U.S. Leadership in Science May Depend on 8th-Graders

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by KarenH

The problem is that the only way to teach children about what interests them WHEN they are interested in it is via an independent study program, which at the elementary grades is only feasible with a low pupil:teacher ratio (1:1 is ideal). Our public schools cannot possibly do this for every child.

While a 1:1 teacher-to-student ratio might offer the greatest amount of teacher-student interaction, we can't forget that school is also (supposed to be) a useful social activity—both recreationally and educationally.

More to the point, I'd have to say that it's more a matter of figuring out what the individual student needs, than arbitrarily setting a class size. The problem: just try to get a school board to fund that on a large scale—right now, it's limited to the "special needs" students (in every sense of that term).