Chapter 5: Implementing a Class-Size Reduction Policy: Barriers and Opportunities

Ray Legler
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory

As the earlier chapters have shown, the decision to implement a class-size reduction policy is based on many factors, including funding, the availability of space and teachers, and the need to weigh the relative costs and benefits of reducing class sizes against other approaches to improving the academic achievement of students. However, once the decision has been made to reduce the number of students in classrooms, several practical issues may arise. For example, where will one find the additional classrooms that will be needed since there will be fewer students per classroom? What if there are no additional classrooms available? Should more buildings be built? Where will one find the additional teachers who will be needed to teach the increased number of classes? This chapter attempts to move from the theoretical and research issues presented earlier to consider practical, real-world matters.

In order to gain insight into these issues, we spoke with several educators in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who have direct experience implementing a class-size reduction policy. The Milwaukee Public School (MPS) system, which employs more than 7,000 staff to instruct and assist more than 100,000 students in grades pre-K through 8, has 88 schools currently participating in the SAGE program. As described in earlier chapters, the SAGE program started in 1996 in Wisconsin and emphasizes a rigorous curriculum, school-community collaboration, professional development, and reducing K-3 class sizes to 15 students per teacher. During 1999-2000, Wisconsin funded the SAGE program with $17 million in order to assist 78 schools in 46 districts. In 2000-2001, an additional $37 million will enable another 400 schools to join the program.

The superintendent of MPS, Dr. Spence Korté, and two of his staff members, Jackie Patterson and Doreen Britton-Lange, were gracious enough to share with us some of their perspectives on and experiences with MPS's efforts to reduce class sizes. In addition, an MPS elementary school principal, Lorraine Applewhite, provided us with additional perspectives.

Critical issues

Teacher availability

One issue the Milwaukee districts has had to address is the problem of teacher availability. "Just like in any other district, there's a teacher shortage," noted MPS Deputy Superintendent Jackie Patterson, who has worked for MPS since 1970 as a teacher, principal, and administrator. As the district reduces class size to 15 students, Ms. Patterson said, MPS is "constantly" looking for teachers in order to fill all its classrooms.

MPS has several strategies for dealing with the teacher shortage, including an internship program and an alternative certification program. "We've got a variety of programs, working with universities to just come up with creative ways of getting our teachers," Ms. Patterson said. "We have programs that will allow educational assistants to go back to school and work directly in our schools, and we're recruiting nationally, like everyone else."

MPS found an untapped resource from which to draw new teachers in its pool of support-staff workers already employed in schools. "If we have someone who wants to go through a program and pick up their bachelor's degree, we're working directly through the universities to have that happen. We've found that the people who have worked in our schools before seem to be more committed to stay in our schools," Ms. Patterson said.

Space

Another serious problem for Milwaukee schools has been a lack of space the new classes, said Superintendent Spence Korté, who has been an educator in the MPS system for 28 years, including serving as principal from 1985-1999 of Hi-Mount Community School, where his emphasis on technology use in the classroom led to a 2-to-1 ratio of students to computers. Dr. Korté holds a doctorate in educational administration from Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Korté described a paradoxical situation in Milwaukee regarding the availability of classroom space: In some areas, there are too many students for the available classrooms, while in other areas, there are more classrooms than students need. "There's been an overall birth decline in the city, and there's also been a fairly serious migration of people to the suburbs," Dr. Korté explained. As in many large urban school districts, some Milwaukee schools are serving the maximum number of students that they were built to house, or more. Meanwhile, in other areas, declining student populations have left schools with extra space.

One way that MPS deals with this disparity is to bus children from heavily populated areas to neighborhoods where schools have extra space: Every day, MPS buses 70,000 of its 103,000 students. Busing has relieved the space problem in part, but at a substantial cost. Dr. Korté noted that MPS spent more than $60 million on busing during the 2000-2001 school year—a figure that is likely to escalate with the rising cost of fuel. One solution might be to reduce busing by opening new schools in the overcrowded neighborhoods, Dr. Korté said.

