Yesterday, Romney went to a school in a black community and told them class size doesn’t matter. [View all]

[bigtree]

@BarackObama Yesterday, Mitt Romney said classroom size doesn’t matter. We asked educators to weigh in—here's what some folks had to say:


@BarackObama Melissa H: “I can't tell you how hectic, stressful, and inefficient a large-size classroom is.” 5.25.2012, 11:54 a.m.


@BarackObama Rebecca M: “Oversized classrooms are not fair. They are not fair to teachers, students, or everyone's future.” 5.25.2012, 11:48 a.m.


@BarackObama Colleen F: “The larger the class is, the easier students get distracted and do not pay attention.” 5.25.2012, 11:43 a.m.


@BarackObama Sarah P: “Class sizes matter when I have 35 students all with different levels of ability and different special needs.” 5.25.2012, 11:36 a.m.

**@BarackObama Malena A: “I invite Romney to spend one whole week in my class (8-2:30) with 38 sixth graders and then we'll see if class size matters.” 5.25.2012, 12:02
______

more: http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/messages-for-mitt-romney-education-is-not-one-size-fits-all

"I teach 7th grade language arts. When you put 36 kids in my room for only 50 minutes a day, that is less than 1.5 minutes a day to talk to each and every one of them about reading and writing. Does Mitt Romney think that 1.5 minutes a day of reading and writing instruction is enough? Kids learn by interacting with adults. They deserve more."
—Susan, Ohio

"Try teaching English in a classroom of 30-plus students. To improve student writing at the high school level, it is necessary to offer individual feedback on student composition. Without that, students do not have adequate direction for improvement. When class sizes become larger, it takes longer to read students’ work. The longer it takes, the less the teacher can assign or assess. It's that simple."
—Jay, Michigan

"We as students do not want to feel like just another face within the crowd. Many of us have different learning styles and learn at different rates. If we were to have larger classes, then students would have more difficulty receiving one-on-one attention and assistance. The relationship students build with teachers is at times very important. I know for certain that it helped me."
—Johnny, California

"The more kids in a class, the less likely that I will actually get to know them, and the less likely that I can advocate for them the way they deserve."
—Kristen, Florida

"Education is not one-size-fits-all. The result of a large class filled with students from all parts of the spectrum: Nobody gets the type of attention and instruction they desperately need to work with their skill set and achieve their potential."
—Rachel, New York

"Large classes mean more time is lost waiting for focus, recovering from transitions, and distributing materials. The fewer students are in a class, the stronger a relationship the teacher can have with them. As class size balloons, teachers are forced to spend more of their energy on classroom management instead of curriculum instruction, and the amount of constructive, qualitative feedback that you can give to students and families suffers. I invite any politician to try teaching public high school for a year and then talk about school system success."
—Jennifer, Oregon
_____________________

The Republican presidential candidate visited a West Philadelphia charter school on Thursday, a day after declaring education is the "civil rights issue of our era."

Romney repeated that declaration during the school visit, but struggled to defend his view that class sizes aren't a major factor in educational success. Local African-American leaders also said his push for more two-parent families isn't realistic in their community.

The charter school's founder also said he's not sure whether Romney understands the needs of the African-American community.

read: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/romney-faces-tough-questions-black-leaders-16421737#.T75n7lLAGQs


"I came into office and talked to people and said, 'What can we do to improve our schools?'" Romney said at his Thursday event. "And a number of folks said we need smaller classroom sizes, that will make the biggest difference . . . The schools in the district with the smallest classroom sizes had students performing in the bottom 10%," Romney said. "Just getting smaller classrooms didn't seem to be the key."

Romney was pressed on his stance by a music teacher at the charter school who questioned the research Romney cited.

"I can't think of any teacher in the whole time I've been teaching, for 10 years, 13 years, who would say that more students would benefit them," Steven Morris, the teacher, said. "And I can't think of a parent who would say 'I would like my student to be in a classroom with a lot of kids with only one teacher.' So I'm kind of wondering where this research comes from."

Another teacher participating in the roundtable said unequivocally that he had too many students in his classroom.

"It's too large," the second teacher said. "It varies between classes, anywhere between 20 and 28. You can give more personalized attention to each student if you have a smaller class size."

read/watch: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/24/romney-defends-class-size-stance-to-teachers/


If you're an educator who thinks other than Romney, share your story here: https://my.barackobama.com/page/s/classsizes?source=DoesClassSizeMatter?-02-20120524-donate_button-HQB&icn=20120524-DoesClassSizeMatter?-02-donate_button-HQB


Romney, glaring, in a visit to a charter school in a Philadelphia minority community