teachers and children enhance learning opportunities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Ontario, Education Minister Lisa Thompson recently announced <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/no-decisions-made-yet-on-removing-caps-on-ontario-class-sizes-minister-says-1.4991229">she will be consulting with education partners on the possibility of removing hard caps on class sizes</a>. </p>
<p>Kindergarten classes are <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/120132">capped at 29</a> and grades 1, 2 and 3 have a cap of 23 students. </p>
<p>Regular caps could sometimes be higher due to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/primary-classroom-size-caps-waterloo-region-response-1.4991256">children moving in and out of a class</a>. </p>
<p>There are many particular reasons why both teachers and students won’t do as well with larger class sizes. <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/01/24/teachers-vow-to-fight-any-boost-in-class-sizes-by-ford-government.html">For example, more children means less time for teachers to attend to the diverse needs of their students</a>. </p>
<p>But as early childhood professionals, we wish to point out what perhaps might seem obvious, yet somehow seems overlooked — increasing class sizes above these current numbers will have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3202473?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">a detrimental effect on the relationships</a> built between teachers and children, thus affecting children’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775712000180">learning and development</a>.</p>
<p>Let’s talk about why secure relationships between teachers and young children matter.</p>
<h2>The importance of attachment</h2>
<p>Humans are <a href="http://www.suzannezeedyk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Suzanne-Zeedyk-Human-brains-v3.pdf">born with the ability and desire to connect</a>, to learn and to grow. Babies begin to interact with others and the world in utero. They recognize their mother’s voice, and may even play, pushing their feet, receiving tactile feedback from their mother pushing back. </p>
<p>Babies are active participants in relationships as they instinctively make meaning and learn through observation of people and their environment. </p>
<p>As young as one month, babies begin to imitate faces. This need for connection and the desire to know and learn doesn’t end at infancy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255673/original/file-20190126-108334-152vmdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Babies need connection to thrive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">filip mroz unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The young child’s brain continues developing during formative young years. There is a wealth of research demonstrating that children learn best in <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=cyfsfacpub">environments that don’t focus solely on cognitive development</a>. Rather, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=2ahUKEwjZpo-4yIrgAhUViIMKHU-iApgQFjAEegQIBxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ekero.se%2FGlobal%2FUppleva_och_gora%2FUng_i_Ekero%2FElias%2C%2520The%2520connection%2520between%2520adademic%2520and%2520social%2520emotional%2520lerarning.pdf&usg=AOvVaw284eWPILZsK9XioocpXE8Y">rich learning environments</a> for children should also foster <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-005-0038-y">social-emotional</a> development.</p>
<p>Healthy development in childhood requires <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/howlearninghappens.pdf">secure relationships</a> between children and teachers — relationships that are positive, caring and respectful. </p>
<p>Secure relationships are formed when teachers attend to the needs of the children by responding positively to children’s cues and engaging in reciprocal interactions. Children are then liberated to feel safe and confident enough to explore the world, take risks, make mistakes and grow. </p>
<h2>Children with insecure home environments</h2>
<p><a href="https://edsource.org/wp-content/uploads/old/ClassroomAttachment.pdf">Connection and teaching</a> are inseparable for two main reasons. </p>
<p>First, a child’s secure relationship with teachers lays the foundation for <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwi4-JXM8YngAhVi34MKHbMMBdYQFjAAegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nap.edu%2Fresource%2F19401%2FProfKnowCompFINAL.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1vYh0ekhEUZhdaPnXGcreJ">children’s capacity to learn</a>. </p>
<p>Second, secure relationships correlate with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263381124_Teacher-student_relationship_and_academic_achievement_A_cross-lagged_longitudinal_study_on_three_different_age_groups">higher academic achievement</a>, better self-regulation and increased social competence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255674/original/file-20190126-108342-19ssymv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chidren’s sense of security is integral to learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children who experience a <a href="https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/media/bathspaacuk/education-/research/digital-literacy/education-resource-introduction-to-attatchment.pdf">secure, loving relationship with a family member</a> may be less affected by secure relationships in the classroom because they have internalized the sense that the world is safe, trusting and that they are valuable. </p>