The Wisconsin state legislature just approved a plan called the Neighborhood School Initiative, which will fund the building of new schools and enable MPS to accommodate 11,000 more children in overcrowded neighborhoods, reducing the need for busing. Yet this initiative might introduce new problems. "Where there is no natural student population, some of those schools over the next three years will experience a nice opening up of the classroom space and the only abiding question for us is: Can we afford the overhead to keep them open?" Dr. Korté explained. "If we could figure out how to handle the overhead and reduce our cost, at least on paper, we should end up with a surplus of classrooms for the first time in the 28 years I've been in the district … We may end up actually having enough space [but] not being able to afford the overhead of keeping the building open."

MPS also has addressed the problem of insufficient space by "doubling up" teachers—putting two teachers in one classroom with 30 students, Dr. Korté said. "It's not that bad, but it depends on the teachers' relationship and how well they are able to work together," he said. "That has been our main approach so far."

Addressing the issues

Team teaching

As might be expected, team teaching presents both potential problems and benefits. Differences in personalities and teaching styles can lead to disharmony and conflict. "Putting two teachers in one classroom sounds like a fairly good alternative to space problems, but if those folks don't have the same educational philosophy, then it isn't any kind of panacea at all," Dr. Korté said.

From a principal's perspective, this issue is particularly salient. "Personalitywise, it is just trying to get teachers to get along with each other. It is very strange to say, but that is my only issue with that. The two people working together have to want to work together," said Lorraine Applewhite, who taught at Milwaukee's Maryland Avenue Elementary for nine years before becoming its principal three years ago. She holds a master's degree in educational administration.

At Maryland Avenue Elementary, teachers work well together in some instances while in others, they simply choose to co-exist, Ms. Applewhite said. "We have four classes out of nine that share. Of those four, there is one class where the teachers don't necessarily teach together—they wanted a wall, and they wanted to teach separately. They might do a few things together, but they are totally responsible for their own kids. In the other classrooms where they share, they actually do team-teaching activities. The two teachers feed off each other, and they work totally together to make sure the children get it."

Ideally, paired teachers should be compatible both interpersonally and professionally. In light of this, schools in the MPS system make efforts to find compatible matches when hiring new teachers. While interviewing potential new teachers, school administrators bring in the staff teacher who would share the room with the new hire. That way, the question of compatibility can be addressed at the onset.

"[Schools] are looking for a good match," said Doreen Britton-Lange, who has been with the Milwaukee school system for 31 years as both a teacher and a principal. Currently the district's elementary leadership specialist, Ms. Britton-Lange provides evaluation and support for elementary school principals.

Ideally, paired teachers can complement each other in the classroom. "Most people teach to their own strength," Dr. Korté pointed out. "One person might really like to teach mathematics and feel comfortable with it, while the other person may be sort of a language arts and reading whiz. But to the extent that you can play off people's strengths, kids get a better exposure.

"One of the other hidden benefits in my mind is, if we could do this a little more scientifically, we could actually try to match up teachers in terms of their expressed interest," Dr. Korté added. "And so an elementary teacher, rather than having five or six preps, might be able to do three. And they would move the kids to the teachers' strength. If I'm a really good reading teacher, I would teach reading to all the kids, while the other teacher was doing another subject—math or science or something."

Supporting and retaining new teachers

Combining classrooms brings both potential problems and potential benefits. Because teachers need guidance to learn how to survive in a classroom, the MPS system is looking at ways to bring new teachers on board a little more gently than typically happens in a large urban school district, Dr. Korté said. Ideally, an experienced primary-level teacher could help ease a new teacher into the job. Having a veteran teacher with as many as 20 years of experience working alongside a green teacher is a "major side benefit" of team-teaching as a means of reducing class size, Dr. Korté said.

Such a program might complement the district's mentor program, in which mentor teachers work with first-year teachers. "We certainly don't have enough to go around to work with all of the first-year teachers," Ms. Patterson said, "but many of the first-year teachers will have a mentor working with them."

Providing support for new teachers is particularly important in a district that is struggling to increase its total number of teachers. Once new teachers are hired, the issue becomes one of retention: It does not help a school system to hire a large number of teachers only to see many of them resign after a year or two.

