Larger class sizes impede student Learning

Emiola Enakhimion ‘24

As class sizes have steadily climbed at EA, many students and teachers feel that the academy’s renowned individualized education has decreased, and learning has become less personal and harder to manage. To combat this, EA should aim to reduce class sizes in the Upper School.

Due to their smaller student population, private schools naturally tend to have smaller class sizes than their public counterparts. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average U.S. class size in private schools is 17.6 students in comparison to 26.2 students at public schools. 

Historically, EA has been no exception. One of Episcopal’s greatest assets has been its relatively small class sizes; a fact that it substantially emphasizes and markets to prospective students and parents. Middle School English Teacher Mark Luff affirms this notion, saying, “One of the strengths of an independent education is the class sizes. Class sizes at Episcopal range anywhere from as small as ten to as large as eighteen. A small student-teacher ratio is the strength of independent schools because individual attention is higher.” 

This year, however, there is a noticeable increase in average class sizes at Episcopal due to the fact that the student body has risen from 1,247 students in 2020 to 1,294 students in 2021 while the number of faculty, 180, has stayed the same. This increase in class size might have come with fewer COVID-19 restrictions. At the start of in-person learning during the 2020-21 school year, classes were capped at fifteen students or fewer to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Because this cap was lifted at the start of the current school year, many classrooms are now filled with as many as eighteen to nineteen students, a noticeable increase from the previous year. 

Having fewer students in each class allows for teachers to interact and help each student learn. As EA’s student body continues to increase, it will impact the standard of learning. Julianna Yates ‘24 agrees saying, “It takes a while for the teacher to wrangle a larger number of students, and simple activities take a long time. You also don’t get to know your teacher as well since there are so many students to attend to.” Students can feel frustrated in larger classes, and it impacts their learning. For instance, if students can’t build close relationships with teachers, they may fear asking them for academic help, advice, or having everyday conversations with them that not only provide new perspectives, but improve the student experience. 

Having worked at EA for over twenty years, Luff is one of the longest-serving teachers and holds an important first-hand perspective on the evolution of the student body. When he first started, the EA community had only around 900 students, much smaller than the 1200 students on campus today. As the school grew over the years, class sizes have of course increased. “The noticeable difference is something the school should be concerned about. Private schools have always been traditionally smaller. The larger the class the less opportunity to connect. Less individual time with students can change the dynamics of a classroom. The larger it gets, the more chances for students who aren’t interested in learning. It also affects classroom management because there are more teaching styles needed to be learned.”

Some students argue that larger class sizes are an advantage to the EA community as it allows for more students to contribute unique ideas. Ashley Tang ‘22 believes that having more classmates “is a good thing because each person adds their own perspectives and brings different talents to EA.” However, a sizable student population is not the problem, and is actually preferable due to the aforementioned reasons. But EA must accommodate a larger student body by creating more, and therefore smaller class sizes. The main way to do this is hire more quality faculty, or research new ways to balance classes so that students and teachers feel less overwhelmed. 

No matter what the approach is, as EA continues to grow, we need to ask ourselves how we will maintain our centuries-old distinguished standard of education if class sizes keep expanding?