<p>However, providing children with the experience of love, trust, emotional availability and connection in the classroom becomes more significant for children who do not have secure relationships at home — for example, those whose home lives could include circumstances such as grief or abuse. </p>
<p>Increasing the number of children in a classroom is considerably concerning for such children. </p>
<h2>Children need to feel safe enough to explore</h2>
<p>Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Think as far back as you can, to when you were a child in elementary school. Do you have memories of a teacher who made you feel <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/researchbriefs.pdf">empowered, loved, confident and intelligent</a>? </p>
<p>You most likely felt this way because the teacher responded to your social, emotional and physical needs. He or she created an environment where you felt loved and safe enough to explore. </p>
<p>This teacher believed in you, challenged you, and set attainable expectations for you. He or she got to know your abilities, strengths and needs and may have modified the curriculum accordingly. This confidence and support you received from the teacher increased your self-esteem and courage to explore.</p>
<p>From such scenarios, we illustrate that the ability to foster secure relationships with children is strengthened when teachers work in contexts where they can prioritize these values and practices: </p>
<h2><em>Respect for children</em></h2>
<p>Secure relationships are formed when children feel as though their ideas and opinions are valued. Children feel safe to express their feelings and subsequently learn to respect and listen to others. Teachers create a welcoming learning environment that fosters all children’s abilities and strengths.</p>
<h2><em>Fostering community and belonging in the classroom</em></h2>
<p>When teachers recognize children’s uniqueness and individuality, they support a <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/why-creating-classroom-community-so-important">sense of belonging</a>. This supports children in expressing feelings, recognizing others’ feelings and perspectives, feeling empathy and emotional regulation.</p>
<p>When children have the confidence that their own capabilities and characteristics are valued, they learn to socialize well with others, to negotiate, collaborate and communicate. Such habits contribute to their life-long learning. </p>
<h2><em>Being warm, accessible and caring</em></h2>
<p>Supportive relationships with teachers begin when teachers are approachable and children know that they can confide in them. </p>
<p>When teachers listen and are available, children learn to ask for help and rely on people. This experience is important to carry throughout life.</p>
<h2><em>Setting challenging and achievable expectations</em></h2>
<p>Providing the child with the experience of being available, understanding and seeing them for who they are allows the child to trust the teacher and want to live up to their expectations. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-balance-between-challenge-and-frustration">This scaffolding</a> or encouraging the child to learn or push themselves past their own expectations or beliefs in what they are capable of is important for growth, development and building resilience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Providing the experience of love, trust, emotional availability and connection in the classroom is particularly important for children who don’t have secure relationships at home.Elena Merenda, Assistant Program Head of Early Childhood Studies, University of Guelph-HumberNikki Martyn, Program Head of Early Childhood Studies, University of Guelph-HumberLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/602542016-05-31T08:38:07Z2016-05-31T08:38:07ZSpeaking with: John Hattie on how to improve the quality of education in Australian schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124573/original/image-20160531-1923-2i0d0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Smaller class sizes do not make a difference the quality of education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do we actually know what works when it comes to improving the quality of education in schools?</p>
<p>A new four-part ABC documentary series, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/revolution-school/">Revolution School</a>, looks at what the research tells us about what works in education – and what doesn’t. It tells the story of how a typical suburban high school in Victoria, Kambrya College, managed to turn around from rock bottom to being in the top 25% of study scores in the state.</p>
<p>Smaller class sizes, private schooling, homework and discipline do not make a difference to the quality of education, explains education expert John Hattie – “what really matters is interaction with teachers, clinical teaching, constantly measuring each student’s knowledge and responding to their individual needs”.</p>
