A report from Rocky View Schools shows that average class sizes in the division fall somewhere between 20 and 30 students.

The report is compiled annually and provided to Alberta Education. Superintendent Greg Luterbach explained the report is based on enrollment numbers from September 30 and includes data from the last three years for the sake of comparison.

The averages are divided into two categories: all subjects and cores subjects. Luterbach said, either way, there haven't been significant changes since last year.

"Kindergarten to grade 3, our overall jurisdictional averages are very similar to previous years. At our 4 to 6, they're up a little bit. In our grade 7 to 9, again, they're similar to last year but a little bit more of an uptick, whereas at our grade 10 to 12, our core sizes are slightly smaller than they were or equal to what they were last year.

Looking at core subject class size averages, kindergarten to grade 3 saw classes of around 21.4 students. The average class size for grades 4 through 6 was 26 students. In grades 7 through 9, the average was around 25.7, and in grades 10 to 12 the average class had 25.2 students.

When you look at class size averages for all subjects, the average class size for younger grades was the same because typically those age groups have all their classes together. The changes come in the higher grades. While the average size for core subject classes in grades 7 to 9 was 25.7, the number of all classes was 27.4. Likewise, the average class size for all subjects in grades 10 to 12 was 26.3, compared to 25.2 for only core subjects.

Parents typically want smaller class sizes for their children. Luterbach said while there is plenty of data that can be used to argue any angle when it comes to class sizes, they do try to keep things small, but that can be tricky.

"You have to balance the realities, when looking at class size, between the space you have and the funding you have to be able to create smaller classrooms. We certainly try to keep our smallest classes at our youngest grades, our kindergartens to grade 3's are our smallest classes."

Younger students usually benefit from smaller class sizes. Luterbach explained that middle school classes are usually the biggest size, while high school classes see a lot of variance because of things like complexity of building timetables for a large number of students, principals choosing to have smaller classes, and students choosing what classes they enroll in.

From the division's perspective, the thing that is more desirable than large or small classrooms is consistency year over year. Luterbach explained that means they know they have space, staff and resources to teach students.

"When we look at it, we look how much staffing, resources and space we have and say, how do these compare to the last few years? Is this drastically different? We're not seeing massive swings one way or the other."

The report does not break down the numbers into the average class size for communities like Airdrie or Cochrane but does break them down on a school by school basis. The media were not provided with the full detailed report, and we, therefore, cannot report those numbers, but Luterbach said the report will eventually be made public later in the year.

 

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