Teacher Ratio: Is Smaller Always Better?
While some statistics are clearly positive or negative by nature (who could argue that a falling murder rate is good news, or that an increasing rate of homelessness is cause for concern?), others are more open to interpretation. The student-teacher ratio is used as a common measure in evaluating schools and school districts. But, as John Sietsema, Data Consultant with the National Center for Education Statistics, points out, this ratio “is generally used as a measure of school quality and state effort, on the one hand, and inefficiency, on the other, by politicians, policy makers, the press, local educators, and education researchers.” MuniNetGuide.com is now providing student-teacher ratios in its expanded coverage of school data. To access information for elementary, middle, and high schools in a particular community: • Type the name of the city or town into the MuniNet search field, located to the right of the U.S. map on the home page. • Using Scottsdale as an example, once you re
