THE PROBLEM OF LARGE CLASS SIZE
WHEREAS, many proposals on achieving excellence in education completely ignore the very important issue of class size; and
WHEREAS, mainstreamed children are often "lost" in large classes; and
WHEREAS, class size continues at unacceptably high levels in many districts throughout the nation; and
WHEREAS, many parents turn to private schools to find smaller classes; and
WHEREAS, smaller classes have been shown to encourage more creative and more successful teaching methods; and
WHEREAS, smaller classes allow for the kinds of activities that promote motivation as well as achievement; and
WHEREAS, smaller classes encourage the enforcement of positive self-discipline habits and promote student self-confidence; and
WHEREAS, the management of large classes often leads to early teacher burnout and discourages younger teachers from staying in the profession; and
WHEREAS, the prospect of dealing with large classes makes it difficult to recruit new teachers:
RESOLVED, that AFT promotes federal aid formulae that reward districts which lower class sizes; and
RESOLVED, that the AFT Executive Council be urged to expend funds in the promotion of public information campaigns on behalf of the merits of smaller classes; and
RESOLVED, that the American Teacher continues to emphasize the class size issue and give intense publicity, whenever feasible, to successful small class size experiments and campaigns.
(1984)