Small Classes Produce Little Gains So Far
Tanya Schevitz
A long-awaited evaluation of California's $3.7 billion investment in class-size reduction shows only modest improvements in performance and raises concerns about shortages of classrooms and of qualified teachers, particularly in poor and urban areas. But the report cautions that it is too early to make harsh judgments about the popular 3-year-old program to shrink class sizes, and it recommends that the state try to correct some of the problems by bolstering teacher recruitment and building more classrooms. Conducted by a group of state and national policy institutes, the study by the Class Size Reduction Research Consortium is the first part of an independent analysis of the state's investment in class-size reduction. It was mandated by the Legislature when the program was created in 1996 and will be followed by a more comprehensive report in 2002. The study also warns that the state should be more flexible in how school districts use the $800 per pupil in class-size reduction funds and should develop a new formula to put more money into districts with large numbers of poor, minority and limited-English students. The program's "rapid implementation may have increased underlying inequities in the state's educational system that may threaten the state's ability to reap the full rewards of this huge investment," the report said, adding that class-size reduction is still "a work in progress." Using state education data, surveys and classroom observations, the study found mixed results from the program, which cut class sizes from an average of 30 students to 20 students for 1.76 million of the state's 1.9 students in kindergarten through third grade. The most anticipated part of the study -- student performance -- showed only slight improvement. Comparing reading, math and language scores of third-graders, the study found that those in reduced classes gained an average of two to three points on the 1998 statewide achievement test regardless of racial or social background. The smaller class sizes allow teachers to spend less time on discipline and more time with individual students, the study said. "What is especially encouraging is that students from all racial and economic groupings who were in a smaller classroom environment made modest academic gains," said state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin. "The study, while preliminary, highlights the importance of simply staying the course." However, the study also flags a distressing trend toward increasing inequities for low-income and urban schools as a result of the class-size reduction. The average education, experience and credentials of teachers in kindergarten through third grade has declined in the rush to fill new classrooms with teachers, the study says. In the past three years, 23,500 teachers were hired to cut class sizes, but of those more than half had less than three years' experience. Michael Kirst, a Stanford University education professor who worked on the report, said there are real concerns for the districts with the most underprivileged students. "We can see those gaps now between districts and schools, and we don't have to wait for more data to do something about it," he said. The study showed that before class-size reduction, almost all K-3 teachers were fully credentialed. By 1997, 12 percent of teachers were not, and most of the uncredentialed teachers were in schools with students from the poorest families. "The already weaker qualifications of teachers serving poor and minority students are now dramatically worse," the study says. The class-size reduction program "impoverished" such districts, in which students may end up doing worse because they do not have skilled and experienced teachers, said Oakland school board member Jean Quan, who chairs the National School Board Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education. Quan worries that performance will decline in the district with the most underprivileged children, while it increases in affluent, suburban districts that lured away the most qualified teachers. "In some cases, it may have been wiser to keep a teacher with that extra 10 kids than to flop them into a classroom without a trained teacher," she said. "Class-size reduction is good for children, but it has not been implemented in a way that is equitable for all children." She said the state now has to "clean up" the problem and help urban districts. The reduction in class sizes created a facilities crisis as well, as districts scrambled to find space for new classes. By the 1997-98 school year, more than one-quarter of schools had taken space away from special education, child care, computer labs, music and arts programs, and more than one-fifth had converted library space into classrooms, according to the report. While the state has provided $586.3 million for facilities, many districts, especially those starting out with large class sizes, had to invest their own money, cutting from other educational programs to meet the mandate for class-size reduction. In Oakland, the district spent $3.5 million on facilities for class-size reduction, including 170 portable classrooms -- the equivalent of about five new schools. Other districts missed out on some state funding for the class-size reduction because they did not have the space to cut class sizes as quickly. Doug Stone, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said the state is already moving to fix some of the problems raised by class-size reduction and a booming student enrollment. The state budget includes $50 million to boost starting teacher salaries, and there is $6.2 billion on tap from a bond approved by voters last November for school facilities. The state will also receive $129 million in federal funds for class-size reduction, which will be used for professional support of teachers, he said. The new report validates some of the concerns the state Education Department already had, Stone said. "We will examine the recommendations and discuss where do we need to go next in order to improve the program," Stone said. "The message is that while the gains are initially modest, it (the program) is very promising." Policymakers had high expectations for class-size reduction based largely on the results of a similar program in Tennessee from 1985 to 1990 that reported tremendous gains for all students, especially minority and low-income students. But the California study noted that the Tennessee program was a controlled experiment involving fewer than 10,000 students, as well as schools that did not face shortages in fully prepared teachers or facilities. But even if California's children are not yet showing a big gains in achievement, the report says parents are more satisfied with their children's education and have more contact with teachers because of the class sizes. Erana Haggard's daughter Lauren, 8, has been in small classes for first and second grade at Baldwin Elementary School in Danville. "She has gotten a lot of additional attention that she wouldn't have gotten," she said. "In respect to that, I'm sure she has seen a benefit." --------------------------------------------------------- KEY FINDINGS Findings of study of California's class-size-reduction program: ------------------- POSITIVES -- Students in reduced classes did somewhat better on the statewide achievement test than students in larger classes. -- Teachers with smaller classes spend less time on discipline and more time working one-on-one with problem readers and students' personal concerns. -- Parents of students in smaller classes have more contact with teachers and are more satisfied with their children's education. ------------------- NEGATIVES -- Schools with high percentages of poor, minority and English-learning students were slower to reduce the size of their classes, mainly because of lack of space for more classrooms. -- Schools with students from the poorest families had a slightly higher percentage of teachers lacking full credentials than other schools in 1995. By 1997, that gap had increased tenfold. ------------------- MORE INFORMATION The study, "Class Size Reduction in California: Early Evaluation Findings, 1996-1998" by the CSR Research Consortium, is available on the Internet at www.classize.org |