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Schools

The Lamorinda Equation: Does Reduced Class Size Offer the Best Value?

School districts must balance the cost of programs, and class size reduction funding is waning.

In Lamorinda and other school districts, small class size is almost universally supported by parents and teachers. It’s also incented by the state. The concept appears intuitive – fewer students in class would seem to suggest a better learning environment. However, the support of class size reduction in a constrained economic environment has very real costs to other programs.

In Moraga, for example, while the school district strives to keep classes small, physical education teachers have already received pink slips and librarians are due to receive pink slips on April 28, barring a significant change in the state budget outlook for next year.

Class size reduction is based on educational theory that students in smaller classes perform better academically not only in the year they are in the small class, but also as they advance in their education. The concept is based largely on the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project in Tennessee conducted from 1985 through 1989. The study placed students randomly in smaller or larger classes and tracked their performance over a four-year period. 

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The study concluded that smaller class sizes offered multiple benefits. In short, they allowed more teacher engagement, minimized classroom management requirements and increased learning.

In 1996, when the state budget was relatively flush, California led the nation by enacting legislation that rewarded school districts for implementing class size reduction in kindergarten through third grade. Districts in which classrooms maintained a ratio of 20 students to one teacher in these grades received $650 incentive per student.

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However, in 2004 and again 2009, as California’s budget began to feel the impact of the economic downturn, the ratios and incentives changed.  According to EdSource.org, in 2004, a district forfeited all incentives if the ratio crept up above 21.85 students.  Currently, EdSource.org states that “the full penalty, for an average of 24.95 and above, results in a loss of 30 percent of funds, with interim deductions of 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent, and 20 percent."

While class size reduction incentives mandate a specific number of students to a primary teacher, it fails to take into account something the Moraga school district funds through private donations – instructional aides.  The Tennessee study concluded that smaller classes outperformed standard classes that include an aide. In addition, instructional aides, while often well-educated, are not trained teachers and are present for only a few hours each day.

Studies question the value of smaller class sizes as a one-size-fits-all approach in a diverse state such as California. In the Tennessee study, the study authors noted that smaller class sizes are of greatest benefit to minority students in urban schools. The San Francisco-based nonpartisan, nonprofit education research and service agency, WestEd identifies other factors that influence student success. WestEd points out that “The quality of teaching, the type of instructional strategies used, the curriculum content and student-teacher interactions, along with class size, also matter. Finally, student motivation and family educational and economic background play a role in determining achievement outcomes.”

The California Teachers Association is unequivocal in its support of class size reduction. On its website, the CTA states: “Small class sizes are key to improving student learning. CTA believes that small class sizes, particularly in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, allows for the optimum development of a student’s potential and ensure individual attention to each student.”

While you can draw your own conclusions about the value of class size, it’s clearly a buzz word for parents. Small class sizes are repeatedly mentioned as a draw for those looking to move into the Lamorinda school districts. And the additional value of aides is immediately noticed by those moving into the local districts.

One family moving to Moraga from Pleasant Hill noticed that their son’s kindergarten class was “night and day. The class was calmer, more focused, there was an aide in the classroom. You just didn’t get that where we moved from.”

Class size reduction may make intuitive sense, and some research suggests it has real impact on student achievement. There’s no doubt, however, that it has real impact on other programs competing for limited budget dollars.

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