Dr. Korté explained that the issue of retention might require cooperation with the teacher's union. "I'm thinking this may be a fertile area for us to sit down with them and say: ‘Look, we have a teacher shortage. We're losing a lot of teachers. Let's try to work out something in the teacher assignment process that intentionally takes a young, fragile teacher and puts him or her in proximity to a veteran, hoping to improve our retention,'" Dr. Korté said. "That would make some sense, and I think that it could be structured in a way that the teachers' union would see that as a win-win."

Professional development for teachers

MPS has started to tailor professional development to the particular issues raised by the reduced class-size program. The large number of new teachers and the need to have some teachers work together highlight the need for strong professional development. Since the class-size reduction component of the SAGE program in Wisconsin targets grades K-3, the district's professional development emphasizes early childhood issues, Ms. Patterson said. "We have a lot of new teachers coming on board," she emphasized. "So not only do we want to make sure they're able to work as a team member, we also want to make sure that they understand the social issues and the physical things going on with our children at that age and the curriculum."

Some of the MPS's professional development efforts focus on collaborative team teaching strategies, striving toward "the best way to team in the classroom so that one teacher isn't teaching all 30 and the other isn't, you know, just sitting back," Ms. Britton-Lange said. "The other one could be [working] individually throughout the classroom." Teachers also can explore ideas on how to break students into workable groups. Rather than simply split the students—one teacher's 15 and the other teacher's 15—the teachers may choose to group students according to their needs and the needs of the subject material, Ms. Britton-Lange said.

At Maryland Avenue School, Principal Applewhite decided that implementing the class-size reduction program presented a good opportunity to institute a rigorous, inquiry-based curriculum. She found that after some initial enthusiasm about having fewer students, her teachers instructed 15 students the same way they had taught 30. Ms. Applewhite noted that there's no sense in reducing class size if teachers don't adjust their approach to instruction. "I've had to really let my teachers understand that with SAGE … children should really advance," Ms. Applewhite said. "It doesn't matter if they're low [in terms of achievement] when they come to you. There should be some strides made in the year. And sometimes it's difficult for teachers to understand that they have to change. They have to teach more rigorously."

The professional development process at Maryland Avenue School focuses its curriculum and instruction on theories of multiple intelligences and engaging students in the learning process. Teachers must integrate several activities into what they do in the classroom, following five basic principles, Ms. Applewhite explained. First, they must ensure the lesson is continuous and that children relate what they've done in the past to what they need to do with the present subject—seeing how the current lesson relates to math or social studies or across curricula, for example. Second, teachers must ensure that lessons are inclusive, that they're structured to engage all students and not just lower-level students. Teachers need to find ways to challenge the students who are achieving at an above-average level, as well as those in the middle and those who are below-average. Third, teachers must ensure that their teaching is learner-centered, so that the students have the opportunity to do exploration and discovery activities and not simply be told the material. Fourth, teachers must ensure their teaching is interactive, that it's fostering participation from the students and is not just dictatorial. Finally, the teaching must be authentic. Ms. Applewhite believes that combining the reduced class-size program with an inquiry-based approach enables her teachers and students to take maximum advantage of the lower student-teacher ratio in the early grades.

Other benefits of class-size reduction

One of the most commonly held beliefs about small class sizes is that it enables teachers to better control their classrooms, which leads to fewer discipline problems and more time for teaching and learning. Although no systematic approach has been taken in Milwaukee to confirm this theory, staff at the district and school levels report that a reduction in discipline problems in classes with fewer students. Ms. Patterson stated that, "[Teachers] have more time to sit down, listen to children, and actually begin to build relationships, and that in itself cuts down on the discipline problem."

Another, somewhat unanticipated, benefit from reducing class sizes is the increased opportunity for teachers to work with special-needs students. "When you add in two or three children who are handicapped to the classroom of 30, [it's very different] than when those three children are part of the smaller group of 15. It isn't a perfect solution, but it gives the teacher a reasonable opportunity to respond to the special-needs kid and also the kids who come to the school a little bit behind," Dr. Korté said.

A reduced class-size also means fewer parents that teachers must update on a child's progress. "They're pleased also with the parent contacts that they're able to make," Ms. Patterson noted of the teachers. She added that this has increased both the quantity and quality of teacher-parent communication, which research has shown can contribute to improved student attendance, performance, and reduced discipline problems (Epstein et al., 1997).