<p>Maxine McKew speaks with John Hattie about what we need to be doing to improve the quality of education in Australian schools – and the kind of debates we really should be having.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxine McKew does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Maxine McKew speaks with education expert John Hattie about the kind of debates we really should be having around education.Maxine McKew, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/404182015-04-23T09:28:45Z2015-04-23T09:28:45ZManifesto Check: UKIP’s controversial take on education<p>In many respects, UKIP’s education <a href="http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015">manifesto</a> pledges are unremarkable, and their broad approach is similar to that taken by a number of the other parties. For example, UKIP pledges the need for education that is responsive to each child’s needs, emphasises the importance of high quality, well supported teachers who have high status in society, and stresses the importance of primary education in particular. </p>
<p>The party is correct in saying that these are all important elements of a high quality education system. But their proposals on grammar schools and higher education are, by contrast, much more controversial.</p>
<h2>Hard-working British teachers</h2>
<p>There is good empirical evidence that high quality teachers and good teaching is a critically important influence on children’s achievement. One <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp212.pdf">recent study</a> for England found that being taught by a high quality teacher adds about a half a GCSE point per subject, compared to being taught by a low quality one. This is consistent with further evidence from a <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2teachers-impact-report-final.pdf">recent review</a> by the Sutton Trust.</p>
<p>There is little doubt that to achieve a high quality education system, we should be focusing as much on teachers as on other elements of the system, such as school structures. It is also true that in many countries with high quality education systems, teachers have particularly high status in society relative to other occupations. <a href="http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/finland-overview/finland-teacher-and-principal-quality/">Finland</a> is one such example. But how we achieve that improvement of teacher status in society is left unsaid.</p>
<p>The big pledge in the UKIP manifesto is their aim to reduce class sizes to 25 pupils. Smaller class sizes <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w7656">can bring about improvements</a> in pupil achievement but largely in the primary years, and only with quite large reductions in class size. So this policy is unlikely to significantly improve pupil achievement. </p>
<p>But then, UKIP is not claiming that reducing class sizes will improve pupil achievement. Instead, the party argues that the reductions will ease teacher workloads and alleviate parental concerns. The costs of reducing class sizes by one sixth would – other things equal – increase the costs per pupil by a similar amount. This is money that might be used to do other things, so it’s critically important to know where this additional funding comes from, in order to understand the impact of this particular pledge.</p>
<p>UKIP also makes a specific pledge that may appeal to teachers, and that is to decrease the amount of paperwork that teachers have to deal with. They even mention specific examples of excess paper work, such as requirements for overly detailed individual lesson plans. Here again, the party is correct that workload does appear to be an issue. There is <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/20391/1/RR302_-_TALIS_report_NC.pdf">good evidence</a> that teachers’ working hours are longer in the UK than in some other countries. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/highlights-from-education-at-a-glance_2076264x">recent OECD report</a> found that on average, teachers in England work around 46 hours per week – nine hours more than the average for all the countries surveyed. Yet the survey also indicated that face-to-face teaching time in England is similar to that in other countries, at 20 hours per week. So it follows that teachers in England are busy doing things other than face to face teaching, including many of the tasks identified by the UKIP manifesto as “unnecessary paperwork”. Though the impact of such a policy on pupil achievement is unknown, it is likely to be beneficial to teacher well-being, which may in turn impact on teacher quality.</p>
<p>UKIP also pledges to abolish performance-related pay for teachers. On this issue, UKIP may be premature. The most recent reforms to link teacher performance to pay have not been in place long enough for a full evaluation. <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp113.pdf">Earlier evidence</a> on the impact of the previous English performance pay scheme for teachers suggested a positive impact on pupil achievement. However, the evidence from the US is not so definitive, and the precise nature of the performance-related pay scheme is important in determining whether it works or not, and certainly not all do. Hence evaluating the current arrangements is an essential first step.</p>
