Imagine being in a classroom with 30 other students. It’s hot, it’s loud and there are no open seats to be found. Now, imagine being in a class with half as many students. The room isn’t cramped and the space is a much better environment for learning. The question of class size has been a topic of debate, and many think having smaller classes can have positive impacts on students.

Ever since elementary school, I remember most of my classes being fairly large, having at least 25 other students. This can be fun, don’t get me wrong, because that means you have 25 other friends in your class, but there is only one teacher for each of those students. With having almost 30 kids in a classroom, it can be extremely difficult for the teachers to help everyone with their questions and help them succeed. Teachers already have special accommodations they make for students with special needs or those who use different approaches to learning, but having a smaller class size could be even more helpful and beneficial for these reasons.

Instead of 25 other classmates, which makes it hard for each student to get the assistance they need, there could be 15 students, making it much easier for the teacher to help and give the kids more one-on-one time. With the smaller class sizes, teachers can get to know each student better and it allows them to work with the students to develop their learning skills. In this aspect, I agree that having smaller class sizes provides some value. Since there aren’t as many students, the teacher can get to know me more, learn my strengths and weaknesses and help me develop and improve my learning.

Researchers, such as Associate Professor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach at Northwestern University, largely agree that smaller class sizes are associated with positive benefits such as higher graduation rates, better grades, better test scores and less dropouts. Although a smaller class size has its perks, there can also be some setbacks that make it hard to achieve. If schools wanted to have smaller class sizes, there would then need to be more classrooms, and with more classrooms comes the need for more teachers who need to be paid. So, the smaller the classes, the greater the demand for teachers. This could get expensive for schools, thus making it somewhat difficult to implement. Even though it would cost more, I believe the positive impacts would outweigh the additional costs. With having less students in each class, the teachers can develop relationships with each child and give them more one-on-one interaction and help them achieve their goals.

To make this happen, schools would have to create more classes for each grade, thus hiring more teachers and expanding their budget. The educators could also benefit from training and administrative support on the matter. With everyone working together, students can grow in school and develop critical and influential skills that they can take with them into their future careers.