The problem of math in teaching
A teacher I know only over the internet, but who probably lived 30 miles from my house, recently tweeted he has 192 students on the rosters of his 6 classes next year. Yep, he has 6 classes of 32 students.
People wonder why teachers complain about class sizes and say it's impossible to give kids the attention and feedback they need to become better learners? Let's do some math.
Many districts require teachers to have 2 grades per week per student. In a normal 10-week quarter, that's 20 grades per student. With a student load of 192, that's 3840 grades per quarter and 15360 grades per year, minimum.
For fun, let's figure out how much time those grades would require per quarter. For the sake of the math, let's say this teacher spends 5 minutes per student per assignment. I know some will take less (say a completion grade) and others more (say an essay). But, to keep things simple, let's just say 5 minutes average for grading, commenting on, and logging the grades.
192 * 5 = 960 minutes or 16 hours per assignment.
Now, since there's a minimum of 2 assignments per week, and thus 20 per quarter, that's (192 * 20 ) *5 = 19200 minutes or 320 hours per 10 weeks on grading.
Ok, some of that will be done in the hour or so of planning each teacher gets, right? So, let's assume there are no meetings, copying, or other duties in that hour per day and subtract 50 hours. So, it's really only 270 hours.
That's right, we expect 1 teacher to put in 6.75 weeks of overtime every 10 weeks. And that is only giving each student the equivalent of 5 minutes of consideration per assignment.
Now, I know my numbers are a little high there. But really, wouldn't we expect a teacher to spend 10 minutes a week on a kid's work? It doesn't seem like much to ask, until one thinks about the 191 others. It doesn't seem like much until one realizes that grading isn't the only requirement--most teachers do their own copying; attend faculty and team meetings; plan their own lessons; correspond with parents; provide written feedback for special education plans; write college recommendations or individual student evaluations for counselors; and perform other duties like lunch or recess monitoring.
Next time someone mentions "Yeah, but teachers get the summers off," remember this teacher with 192 students. Sure, he's not in school during the 2 months of summer, as most of us are on 10 month contracts. Sure, he gets a week off at Christmas and a week off at Spring Break. But when you figure he's been expected to give 27 weeks of overtime for grading alone in the 10 months he "went into the office," that 12 weeks of "vacation time" doesn't seem like too much, does it?
*** edited to make entry public at the request of caramida
People wonder why teachers complain about class sizes and say it's impossible to give kids the attention and feedback they need to become better learners? Let's do some math.
Many districts require teachers to have 2 grades per week per student. In a normal 10-week quarter, that's 20 grades per student. With a student load of 192, that's 3840 grades per quarter and 15360 grades per year, minimum.
For fun, let's figure out how much time those grades would require per quarter. For the sake of the math, let's say this teacher spends 5 minutes per student per assignment. I know some will take less (say a completion grade) and others more (say an essay). But, to keep things simple, let's just say 5 minutes average for grading, commenting on, and logging the grades.
192 * 5 = 960 minutes or 16 hours per assignment.
Now, since there's a minimum of 2 assignments per week, and thus 20 per quarter, that's (192 * 20 ) *5 = 19200 minutes or 320 hours per 10 weeks on grading.
Ok, some of that will be done in the hour or so of planning each teacher gets, right? So, let's assume there are no meetings, copying, or other duties in that hour per day and subtract 50 hours. So, it's really only 270 hours.
That's right, we expect 1 teacher to put in 6.75 weeks of overtime every 10 weeks. And that is only giving each student the equivalent of 5 minutes of consideration per assignment.
Now, I know my numbers are a little high there. But really, wouldn't we expect a teacher to spend 10 minutes a week on a kid's work? It doesn't seem like much to ask, until one thinks about the 191 others. It doesn't seem like much until one realizes that grading isn't the only requirement--most teachers do their own copying; attend faculty and team meetings; plan their own lessons; correspond with parents; provide written feedback for special education plans; write college recommendations or individual student evaluations for counselors; and perform other duties like lunch or recess monitoring.
Next time someone mentions "Yeah, but teachers get the summers off," remember this teacher with 192 students. Sure, he's not in school during the 2 months of summer, as most of us are on 10 month contracts. Sure, he gets a week off at Christmas and a week off at Spring Break. But when you figure he's been expected to give 27 weeks of overtime for grading alone in the 10 months he "went into the office," that 12 weeks of "vacation time" doesn't seem like too much, does it?
*** edited to make entry public at the request of caramida