<h2>Grammar school controversy</h2>
<p>UKIP, along with many of the other political parties, is correct to stress the importance of primary education, and there is <a href="http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/2559/1/2559.pdf">strong evidence</a> that the early years are critical for children’s development. Indeed we know that <a href="http://www.rlab.lse.ac.uk/opening/papers/feinstein.pdf">poor children fall behind their wealthier counterparts</a> as early as age three, so there is no doubt that the earliest years and primary education are very important. </p>
<p>It is less clear from research that UKIP’s proposals to abolish key stage one tests in primary school and appoint science coordinators will really improve children’s academic achievement, increase the uptake of science at secondary level and reduce the gender gap in science subjects. The latter pledges on science are too vague to determine whether they will have a positive effect, and the gender gap in science take up at secondary is linked to many issues that a science coordinator is unlikely to solve.</p>
<p>There is one obvious stand out policy from UKIP: the desire to “see a grammar school in every town”. Whether or not grammar schools are beneficial has been the subject of vitriolic debate since the 1960s, and there is now a substantial, though controversial, evidence base on which we can draw. Broadly, <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.187.3202&rep=rep1&type=pdf">research indicates</a> that having a grammar school system tends to benefit the high achievers, but to the detriment of lower achievers. </p>
<p>There is a long-standing belief that the grammar school system enabled poor but bright children to succeed, but the research findings suggest that this has not been the case on average, and that poor students have a very low chance of attending grammar schools. <a href="http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/47/3/684.short">International evidence</a> also indicates that the move to a comprehensive system seems to be broadly beneficial, particularly for students from lower socio-economic groups. UKIP does propose a reformed grammar system with adequate funding for secondary moderns and lots of opportunities to move into grammars at ages beyond 11. But overall, there is little evidence to support such a policy, and the upheaval to the system would be substantial.</p>
<h2>Unnecessary upheaval</h2>
<p>UKIP has a number of curriculum proposals, but without knowing more detail it is impossible to say whether policies like providing first aid training to students will be beneficial, or take time out of other subjects and reduce achievement. Nor is it possible to tell if proposals to reverse some recent reforms to GCSEs and AS levels will be positive. But one thing is clear: many feel that the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/michael-goves-curriculum-reforms-will-result-in-total-chaos-teachers-claim-8691328.html">relentless pace of change</a> in terms of curriculum reform is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/01/new-curriculum-teaching-concepts-younger">putting the education system at serious risk</a>, and all politicians would do well to let changes bed in.</p>
<p>On Ofsted, UKIP appears to acknowledge teachers’ criticisms of the system. Some of the party’s proposals may be welcomed, for example that complaints against Ofsted will get investigated independently, and that inspections will only be undertaken by well-qualified former teachers. UKIP also stresses the need for short and focused inspections, addressing the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom and avoiding tick box approaches. There is little detail in the manifesto about how this would be achieved in practice, but there is no doubt that many in the sector would <a href="http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/news-and-media/blogs/russell-hobby-general-secretary/ofsted-reform-part-one/">welcome reform</a>.</p>
<h2>Further and higher education</h2>
<p>UKIP also wishes to see the development of vocational schools and colleges, as well as apprenticeships taken at age 16. One problem with this is that <a href="http://217.35.77.12/research/england/education/RR834.pdf">the evidence</a> indicates that employers currently tend to value higher rather than lower level apprenticeships. If students are offered a low level apprenticeship route, there is a danger that students would end up entering the labour market without sufficiently high levels of literacy, numeracy and other essential skills. </p>
<p>One of the key challenges with the current apprenticeship system is persuading employers to take on apprentices in the first place. Since employers are currently reluctant to hire 16-19 year old school leavers, it is not clear how UKIP will persuade sufficient numbers of employers to participate in this endeavour, or indeed whether this policy is at all feasible.</p>
<p>On higher education, UKIP argues that tuition fees have been disastrous for young people’s prospects and that we have too many graduates leading to many having to take up low skilled jobs. Its solution is to cap the number of students going into higher education and try to increase the incentive for them to take economically valuable subjects in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. They say nothing about what they would do about the level of fees. </p>
