School Profile
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School: K-8 school of about 700 rural students Student population: 2 percent minority, 14 percent qualify for special education, and 51 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch New strategies: Class size reduced to approximately 17, with inclusion of most special needs students in the regular classroom How they reallocated resources: The school reallocated almost all of the money formerly spent on pull-out programs for special education to reduce all class sizes. In particular, four resource room teachers became regular classroom teachers and four instructional aides were eliminated to pay for two new regular classroom teachers, for a total of six additional classroom teachers and reduced class sizes of about 17. Additional initiatives:
Results of the reforms: Although it is too early to say definitively, thus far the new model has kept test scores at a consistently high level while increasing the number of special-needs students being tested. In addition, teachers report that special-needs students are less stigmatized. |
Special education funds. Special education resources constituted the second largest source of categorical staffing resources that were reallocated. Special education dollars, which derive from local, state, and federal sources, often support staff in pull-out resource rooms for students with mental or physical disabilities. Many students with disabilities require services outside the regular classroom, but some, especially those with mild learning disabilities, can be better served in the regular education classroom, especially with one-on-one tutoring to supplement the daily classroom activities.
When schools decide to integrate some of these students into regular education classrooms, funding for the services that are no longer provided outside the regular classroom can be reallocated. School staffs make such decisions with the belief that this change will benefit all children; however, more research needs to be done to determine whether that is actually the case.
ESL funds. ESL and bilingual education resources were a third source of categorical program dollars that were reallocated. Although this possibility only applies to schools with a significant number of students with limited English proficiency, schools that do have such students often receive funding from a combination of local, state, and federal sources. Like compensatory education funds, ESL funds typically are used for pull-out programs. However, many of the schools we studied questioned whether this was the most effective way to serve these students and decided to integrate these students into the regular education classroom all day. Again, more research needs to be done to determine whether this policy benefits all students.
Pupil Support Specialists
Pupil support specialists were the target of a small portion of resource reallocation. One reason is that this category does not comprise a very large share of school budgets. Another reason is that many schools' new educational strategies often did not address the functions served by these staff.
Some elementary schools spent less money on school nurses, thereby freeing up those resources for other purposes. Another school reallocated a half-time guidance counselor to a half-time Reading Recovery teacher in order to concentrate resources on improving reading scores. A high school reallocated all pupil support staff to regular classroom teacher positions, reduced classes all day, and required the homeroom teacher to provide guidance counseling and advice to the 18 students in that class.
Special education dollars, which derive from local, state, and federal sources, often support staff in pull-out resource rooms for students with mental or physical disabilities. Many students with disabilities require services outside the regular classroom, but some, especially those with mild learning disabilities, can be better served in the regular education classroom, especially with one-on- one tutoring to supplement the daily classroom activities.
Aides
Aides can provide either instructional or noninstructional support. Schools generally reallocated instructional aides, retaining most noninstructional aides to supervise the playground and cafeteria. One school eliminated four instruc-tional aide positions in order to hire two additional regular education classroom teachers to reduce class size. In several other schools, the role of instructional aides was changed from that of general instructional support in the classroom to a one-on-one reading tutor. Although aides as reading tutors do not have the same impact on student performance as do regularly licensed teacher tutors (Shanahan, 1998), this change in the use of aides nevertheless represents a notable shift in staffing resource use.
Other Discretionary Resources
Schools tapped a variety of discretionary resources for reallocation purposes. These included state school improvement or reading grants, funds from the federal Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program, Goals 2000 and Eisenhower professional development grants, instructional materials dollars, etc. Although often comprising amounts less than $20,000, these funds did total $50,000 to $100,000 in some instances, providing much-needed money to help pay for the new educational strategies. All of these sources, as well as any district or state grants available to your school, should be considered potential sources of funding for school restructuring.
