First Coast News reports that a district in Florida is meeting class size limits by creating a lower-paid assistant teacher position that still requires a license but requires less prep time. The question I raise in my book about co-teaching arrangements to reduce ratio is whether it has as much effect as a smaller group of kids per room. It’s certainly better than nothing though.

My wife was having a particularly stressful week and I had two days off in a row she didn’t have, so I went in to her first grade class to help. I focused on the four kids she was having trouble with, periodically praising and redirecting their choices, if you will. I also did some 1-on-1 reading testing that I don’t see how she’s ever supposed to have time to do. Things went much better, of course. So no, there’s nothing wrong with having that extra adult. The question is whether that extra adult is always used effectively. There were certain stretches where I did feel I was just watching.

Does having two adults tend to encourage having a larger group of kids in order to produce the chaotic events that will keep the second adult busy?

The Jacksonville Observer reports that a Florida senate committee approved with only one vote against a bill for vote that would put on the ballot a change to the class size amendment. According to the AP it would “keep counts at the school-wide average and permit the addition of a few extra seats where necessary” by removing the next step stipulated for the 2010-11 school year, which mandates absolute class-by-class caps.

All in all, this is not a bad compromise, no? Much worse could have happened.

Georgia, Oklahoma and Nevada are following California and Florida in proposals to undo or temporarily suspend K-3 class size limits. The Wall Street Journal offered this graphic of kindergarten limits by state:

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