<p>While deeply unpopular, the income contingent nature of the students’ loans does in fact protect them, so that they only repay if they are earning above the threshold. Indeed, <a href="http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Pages/TrendsInUndergraduateRecruitment.aspx#.VTd7diFViko">there is evidence</a> that tuition fees have not put off students from going to university, although the long term impact of having fees at £9,000 remains unknown. </p>
<p>On the other hand, UKIP is right in saying many graduates end up doing non graduate jobs, and that many STEM degrees appear to be <a href="http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/the_labour_market_value_of_stem">more highly valued by employers</a>. </p>
<p>So the party’s proposal to make STEM degrees free if the individual goes on to work in a STEM occupation is interesting. It would be extremely difficult to implement in practice. There would be massive temptation to game the system, with companies rebranding jobs as STEM regardless of their content, and universities providing low level sciences courses, which may not be of much economic value. But UKIP is almost certainly right in saying that such a radical policy would alter students’ subject choices. </p>
<p>It is likely that this policy would come at substantial net cost. And it remains to be seen whether UKIP’s proposal to abolish tuition fee loans for EEA students could raise enough revenue for the government to pay the STEM tuition fee bill. </p>
<p><em>The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/manifesto-check-2015">Manifesto Check</a> deploys academic expertise to scrutinise the parties’ plans.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Vignoles receives funding for her research from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Institute for Fiscal studies, the Nuffield Foundation, the Department for Education and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. But this article does not represent the views of the research councils. The Conversation's Manifesto Checks are produced in partnership with Nesta and the Alliance for Useful Evidence. </span></em></p>Our expert takes stock of UKIP’s policies on early childhood, primary, secondary, further, and higher education. It’s a mixed bag.Anna Vignoles, Professor of Education, Jesus College, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/375602015-02-16T13:17:06Z2015-02-16T13:17:06ZIs it really worth investing in smaller primary school classes?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72121/original/image-20150216-18469-1nj6lt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What's the optimum size?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Primary school via Air Images/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ed Miliband’s pledge that Labour, if elected, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/12/ed-miliband-labour-government-would-restore-blair-era-cap-on-class-sizes">would limit school classes</a> for five, six and seven-year-olds to 30 pupils reignites a core question about how best to spend money to improve education. </p>
<p>In making this a plank of Labour’s emerging manifesto, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/12/ed-miliband-labour-real-terms-protection-education-budget">Miliband blames the coalition</a> government and, in particular, the former education secretary Michael Gove, for a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014">trebling</a> of the number of primary pupils in classes with more than 30 children from 31,265 in 2010 to 93,345 in 2014. </p>
<p>Labour’s policy – which <a href="http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml">echoes a pledge by Tony Blair </a> in 1997 – might appeal to parents and teachers, but it is also backed by evidence that smaller class sizes do help push up attainment in the first years of primary school.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335176/2014_SPC_SFR_Text_v101.pdf">average size</a> of a class taught by one teacher on the census day in January 2014 was 27.4. Overall in England, there are more than 58,000 Key Stage 1 classes (pupils aged five to seven) of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/education-31437962">which almost 3,000</a> had at least 31 pupils in them about 12 months ago. So, although the number of students in classes with more than 30 children has trebled, we’re still only talking about one in 20 classes across the country.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why class sizes have risen is that there are more primary-aged children now. Since 2010, the number of Key Stage 1 pupils has risen by 11.2%, but the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/education-31437962">number of classes</a> has only grown by 8.1%. The coalition government changed the rules on admissions – meaning, for example, that schools have to accept pupils whose parents are in the armed forces or who move into an area where there are no surplus places.</p>
<h2>Small is best</h2>
