[Apswel] Class size and Math Classes

[West Elementary School Mailing List]

Message from the Principal

By Charles M. Friel

During last night's PTO there was a discussion about class size, as well
as the use of instructional assistants in the classroom. Let me tackle
the issue of class size first. Just prior to the opening of school in
September, the principals met with the Superintendent to discuss our
enrollment numbers. Four grade levels at three different schools were
identified as having enrollments above the mid point of the Andover
School Committee's policy. Those mid points are; kindergarten: 20,
grades 1 and 2: 23, and grades 3-5: 25. The policy further states, "In
the event that classes increase above the goal by more than 4 students,
additional classes, teachers, or instructional assistance time may be
added." Even though our numbers never reached the four student above
benchmark, we were given additional assistant hours. 

At the time that we met, West Elementary had an average of 26 students
each in grades three and four. Two other schools had grade levels that
were also slightly above the mid point average. We decided collectively
to mitigate the enrollments at all three schools by adding instructional
assistant time. West Elementary received 50 hours, South School, 33, and
Bancroft 27. We assigned those hours at West Elementary School to grades
three and four. Subsequent to the start of the school year, we did have
more students register for both of those grades. Our current
student-ratio at grade three is 26 to 1 and 26.5 to 1 at grade four.
Those numbers are 1.0 and 1.5 above the School Committee mid point. 

Coincidental to our increase in enrollment, West Elementary became
eligible for Title I services for the first time in six years. A school
qualifies for Title I services if its poverty level is above the system
average, based on the number of students who receive free or reduced
lunches. The system average is 3%. West Elementary's average is 3.6%.
Two other Andover elementary schools, High Plain and Bancroft, also
qualify for Title I services. 

With our Title I funds, we hired one Title I teacher and two Title I
instructional assistants. The latter two are both college graduates. We
decided to use much of our Title I time in math classes. We already have
two reading support teachers who provide small group and in-class
support to students in grades K-3. Since we have had no like math
support, we put together a support plan in math for students in grades
three and four. We chose those two grade levels mainly because we wanted
to help them master grade level benchmarks. The grade three math
benchmarks are quite challenging when compared to those for grade two.
All of the Andover Benchmarks are based on the Massachusetts Curriculum
Frameworks, on which the MCAS tests are based.

We combined the Title I staff with instructional assistant hours that we
were given by the School Committee. In doing so, we were able to place
an additional adult in each math class at grades three and four. The
second person in the classroom works under the direction of the
classroom teacher, and/or the Title I teacher. These staff members are
also supervised by Mrs. Roos and me. The classroom teacher is your
child's math teacher. He or she does all the initial instruction of math
concepts. The instructional assistant or Title I teacher may be used in
a variety of ways in the classroom, including working with small groups,
helping individual students as they work, and providing follow-up
instruction to individuals or small groups of students. 

The classroom teacher may also divide the class in half on occasion and
have the assistant run an activity after receiving directions from him
or her. The small groups taken by the assistants are flexible. The
assistant may work both with students who need some support, as well as
those who are ready to do some horizontal explorations in math. The
small groups may be pulled twice weekly, for example, for part of a math
period, until the teacher feels that students have sufficiently
strengthened their skills on a particular topic. 

We have always used our instructional assistants in the ways that I have
described above. It so happens this year, that we have the equivalent of
five additional positions, so we are able to make more widespread use of
them in the classroom.

I hope this gives you a better understanding, not only of the class size
issue, but also how instructional assistants aid the classroom teacher.
I have mentioned previously, instructional assistants are always under
the supervision of professional staff. Your child's classroom teacher is
always directly responsible for both his and her instruction and
academic progress. 



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.aps1.net/pipermail/apswel/attachments/20071011/828a1d78/attachment.htm