Issue: Does Reducing Class Size Improve Student Achievement?

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In January, 2019, Los Angeles teachers started a strike. They demanded increased
pay, smaller class sizes and the hiring of more support staff, such as nurses, counselors
and librarians. However, in academics, there is a debate on whether the smaller class size
can improve student achievement:
Yes: Jeremy D. Finn, Susan B. Gerber, and Jayne Boyd-Zaharias, from “Small
Classes in the Early Grades, Academic Achievement, and Graduating from High
School,” Journal of Educational Psychology (2005)
No: Eric A Hanushek, from “The Tennessee Class Size Experiment (Project
STAR),” Economic Policy Institute (2002)
2. Issue: Does Grading Help Students Learn?
Grades are the primary means of measuring a child’s progress through school.
Some parents reward children for good grades. For most families, the grade is the goal.
However, some scholars argue that grades do not actually help student learning:
Yes: Kyle Spencer, from “Standards-Based Grading,” Harvard Education Letter
(2012)
No: Alfie Kohn, from “The Case Against Grades,” Educational Leadership (2011)

3. Issue: Should students be Reward for Learning?
For years, educators and psychologists have debated whether students should be
rewarded for school work and academic accomplishments. Some scholars believe that
students have best learning outcome in a responsive environment, which makes learning
process more fun. However, some other scholars argue that using a reward is a way for
teacher to manipulate and control students, hurting their intrinsic motivation.
Yes: Hennessey, B.A., from “Reward, Task Motivation, Creativity and Teaching:
Towards a Cross-Cultural Examination.” Teachers College Record, 2015.

No: Kohn, Alfie from “Rewards versus Learning: A Response to Paul Chance.”
Phi Delta Kappan, 1993.
4. Issue: Are Inquiry and Problem-based Learning effective Teaching Approach
Inquiry, discovery learning, and problem-based learning are very popular these
days, but are they effective? Despite the benefits of increasing students’ engagement and
motivation, some scholars argue that inquiry learning is ineffective and cannot benefit
student learning if without teachers’ assistances.
Yes: Wirkala, C., & Kuhn, D. (2011). Problem-based learning in K–12 education:
Is it effective and how does it achieve its effects?. American Educational
Research Journal, 48(5), 1157-1186.
No: Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance
during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist,
discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational
psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
5. Issue: Should Girls and Boys be Taught Differently?
There has been a long-lasting debate on whether girls and boys should be taught
differently. Some scholars say that students are better off learning some things with their
same gender counterparts. However, some others believe that gender-segregated
classroom change little for learners, and may reinforce stereotypes and even lead to
greater gender disparities.
Yes: Frances R. Spielhagen, from “How Tweens View Single-Sex

Sample Solution

The ratio of students to teachers can be managed by reducing class size because it is hypothesized that as the number of students per teacher decreases, the variety of strategies a teacher can use and the quantity of attention each student will receive will increase. Over the course of an academic year, a smaller class size typically results in around one more month of advancement. There is very little evidence in this area, so proceed with caution. The main concern seems to be whether the decrease is significant enough to allow the teacher to modify their approach to teaching when dealing with a smaller class and whether this causes the students to alter their learning behaviors.

In an article by Ittner C and Larcker D (2000) they suggested both advantages and disadvantages of Non-financial measures. They offer four clear advantages over measurement systems based on financial data.

a. First of these is a closer link to long-term organisational strategies. For example, new product development or expanding organisational capabilities may be important strategic goals, but may hinder short-term accounting performance. By supplementing accounting measures with non-financial data about strategic performance and implementation of strategic plans, companies can communicate objectives and provide incentives for managers to address long-term strategy.

b. Second, critics of traditional measures argue that drivers of success in many industries are “intangible assets” such as intellectual capital and customer loyalty, rather than the “hard assets” allowed on to balance sheets. Although it is difficult to quantify intangible assets in financial terms, non-financial data can provide indirect, quantitative indicators of a firm’s intangible assets.

c. Third, non-financial measures can be better indicators of future financial performance. Even when the ultimate goal is maximising financial performance, current financial measures may not capture long-term benefits from decisions made now.

d. Finally, the choice of measures should be based on providing information about managerial actions and the level of “noise” in the measures. Noise refers to changes in the performance measure that are beyond the control of the manager or organization, ranging from changes in the economy to luck. Five primary limitations have been identified as disadvantages;

Firstly, Time and cost has been a problem for some companies. They have found the costs of a system that tracks a large number of financial and non-financial measures can be greater than its benefits. Secondly is that, unlike accounting measures, non-financial data are measured in many ways, there is no common denominator. Evaluating performance or making trade-offs between attributes is difficult when some are denominated in time, some in quantities or percentages and some in arbitrary ways. The third issue is a lack of causal links with the fourth being the lack of statistical reliability – whether a measure actually represents what it purports to represent, rather than random \”measurement error\”. And finally although financial measures are unlikely to capture fully the many dimensions of organizational performance, implementing an ev

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