Where is the Money?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau the United States has a current population of 303,124,730 and according to the NPP the Iraq War debt is about $481 billion.

Based on the population in Washington State, our share is approximately $10.4 billion. This could be used, at $58,000 per teacher, to hire almost 180,000 teachers.

Obviously this is unrealistic, but I feel it does highlight how much money is not going to education that could be. Even 5% of that money could hire 9,000 new teachers.

Class size is a continuing problem in my district and particularly in the high school, and I definitely hope this issue rises to the forefront of budgeting decisions this year.

As I mentioned on a blog response earlier this week, one of our assistant superintendents repeatedly states that class size does not greatly affect achievement results at the high school. He says this despite mandating classes of 20 or fewer students for remedial and state-test prep classes and encouraging smaller AP class sizes.

I used my classes two years ago to show how the same course I taught to two classes, one of 18 students and one of 28 students, showed a major contrast in overall achievement. The smaller class had a 10% higher average than the larger class. Plus, the smaller class had no failures.

Did I mention the superintendent sent his kids to a private school where class sizes are half of ours? Hmmm...

Relationships are the Key

According to kids interviewed in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the keys for creating successful students are mostly cheap and obvious.

The students listed these items as the keys to their successes:

- a quiet environment,
- fewer distractions,
- smaller classes,
- encouragement from teachers,
- help from teachers, and
- the ability to make up missed work.

All of these ideas from the students reveal a need to establish, maintain, and deepen relationships with students--to know what students need and to know them.

This article adds credence to my fervent belief in relationship building in the classroom. I feel it's the most important aspect of teaching and is the primary reason for just about all of my successes in the classroom.

My students say much the same thing. My district said the same thing too, but only after numerous conferences, study groups, and trainings.

I guess we should have just asked the kids.

Class Size Update

I just learned some new information about why our classes are so big. The special ed. department stopped servicing 38 students in English, so those students were added to English with no additional support. Not only that, but those students were placed in groups of 9-10 into four classes taught by two teachers.

This completely changes the dynamics in those classes and creates an additional burden on those teachers.

Also, we did not get an extra class (we normally get one class per 32 students), and special ed. did not lose one. We take on additional load with no help, and they have less to do with fewer students. Grrr.

I've been asked by a couple teachers to follow up on this with the union on the grounds of workload, burden, and number of special ed. students per class (we usually limit this to 2-3).

This does not serve the students well at all.

Pack 'Em In

I attended a meeting today with one of the assistant principals about the size of classes around the building and in English in particular. We have six classes around the building overloaded. In English we have 15 classes overloaded, all Freshmen and Sophomores.

The district has decided to simply add a credit retrieval class during the day to take 30 students out of the Sophomore English classes. This means that instead of those students getting instruction from a teacher for the Freshman English class they failed, they will sit at a computer with an online program to complete.

Here are my concerns:

a) The core classes are still massively overcrowded. Class sizes have risen from an average of 26 to 32 in five years.

b) The students in the credit retrieval class will not be instructed by a teacher but learning from an online program. We have data showing this sets them up for failure because they don't get the aligned curriculum, so they often fail the next course in the sequence. The online courses do not have the rigor and do not align with our curriculum.

c) The teacher conducting the credit retrieval is a math teacher, not an English teacher. Regardless, he won't be assessing student work anyway; the computer company does that. Essentially he just helps students keep going, so the kids get no extra help.

d) This is a stop-gap measure hoping that fewer students enroll next year.

Besides hiring more teachers I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know this isn't it.

The cynic in me says to let the state test scores drop this year to get the district's and community's attention, but this would hurt the kids. When teachers work extra hours with the larger classes and keep the scores up, no one feels compelled to intervene. However, we're reaching a breaking point.

Next Monday's final student count meeting will be interesting.

Class Begins!

Today was great! The kids came in with good attitudes and adjusted to large classes and schedule changes like champs.

I played a game with the class based on Tri-Bond board games. We sat in groups of 3-4, and they competed with 10 quick puzzles to solve. We completed multiple rounds in each class, and the students enjoyed this much more than simply going over rules. Plus, I get to see them in action and get to know them.

My new class, the College in the High School class (Survey of Americn Lit.), started today and the kids looked scared. I actually had to laugh a bit, to myself of course, but it was funny. They have homework tonight--vocabulary and an introductory letter--and we start reading Fools Crow by James Welch this week. Hitting the ground running!

My only concern today was class size. Mine ranged from 28-35. The district keeps saying Freshmen are the biggest at-risk group we have, and our fearless leaders aren't afraid to "do whatever is necessary" to help them. Of course, this means Freshman English class sizes are the second highest in the school (only Sophomore English classes are larger). The average Freshman English class is filled with 32 students. What a disservice!

The Department Head and I met after school to discuss how to reduce some class sizes if we get an extra teacher this week. That was a good conversation.

Unfortunately, we have to reduce the College in the High School classes by 6 students since they are not allowed to be over 32 students (now we have 34, 35, 33). My suggestion to her was to remove the superintendent's daughter and the two most prominent families' kids. If that doesn't spark some changes, nothing will.

Wound a sacred cow, and the whole village notices!