Every year, classes are forced to close due to declining student enrollment trends. The decreasing student participation can often be attributed to multiple factors, which can greatly vary per year according to prior experiences, opinions on the class, and the overall perception of difficulty. For example, high school teacher Samantha Nicole Gwinn states she has noticed a decrease in enrollment and student counts of Journalism classes in general, whether it is Intermediate Level Journalism or Upper Level Journalism.
High School teacher of GCS and AP World History, and club sponsor, David Murphy, said, “It is not a constant trend; it is cyclical. Essentially, the scheduling in our classes where every year is a new story, and some years it declines and some years it goes up. So we see kinda both. … Actually, this year, for AP World History, we didn’t get to open the class because it didn’t meet the requirement in enrollment.”
Murphy states that the enrollment of students in certain classes might have decreased when comparing the initial enrollment when the class was new, yet every year the number of enrollments can increase and decrease according to general interest per year in some classes.
He also explained how the requirements are not generally fixed: “The enrollment requirements, I don’t believe, have an established minimum; I do know it is double digits. I also know that it depends on the scheduling needs and the course load management between all the teachers; as one issue that we have, and you know, we understand why we can’t open such small classes is because maybe one of my five sections has only 9 students, which means that more students have to go to other classes, which makes classes bigger and ultimately leads to classes having to be separated.”
Murphy explained that there is not a set requirement to open a class since it depends on multiple factors regarding scheduling of multiple other classes. He explains that it holds a full dependence on the schedules of other teachers and that there needs to be an availability to assist the complete amount of students per year. This also addresses an imbalance of student counts, with some classes receiving way more than others, leading to lower satisfaction of most students.
He also shares his opinion regarding how the interest of students may drift to new classes: “Absolutely, when new classes are opening up, more people want to try new classes, so for the example of AP World History, I know a lot of students that would’ve taken AP World who have decided to take AP Economics, which was a new AP course that they were interested in. So there is more competition for courses.”
He explained how the interest of students may lead to new classes which are added per year, and how these classes generate more competition due to a bigger range of options to comply with students’ interest. These added classes can originally generate more attention, yet as the perception of these courses changes, they can also see positive or negative trends in enrollment. The High School counselor, Ana García, takes a different approach by explaining the different factors that influence class enrollment and also explains the factors according to her understanding of students’ mentality.
García explains some of the reasons that influence the enrollment of classes: “There are several factors that can influence students’ choice of classes, including: the students’ own profiles, their interests and motivations regarding specific areas of knowledge, their perception of their own abilities, the perceived rigor and demands of the courses, the usefulness of the classes for developing current and future competencies, and the opinions of others who have already taken the course. … students sometimes base their decisions on the experiences of peers regarding a particular course or instructor. … While the ease of a course can be a factor, it is neither the only one nor necessarily the most important.”, García said, translated from Spanish.
She explained how the personal interests and motivations of students are a primary contributing factor to the decline in enrollment in certain classes, as well as the prior perception of the class by students of prior years rather than the overall difficulty and workload of a class. The experience of prior students also influences enrollment greatly, with the prior experiences and perceived difficulty of a class impacting the enrollment of future classes, and these opinions are not reliable enough since they depend on the vastly different student lives.
She goes more into depth on the influence of prior experiences and the perceived difficulty of classes: “Over the years, collective perceptions about various classes can take shape—for instance, which ones are the most challenging, the most engaging, or the most useful for specific university degree programs. However, I do not believe this is the sole factor that dictates students’ choices each year. … Students often discuss their experiences with one another, and these conversations become an informal source of information for those who will later have to make their own selections. It is important to keep in mind that decisions should be based on a variety of factors, rather than relying exclusively on what one hears from peers.”, García said, translated from Spanish.
Upon reflecting on how prior experiences reflect an image of certain classes and the difficulty, she explained that a big factor is the engagement of the teacher in shaping the image of a class, and how some students participate in classes primarily due to the teacher who is teaching it; she also reflects on the opportunity of having an ample course range.
García ends by reflecting on the influence teachers hold over class enrollment and the opportunities of a class range: “I believe it is a challenge for teachers to create learning opportunities that are inclusive, increasingly connected to the real world, and designed so that knowledge can be applied to concrete situations. However, the responsibility cannot rest solely with the teacher; it is also a challenge for students to recognize their own potential, take an active role in their learning process, make the most of it, and go beyond what is required of them. … I cannot name specific classes because, in general, our curriculum is very well-received by students, which allows us to continue offering a broad selection of over 70 courses at the high school level. This is a unique opportunity provided by our school—one that I encourage students to embrace with gratitude and a high level of awareness.”, García said, translated from Spanish.