>     Much of elementary-school material, other than
 > math, is so _repetitive_ it doesn't matter if there
 > are class sizes of 60...but try teaching freshmen
 > college math to a class of 60 of whom 30 missed key
 > parts of a _sequential_ subject in K-12.
Ever heard of the Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe? Just to refresh your 
memory, she had so many children, that she didn't know what to do. So she 
whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed - didn't bother to find out 
which ones weren't causing trouble. She just punished them all.
This same thing happens when elementary classrooms get too many children. The 
teacher just progresses and progresses, and has no time to find out which 
children were ready to go on and which ones haven't mastered the last 
concept. Even if she could find out, she has the rest of the class ready to 
move on, so she moves on.
See the analogy? I've been there, done that. I've had as few as 14 in a 
second grade class and as many as 28. I had far more time to work with each 
child individually in the small class of 14 - and no one got left behind, not 
understanding the concept.
                                 -donna
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