ADDING UP NUMBERS
Some left without desks, urged to take classes online
SWELLING CLASS SIZES AFFECT LEARNING
As schools across the city finalize student numbers for the 2014- 15 school year, leaders in education along with their students are already confirming that class sizes are continuing to swell and impact learning.
High schools are being hit particularly hard with increasingly limited access to teachers in classes with well over 40 kids in many core courses — all at a time when higher grades are increasingly in demand for entrance into post- secondary programs.
“We are hearing from school representatives that workload and class size has not changed at all compared to last year,” said Frank Bruseker, president of the union that represents teachers with the Calgary Board of Education.
“Many are concerned about larger class sizes, particularly at the high school level. And when we are in a situation where there are again no new classrooms for high school students, yet there is growth in numbers, we will see larger classes.”
Bruseker stressed that Grade 12 students in that environment will find it extremely stressful and difficult to earn grades high enough to be accepted into university. By the end of the academic year, he says, many students will simply fall through the cracks.
“It’s a tragedy not only for students but for everyone. If we invest in education, our kids do better financially.”
Alexandra Jurisic, president of the union that represents teachers at Calgary Catholic schools, says she too is hearing from teachers that class sizes continue to grow.
“Colleagues are saying again this year, ‘ what do we do about large classes in core courses.’ They’re asking, ‘ when and how will it be addressed?’ This is not a new problem.”
Students settling into the school year at local high schools described difficult conditions with classes of anywhere between 40 and 52 kids in core courses including math, social, English and the sciences.
But many were also frustrated with crowded rooms, some with students being forced to take notes on benches at the back of the class because there are not enough desks.
Others talked about guidance counsellors encouraging them to drop out of core classes because they were full, suggesting they instead take the course online or enrol in a lower level course.
“We’re in a school that has become very crowded, there’s just too many kids here,” said Avleen Kang, a Grade 12 student at Crescent Heights High School.
“It’s difficult to ask for teacher help, they just don’t have the time,” added her classmate Safal Mann.
“And getting to tutorial early in the morning for help is really hard too. We live way out in the northeast and it’s really hard to get here by 8 a. m.”
Mann added that she was encouraged by guidance counsellors at the school to enrol in a lower level course, because the matriculation course for university entrance was too full.
Natasha Harding, a Grade 11 student at William Aberhart High School, said she decided to drop her English 20- 1 course in the classroom, opting instead to study online because she couldn’t get any individual instruction.
“It’s really hard trying to get any extra help. There’s just too many students for the teachers. So a lot of kids are just getting private tutors now.”
Both Kang and Mann agreed they feel extra pressure this year to get the high grades needed to attend Canadian universities.
“I want to take accounting or business, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get in,” Kang said.
Academic requirements at the University of Calgary, for instance, continue to be more competitive each year. Students entering the Schulich School of Engineering had to average at least 87 per cent in five core courses while those attending the Haskayne School of Business must have at least 84 to be considered.
Officials at the CBE said they couldn’t confirm any student counts until the end of the month.
But the union’s take on conditions being similar or worse than last year would see class size averages hovering anywhere between 28 to 36 in many schools.
Last year the CBE posted record student enrolment numbers for the 2013- 14 school year, with 110,763 students in the system, up from 107,132 the previous year. Bruseker says he expects to see at least another 3,000 students added this year.
Figures showed class size averages last year in nearly all Calgary public high schools met or exceeded provincial guidelines. At the time, eight schools posted class size averages of 30 or more students with Western Canada and William Aberhart topping the list with averages of 36 and 34 respectively.
Averages in the Calgary Catholic District were somewhat lower at the high school level, with St. Francis High School averaging 28 kids per class, and St. Mary’s averaging 27.
But Jurisic argues that if governments want students to be ready for “the new world,” in which many jobs will be creative, and knowledgebased, teachers need to be given more time to interact with students.
“If you want learning for the 21st century, we need education that’s innovative, creative, and that happens better in a smaller classroom.
“Teachers need extra time to breathe, to think with their students, to be reflective with their students.”
Cathy Faber, superintendent of learning innovation for the CBE, agreed that growing class size is a serious problem at the high school level and a direct result of underfunding.
“We’re very concerned about this. We know that per- student funding has gone down again this year, and our trends show is an ongoing challenge and issue for us. All we can do is try and allocate scarce resources the best we can.”
Faber explained the CBE is working to create more flexible learning options, allowing students to study online, take extra time to complete courses if needed, or seek extra support through student tutors within the school.
“We need to keep looking at different instructional strategies.”
In spite of the overcrowding, Faber did say that academic outcomes at the high school level continue to improve with diploma exam results and graduation rates both on the upswing in recent years.
Newly- appointed education minister Gordon Dirks was not available for comment Friday.
Press secretary Kathleen Range told the Herald Dirks was travelling to Medicine Hat and would be unable to be interviewed by phone.
Tamara Magnan, director of communications for Alberta Education, would not address the class size issue directly, saying it is speculative until hard numbers come in later this month. “We continue to work with our partners to manage the increase in student enrolment throughout Alberta,” she said.