Barriers and Opportunities

The potential barriers to the effective implementation of a class-size reduction policy can also present unexpected opportunities to address significant educational issues. Class-size reduction may require a school or district to find and hire new teachers, but it also might force schools to become creative and identify previously untapped sources of potential instructors. Although a lack of space may prevent each class from having its own room, the silver lining could be the opportunity to implement a team-teaching approach that helps support and retain new teachers.

Conflicts of personality or pedagogy within teaching dyads might be barriers to effective instruction, but teaching in pairs may allow teachers to learn new approaches to instruction and present opportunities to assist students with special needs. Smaller classes might require professional development that specifically addresses the issues associated with a smaller student-teacher ratio. However, this also provides an opportunity for teachers to implement new techniques in a more controlled setting and to fundamentally shift their approaches to instruction. Implementing a class-size reduction policy may present many hurdles, but the opportunities for more one-on-one interaction between teachers and students and improved communication between teachers and parents helps reduce discipline problems and improve student learning.

Recommendations

Based on their experiences with implementing a class-size reduction policy, the educators with whom we spoke suggested several points that others implementing such a policy might wish to consider. Certainly, planning in regard to the issues that have been discussed above is one obvious recommendation. This includes advance examination of and planning around issues such as the availability of classroom space and need for additional teachers. If space limitations require that teachers and classes share classrooms, advance consideration should be given to how teachers will work together.

The administrators and principal we interviewed recommended significant planning for professional development. Ms. Applewhite suggested that long-term professional development planning should begin well in advance of a class-size reduction policy implementation. This approach will ensure that teachers receive the support that they need to take full advantage of smaller classes, she said, and help good teachers become excellent teachers. Principals and administrators cannot expect that simply reducing the number of students will result automatically in student achievement gains.

Ms. Britton-Lange emphasized addressing the specific needs of the teachers. For example, if teachers are expected to work together in a shared classroom, professional development should address the issues of team-teaching in a way that deals with the concerns and anxieties that might accompany such an arrangement. This is particularly true if the teachers involved have been teaching in a classroom by themselves for a long time.

Dr. Korté suggested that advance efforts be made to work with collective bargaining units on issues arising from a class-size reduction policy. Early negotiation with teachers' unions could enable districts and schools to systematize the assignment of new teachers to dyads that include a veteran teacher, helping ensure the retention of new teachers.

Dr. Korté also stressed the importance of evaluating outcomes, not only to assess the effect of the class-size reduction policy but also to answer political challenges. He suggested that educators who plan to implement a class-size reduction policy should first determine how to document student achievement improvement, as that documentation will provide evidence that the program is working and strengthen arguments for continued or increased funding.

Finally, Ms. Patterson stressed the importance of maintaining a focus on the "big picture." Districts reducing class sizes need to stay focused on the main goal—improving student achievement—and not get caught up in the minutia that can accompany new policy implementation. Teachers, principals, and administrators need to remain flexible and spend time discussing how smaller classes and improved instruction can improve student learning.

Conclusion

This chapter explored several practical matters regarding the implementation of a class-size reduction policy. The relative importance of these issues will vary across schools and districts, and other issues exist that may be of greater significance in particular areas. Although teacher availability varies across regions and states, it likely will be a factor for many schools that attempt to reduce the number of students in their classrooms. Schools and districts will need to plan strategies for recruiting new teachers: They may need creative approaches to working with local education schools, and they may need to find untapped pools of potential teachers.

The availability of space in which to conduct a larger number of smaller classes is another issue. This issue may include consideration about building new schools, transporting students to schools with more space, and assisting teachers who must team-teach in shared classrooms. A planned approach to professional development helps address this issue: Working in concert with teachers unions may help a school system implement its class-size reduction policy by addressing potential problems like team-teaching and teacher retention in productive ways. Determining how to evaluate the program in advance allows school systems to document the benefits of smaller class sizes in a way that is politically beneficial. Finally, reminding both administrators and teachers that the ultimate goal is improving academic outcomes for students can help build flexibility into the policy's implementation and keep the focus on student achievement.

References

Epstein, J., Cortes, L., Salinas, K. C., Sanders, M., & Simon, B. (1997). School, Family and Community Partnerships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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