Thank you, Linda, for transferring this thread over to Framgov and sorry for
the confusion. Please take a look at the original posting by following the
link and here are a few responses to questions posed on Frambors before the
transfer:
Questions from Mr. Laskin:
1) Care to add to your PPT presentation to give some voice to the studies
you label as "invalid"? I see the discussion of the TN study, but no other
studies that disagree with you.
Response: The PowerPoint presentation was developed by Chris Martell, history
teacher, Framingham High School. He has researched this topic extensively and
as I understand it the Tennessee study is the hallmark of classroom size
research and the data from that study is still used for further ongoing
research today, similar to the Framingham Heart Study that has given incredible
longitudinal info on health/quality of life. There is also a link on the
Framingham Schools website on the right hand side of the home page under ‘News
and Updates’ that was placed by the Superintendent giving other information and
data on class size research. It also references the Tennessee study. I can
refer any specific questions on to Chris Martell at the high school if you
would like.
2) Can you explain your math because I don't get it. If Kindergarten is
seeing 100-200 students in it, how is the 700-800 number being calculated?
Also how do you calculate the 2000 number?
Response: The incoming kindergarten class projected for next year is in the
700-800 student range. There was also a similar number of incoming kindergarten
students last year. That number is up by 100-200 students from previous years
(the typical number through the 1990s and 2000s has been 500-600 incoming
kindergarten students). The trend is projected to continue into the future 5-10
years. Framingham is going through a baby boom and it is hitting the schools.
If the schools are set up for 600 kindergarten students between the 8
elementary schools, and there are 200 more kindergarten students to absorb, it
is obviously an issue of space vs. classroom size, not just for the
kindergarten year, but as all these children go through the grades. Do you
want to see 30 students in a kindergarten and elementary classes? Personally,
I don’t. I have seen what a kindergarten looks like with 32 students and seen
the fall out as they have progressed through the early elementary grades with
poor performance and special education referrals.
Questions from Brenda Crenshaw:
Here's where I get stuck on this issue. No one can really *control* how many
students enroll in the school system every year. So what is the proposal for
when a class WOULD exceed 25 students? Let's say there's a class that would
have 29 students and because that's something that is contractually taboo, is
the Town then obligated to hire an additional teacher for those four students?
It seems that would be the case. So where does that money come from? And what
happens when that same overage occurs in any of the several hundred other
classes?
Response: It is the job of the Parent Information Center at King Building to
register and place students in the elementary and middle schools with an eye
towards numbers but also limited school choice. What I have seen is that when a
classroom exceeds 25, usually substantially over, maybe 28-30 students, the
classroom is divided by two and a new teacher is hired, establishing two
classrooms with 15 children. Of course, that is when there is an extra
classroom. When there is no extra space, a classroom assistant is hired, if
there is not one already. And good luck to the teacher! As I understand it,
there are many classrooms currently over the 25 student total at Cameron, not
just a few, but double digits, and there has been no additional staff added.
Where does the money come from? Good question. However, obviously all of this
requires thoughtful planning, economizing, and building/space management. Some
of the questions brought up at our classroom size presentation by the FTA were:
if the classroom size were consistently defined and/or smaller as a policy,
would we need as many ‘extra’ services with special education, staff trainers,
etc.? Also, given the salaries of some administrative positions, particularly
those being added, would it make more sense to hire more classroom teachers
rather than administrators?
However, going back to the original premise of this thread, you can see why the
FTA wants definition of classroom size in the contract. There is a lot at stake
from a lot of different perspectives, and if teachers are to be held
accountable for student performance, then classroom size must be better
controlled and defined. The FTA is not looking to reduce class sizes from the
current practices in Framingham, though if we could, it would be an incredible
accomplishment! The FTA is looking to hold the line with the current class
size practices recommended by the School Committee to avert a looming crisis.
Thank you all for your responses!
Janet Scott