<p>There is a growing body of research on how much class size matters to children’s attainment. Peter Blatchford, a researcher at the UCL Institute of Education, <a href="http://www.classsizeresearch.org.uk/cs%20psychology.pdf">notes that the issue comes round regularly</a>, with the debate frequently intense and sometimes angry. One reason that some parents send their children to private schools is because they have smaller classes resulting in more individualised teaching and a better working environment – or so the argument goes. </p>
<p>When asked, teachers usually say that large class sizes are counter-productive. There’s something about class size that makes it a controversial topic in other countries, too. Politicians in China, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea and the USA have brought in policies aimed at reducing class sizes. When New Labour enacted Blair’s promise after the 1997 election, the Scottish government went one step further and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8269996.stm">set a maximum class size </a>of 25.</p>
<p>The evidence is clear but, perhaps, surprising. In the US, a <a href="http://rer.sagepub.com/content/73/3/321.abstract">team of researchers</a> randomly allocated pupils and teachers to one of three types of class within the same school. The three models were: “small” classes, which had 13-17 pupils; “regular” classes (22-25 pupils) with just one teacher; and “regular” classes which had a teacher and a full-time teaching assistant. The project involved more than 7,000 pupils in nearly 80 schools. The pupils were followed through four years of schooling, from kindergarten (aged five) to third grade (aged eight). Pupils in small classes performed significantly better than pupils in regular classes and gains were still evident after grade 4, when pupils returned to normal class sizes.</p>
<h2>Primary kids benefit most</h2>
<p>In England, Blatchford directed the <a href="http://www.classsizeresearch.org.uk/">Class Size and Pupil Adult Ratio</a> project which, instead of setting up an experiment, simply studied what went on in normal classrooms. Blatchford <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/0141192032000133668/abstract">and his team followed more than 10,000 pupils</a> in more than 300 schools. The pupils were tracked from when they entered school aged four to five-years-old, until the end of primary school, aged 11. </p>
<p>Class size made a difference – children did better in smaller classes in both numeracy and literacy during their first year in school. The effect was greater for the pupils who started school with lower attainment. At the end of the second year in school, the effect was still evident in literacy attainment but not numeracy. Yet by the end of the third year the effects were far less evident in either numeracy or literacy. So, the evidence suggests that smaller classes benefit pupils in their first years in primary school but the effect seems to disappear as students get older.</p>
<p>Yet while there is evidence that in the first years in primary school, the smaller the class size, the better. There is no clear evidence supporting an optimal class size, be it 20, 25 or 30.</p>
<h2>Impact of teaching assistants</h2>
<p>Other research has tried to unpick what impact other adults, such as teaching assistants, have on pupil attainment. The <a href="http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781136518430_sample_518110.pdf">evidence</a> is that in classes where there are teaching assistants, students, in general, do less well even when you take into account reasons why the assistants are there in the first place. </p>
<p>One reason for this counter-intuitive finding may be that teaching assistants are often employed to work with students who are under-attaining, when actually it is the classroom teacher who is probably more able to bring out the best in such pupils. The study’s findings led <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teaching-assistants-can-give-a-boost-to-struggling-pupils-22923">other researchers</a> to find ways to involve teaching assistants more effectively in schools.</p>
<p>More research is needed into what actually happens in classrooms of differing sizes. We still don’t know enough about the impact of class size on pupil attitudes, motivation and self-belief. What we do know is that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/13/class-size-debate-asks-wrong-question-simplistic">in larger classes</a>, lower attaining students are more likely to be off-task. What is needed is a study into which teaching practices work best in smaller and larger classes. Improving teaching might have more impact than simply reducing class sizes. </p>
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<p>Next read: <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-small-is-beautiful-when-it-comes-to-class-sizes-14786">Why small is beautiful when it comes to class sizes</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37560/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Dillon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ed Miliband’s pledge that Labour, if elected, would limit school classes for five, six and seven-year-olds to 30 pupils reignites a core question about how best to spend money to improve education. In…Justin Dillon, Professor of science and environmental education and Head of the Graduate School of Education, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.