灏忕彮鐨勪紭鐐瑰嵆鏄?ぇ鐝?殑缂虹偣

　　灏忕彮鐨勭己鐐瑰嵆鏄?ぇ鐝?殑浼樼偣

　　AdvantagesofSmallClassSizes

　　Researchershavefoundthattherearemanydifferentadvantagestohavingasmallclass.Someresearchersandteacherswillevensaythat鈥渟mallerclassesareakeyingredientinstudentsuccess鈥(Weingarten,2003).

　　ResearchprojectssuchasTennessee鈥檚STARhavefoundthatareductioninclasssizewillproduceavarietyofbenefitsforteachersandstudents.Smallclassesimpactnotonlystudents鈥academicachievements,buttheyalsobenefitstudents鈥socialskillsandrelationshipswiththeirteachers.

　　Oneexampleofanadvantageforasmallclassisthatstrugglingstudentscanreceivemoreindividualhelpfromtheclassroomteacher.Becausetherewillbelessstudentsinaclasswithoneteacher,theteacherisbetterabletodirectherattentionandhelptospecificstudents.Forexample,afirstgradeteachercanprovidehelptostudentswhoarestrugglingwithreading.He/Shecanmeetwithstudentsinasmallgroupsettingandnotworryaboutalargeportionoftheclassbeingunattended.Theteachercouldgivemorehelptoasmallgroupofstudentswithoutworryingtoomuchaboutstudentsmisbehavingwhereasateacherthatisinchargeofalargeclasswouldbetoobusytogivethatstudentindividualhelp.Becauseindividualteacherattentionisavailableinasmallclass,strugglingstudentswillreceivethehelptheyneed,andasaresult,studentachievementwillimprove(Gilman,2003).

　　Teacherswillalsofindthatinasmallclass,theywillbebetterabletomanagetheirclass.Disciplineproblemswillbelessfrequentandseverebecausetheclassroomteacherwillhavebettercontrolofthestudents.Frequently,studentsactoutinclassbecausetheydesireattentionfromtheteacher.Studentsmaymisbehaveinalargeclasssettingjusttoreceiveattentionevenifitmeansthattheywillbesenttotime-outorhavetofacenegativeconsequences.Inasmallclass,because鈥渟tudentsreceivemoreattentionandarelesslikelytobecomedisciplineproblems鈥(Kennedy,2003),teacherswillfocuslessondisciplinaryactionsandwillfocusmoreoninstructionandactuallyteachingthestudents.

　　Anotheradvantageofhavingasmallclassisthatitalsoprovidesteacherstheabilitytoreallyunderstandtheirstudents鈥strengthsandweaknesses(Kennedy,2003).Bybecomingfamiliarwiththeirstudents鈥abilities,teacherscanindividualizetheirlessonplanstobenefittheirstudents.Knowingthestrengthsandweaknessesofstudentsisbeneficialbecausethishelpsteachersrealizewhentospendmoretimeonatopicandwhenstudentshavemasteredaspecificskillortask.Asaresult,lesstimeisspentonteachingmaterialthatstudentsalreadyknow,andmoretimeisusedintheclassroomtoteachstudentswhattheydonotknow.

　　Researchershavealsofoundthatstudentsinsmallclassesdobetterthantheirpeerswhoareinlargerclasses.Whenstudentsareplacedinsmallclassesstartingearlyinelementaryschool,theyprogressquickerandmoreefficientlythanotherstudentsinlargeclasses(AmericanEducationalResearchAssociation,2003).Onestudyfoundthat:

　　鈥渁ttheendoffifthgrade,studentswhowereinsmallclassesingradesonethroughthreewereabouthalfaschool

　　year(5months)aheadofstudentsfromlargerclasses,inallsubjects--reading,languagearts,math,andscience.

　　F