a good teacher teaching thousands of kids via computer. I think that is what Romney is referring to but it is only a guess. I would guess that Romney and the GOP have some sort of study to back themselves up on this. They are like that in the GOP - hoarding information so they can level asymetric warfare on the Democrats who don't have those studies.

"The study Romney cited was a report done by the McKinsey consulting firm, which examined education systems in foreign countries such as Singapore and South Korea, and found that the highest performing schools had the same class sizes in the United States."
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/24/11867223-romney-downplays-value-of-classroom-sizes


So, Romney believes that what works in Singapore and South Korea is supposedly good enough for students in America.

He should listen to these U.S. educators first, before looking to foreign countries for answers to American's problems.


... another teacher on the panel contested Romney's statements, citing a different report.

"There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definitive study about class size and what they said was that in first through third grade, if the class size is under 18 those kids stay ahead of everybody else all the way through school, including classes where you might have 25 in the class and co-teachers. Those students lose their gains after a couple years. If you have small classes in those primary years, those most important years, that’s what makes the difference."
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/24/11867223-romney-downplays-value-of-classroom-sizes

It's a cultural thing.

In cultures where the students are disciplined and respect and obey their teachers, class sizes can be larger.

And, yes class size might not be the biggest issue, but any one who has ever gone to a museum with a field trip group present knows what it is like to control 35 children at a time, even with 4 or 5 chaperones.

If you have larger class sizes you don't need as many teachers, he get to do his favorite thing. Fire people.

I bet his private school didn't have 35 in each class.

the gop DOES NOT have studies to back up their claims ... they rely on the public and the media's penchant for NOT asking for facts that underpin their claims.

I have NEVER seen a candidate who gets so many "do overs". How can the American people really consider this guy to be president? The polls should be Obama 85% Romney 15%. This really shows how stupid many in America are when it comes to politics, it also shows how much FOX and Talk Radio influences their viewers/listeners. I am sure each and every case of foot in mouth disease is explained away or spun to be good.

Romney has said that he will repeal the Obama administration policy that removed the bank middleman in college loans.

Public Education and access to advanced education will not far well under a romney presidency.

—Alex, Michigan

“Coming from a middle-class family with an older sibling already in college, I have to pay for most of my own education through scholarships, grants and loans.

“I took out Stafford Loans for one simple reason: They are the most affordable! They filled the gap after my scholarships and grants, and I’m happy to say that I was able to avoid high-interest private loans. Lower interest rates, combined with the President’s plan for student loan reform, mean I can pay them off in a reasonable amount of time.

“It’s clear that President Obama has the concerns of real students in mind. Education should always be an affordable right, not an expensive privilege.”


http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/president-obama-has-the-concerns-of-real-students-in-mind

The black guy is telling the white guy that size matters.

More tone deafness from Obama.

this is a case of a white guy (Frederick Mosteller: http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/05_02_08.pdf) and plenty of white women (teachers) telling a white guy that size matters.

The Black guy is just agreeing.

mighty nuance little funny there, pal!



(on edit: if your post should be "alerted" it weren't me- i don't do that shit. but i "got" your joke about blacks and size right off the bat)

He could show all those hapless professionals how it's supposed to be done.

His 40 students will be rapt with attention.

FWIW

certainly not his own

Like his dad the head of an automobile company did.

nt.

That's another class of people not voting for the Mittster.

Women - check
African-Americans - check
LGBT community - check
Teachers - check

(I'm sure there are others. What say you all?)

Romney looks like he's off in his own daydream world, maybe counting his Swiss bank account money. This is too funny.

can Romney be? What kind of decisions would be made by a president who doesn't know that correlation does not necessarily imply causation?

Smaller class sizes obviously can't make up entirely for HUGE socioeconomic differences BETWEEN districts. IMO the only credible evidence on class size effects must come from studies--like the Tennessee STAR experiment--that varied class sizes at random WITHIN districts.

...from a rich prick.

It seems intuitively that smaller classes would be better (more one on one, better discipline, etc).

But I can't think of any I've seen. At least not lately.

"There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definitive study about class size and what they said was that in first through third grade, if the class size is under 18 those kids stay ahead of everybody else all the way through school, including classes where you might have 25 in the class and co-teachers. Those students lose their gains after a couple years. If you have small classes in those primary years, those most important years, that’s what makes the difference."

http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/24/11867223-romney-downplays-value-of-classroom-sizes

I think we should work on finding the optimum level. Obviously having one teacher per student, a personal tutor would be best, but prohibitively expensive. Having one teacher per 100 kids would be cheapest but obviously flawed.

So maybe work on having classes about 16-18? Seems reasonable to me. Specifically at the younger ages. Perhaps 1:5 in kindergarten then slowly increase to maybe 1:20 in highschool.

They have looked at their income, arrrest records, substance abuse issues, etc. And they are doing better than their peers to this day.

He went to an uber elite boarding school - tha was probably the first time he's ever set foot in a real public school! Of course he's going to say class size doesn't matter!

So long as you make sure you come out of the right womb, and never have to go to some smelly public school with a bunch of serfs, it doesn't matter how big those class sizes are.

Why can't everyone just plan ahead a little, like Mitt?

It's not too hard to google "class size in finland" and find a wealth of information as to why they are doing so well in educating their children.

Decisions like

a) reducing class sizes.
b) Eliminating standardized testing. (random samples done instead).
c) Higher quality teachers with better qualifications (gotta have a Masters)
d) keeping students with teachers through grades (same teacher in Kindergarten through 5th, for example)
e) Buddy teaching system - kid who's good at maths helps out kid not so good - so all go up together.

This is what I learned on a quick Google search. Oh, and this was done in the 1970s... cos Finland recognized that the only way their country was to get anywhere was if their children were educated well.

Or did he mean that class size in public schools 'doesn't matter' to HIM ?

He doesn't care for kids needs, I doubt that he had much to do with the raising of his own sons.
Oh how I'd like to be the fly on the wall on the inside of that empty skull of his.

when looking for their kids?