Question

Suppose that you are working on a project where you are attempting to answer the following research question: What impact will new class size laws have on high schools? Two of the sources you have found on the topic are Source A and Source B (below). In your response, evaluate these two sources. Be sure to examine their credibility and their relevance to your research question. Your response should make a clear argument, use transitions to move between ideas, use specific details from the sources, maintain a formal style, and include a concluding statement. (15 points)

Source A:
"New Education Laws Passed" by Jim Jonathan, City News, March 15, 2012, page 1.

Yesterday, lawmakers passed a series of changes to legislation affecting the state's schools. The new laws will alter the ways schools do business next year.
Included in the new laws were changes in the numbers of students assigned to classrooms. The previous law allowed only 20 students to be assigned to each teacher's classroom in kindergarten through fifth grade. Middle school and high school classes were capped at 24. New laws remove those limits. Now the state will provide funding for one classroom teacher per 50 students attending the school. Individual school districts may use local funding to provide additional teachers or to come up with creative measures to reduce class sizes.
"We need to be more responsible with our taxpayers' money and children," said Representative Mike Davis. "We are in an economic recession and just don't have money to throw around."
Some parents disagree, though. "I can't imagine my six-year-old trying to keep up with his reading when the teacher needs to make sure 40 or more kids are doing what they're supposed to." said Pat Patterson, father of two, "I don't know what these people are thinking."
The new laws go into effect next month.

Source B:
"Really?" a letter to the editor by Marcia Thomas, City News, March 17, 2012, page 4.

As a tenth-grade biology teacher for the last 20 years, I thought there was nothing left that could shock me. Boy, was I wrong!
How exactly do these lawmakers, who probably haven't set foot in a public school classroom since they were in school themselves, propose that teachers manage 50 students at a time?
Teachers are asked to do so much right now. We not only need to prepare our students to take end-of-course tests in our subject areas, we also need to get them ready to attend college or go into the workforce. On top of this, we are counselors, and sometimes we are even the ones who feed and clothe them. We do all this because we care about our youth. We think they matter.
At the same time, we can do only so much. If we meet the high standards we set for ourselves under this new legislation, good health will be a thing of the past for us. Not only will we suffer, but the students will suffer as well.

Answer 1

This report gives an overview of the existing evidence base on class size and education in

England. In particular, it considers how class sizes have changed over time; the impact of the

increase in birth rate on pupil numbers and how this could affect the teacher requirement and

class sizes; and the impact of class size on educational outcomes. The report also considers

the impact of the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act1

. This put a duty on Local

Authorities (LAs) and schools to limit the size of infant classes taught by one teacher to 30

pupils. It became a legal requirement from September 2001. Local authority plans, produced

in order to ensure the legal requirement was met, were subject to challenge, approval,

intervention when required, funding and monitoring, and held to account against delivery.

Step-by-step explanation: