Sanity Check: Student-to-teacher ratios and class sizes

[TrogL]

5. I used to teach

I generally found that one kid in ten was a complete sociopath dedicated to destroying classroom discipline. When you met the parents you discovered why. One kid like this in a classroom was manageable. You kept near him and nipped any trouble in the bud. Two was still relatively manageable; you'd sit them away from each other but close enough so that you could situate yourself between them and maintain order. Three is nearly impossible. Four, give up. At the opposite spectrum, you usually have one exceptionally bright kid per 10 and so on. They can often be enlisted to help. The cohort I went through with had five sociopaths, five brights, lots more near-sociopaths and near-brights and nobody in the middle in a class of about 25. The principal actually taught the class for one day and showed how he was going to have to violate board policy and NOT curve the marks because the results would be statistically impossible. As we passed through the various grades we watched teachers age visibly over the term. One even committed suicide.

In a class of 16 you'll likely have one sociopath, maybe two. Get into the 20's you're pretty much guaranteed two. Get into the high 20's and you're approaching three.

Class size matters.