Posted by GC on September 03, 2002 at 22:22:20:
In Reply to: Re: In Defense of HS Teachers posted by An. on September 03, 2002 at 20:36:52:
Colleges put huge classes of students in large auditoriums because (A.) they save money on teachers (B.) you don't need as many classrooms, (C.) it cures a lot of scheduling headaches, and (D.) they often don't care about the quality of the students' instruction. They are NOT in there because it enhances the quality of instruction. Large auditorium classes lower the quality of instruction, stifle teacher-student interaction, depersonalize the atmosphere of the class, and often put paper-grading and assistance to the students in the hands of graduate assistants. I've rarely found a student who ever liked being in a giant cattle-pen class or who thought that he learned as well as in a more moderately sized group. Along same lines, though, research has shown that going from moderately sized classes to smaller ones has little real effect on learning; it's just easier for the teacher.
In my state, disruptive students may be removed from the classroom at the teacher's request. If the student doesn't straighten up, the student's presence in the class goes before an arbitration panel within the school, which has the authority to put the student back in the class or to remove the student from the class or even from the school. It the teacher has the guts to push the issue, he or she can keep control of his or her class.