News Briefs
Are small class sizes necessary? You bet!
Oct 15, 2009 11:14 AM
Business-friendly management expert William G. Ouchi is just one who gives an unambiguous “yes” to the need for small class sizes, saying lightening teaching loads is key to improving student achievement.
In his newly released book, “The Secret of TSL,” Ouchi argues that “total student load” (or TSL), meaning the number of students a classroom teacher has, and the number of papers a teacher must grade, directly correlate with student academic success, including higher passing rates on state exams. He wants more teachers hired, administrative posts eliminated and more one-on-one conversations that will motivate the student to keep going.
Ouchi calculates that cutting a school’s TSL from a mean of 115 students to 80 translates to a 16 percentage-point increase in the rate of students scoring “proficient” on state exams.
Education Week, Sept. 30
