The class size averages per school for this year, as of Oct. 31, were released by DOE late in the day yesterday to the City Council.  They are now posted on the Class Size Matters website at http://www.classsizematters.org/classsizeaverages2006.html

 

DOE officials say that they should be available some time today on the DOE website as well.

 

Please send me your reactions, at leonie@... if you think your child’s class size is excessive, along with a phone no. where you can be reached, if you’re willing to talk to a reporter about this.  Since I will soon be on the train to Albany to testify this afternoon, please copy your message to Patrick.J.Sullivan@...

 

It is a relief that after all these years we are finally being given access to this critical data, after being the only school system in the state in which parents were denied information about the class sizes in their own school and other schools throughout the city.

 

In response to a law passed by the City Council last year, the Department of Education has released these figures for the first time for elementary and middle schools, though not yet for high schools, even though the legal deadline to report high school averages was yesterday.

 

As expected, the data shows that class sizes continue to be excessive in schools throughout the system – with average class size about 10-30% larger than in the rest of the state. 

 

Here are the citywide and borough averages per grade:

 

Citywide Kindergarten	20.8	Bronx Kindergarten	21.3	Brooklyn Kindergarten	20.1	Manhattan Kindergarten	19.9	Queens Kindergarten	21.4	Staten Island Kindergarten	21.1
01	21.3	01	21.9	01	20.8	01	21.4	01	21.5	01	21.3
02	21.0	02	21.4	02	20.4	02	20.9	02	21.6	02	20.6
03	21.2	03	21.1	03	20.6	03	21.7	03	21.7	03	21.4
04	23.8	04	23.0	04	23.1	04	23.2	04	25.3	04	25.8
05	25.0	05	24.4	05	24.4	05	24.2	05	26.2	05	27.2
06	25.8	06	25.7	06	24.4	06	24.9	06	26.7	06	30.4
07	27.1	07	26.6	07	26.1	07	26.7	07	28.0	07	30.3
08	27.2	08	26.6	08	26.1	08	26.6	08	28.4	08	31.0

 

We cannot be sure, of course, that this data is correct; the state consistently finds larger class sizes in city schools than the DOE itself reports.  Two years ago, DOE officials admitted that they had chronically released inaccurate class size information by including phantom classes in their calculations.

 

But even assuming this information is accurate, we have made little or no progress over the last few years.

 

In K-3, our class size averages remain significantly above the state goal of 20, instead of 19.1, which we would have reached two years ago, if the city had been using the state class size funds according to law, as the State Comptroller pointed out in an audit last year. 

 

The citywide class size average of 20.8 in Kindergarten is exactly what it was four years ago, despite nearly $100 million in annual state funds and declining enrollment.  1^st grade class sizes have risen slightly from last year.

 

Citywide averages also hide significant differences between boroughs and districts.  In K-2, Bronx and Queens have the highest class sizes, with Manhattan tied with Queens for the largest average classes in 3^rd grade.   In grades 4-8, Staten Island average class sizes are considerably larger than in any other borough.  

 

Also, there are huge disparities from school to school, even in the early grades, with hundreds of elementary schools where classes remain 28 and above.

 

Average class sizes remain especially large in the middle grades throughout the city, even in troubled schools with large numbers of poor students, contributing to low and stagnant achievement rates in these grades, and eventually, high numbers of dropouts.  For examples of low-performing middle schools with extremely large class sizes, see below.

 

As the audit from the state comptroller pointed out last year, by adjusting attendance zones, DoE could bring down class sizes much more effectively across the board.

 

It is also very disappointing that the city has not yet released the high school class size figures, as required by law.  They’ve had almost a year to figure out how to do this, so they should have been able to comply.  Is it really that they don’t have the numbers, or are they waiting for the registers “to settle down” as they have put it in the past, which actually means waiting until more students drop out of school and bring down class sizes that way?

 

Please send me your reactions, at leonie@... with a copy to  Patrick Sullivan at Patrick.J.Sullivan@....

 

thanks so much,

 

Leonie

 

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Here are some obvious instances of excessive class sizes in our middle schools.  The descriptions are taken from the school’s page in www.insideschools.org.

 

 

JHS 022 JORDAN L MOTT	GENERAL EDUCATION	05	27.3
JHS 022 JORDAN L MOTT	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	29.0
JHS 022 JORDAN L MOTT	GENERAL EDUCATION	08	27.5

From Insideschools: “CIS 22 is on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's list of the city's most dangerous schools.”

09

028

PS 028 MOUNT HOPE

GENERAL EDUCATION

04

28.2

“...the constant churning of teachers and children and ever-changing teaching methods give the school an incoherent feel. Faculty turnover is high, teachers say, and students, some of whom live in foster care or homeless shelters, move frequently.

02

111

PS 111 ADOLPH S OCHS

GENERAL EDUCATION

08

34.0

A persistently troubled low performing middle school.

01

09

073

PS 073 BRONX

GENERAL EDUCATION

Kindergarten

26.2

Inside schools: “PS 73 ,,, is seeing its standardized test scores level out and even drop at a time when many schools, including schools with similar student populations, have seen a record upswing in student performance and 34 percent in 2002-2003). …Over one third of the predominantly Hispanic student population are English Language Learners. These students are served in bilingual classes and in general education with ESL support. “

11	089	PS 089 BRONX	GENERAL EDUCATION	06	32.6
11	089	PS 089 BRONX	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	31.4
11	089	PS 089 BRONX	GENERAL EDUCATION	08	29.4

“ We saw a different picture in a number of upper grade classes. Fewer teachers engaged techniques of the new teaching strategies, and many students in these classes were less focused than their elementary school counterparts. The atmosphere in the hallways seemed tense on the top floor, which houses the 8th grade, a detention room, the dean's office and a class of students who did not meet graduation requirements.”

11	127	JHS 127 THE CASTLE HILL	GENERAL EDUCATION	06	29.7
11	127	JHS 127 THE CASTLE HILL	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	32.8
11	127	JHS 127 THE CASTLE HILL	GENERAL EDUCATION	08	30.0

“The school has a record of low performance and sometimes rowdy behavior. On the day of our visit, the office was hectic as staffers tried to assist parents and students in a tiny space. It's not just the office that is congested, however. The school, too, is severely overcrowded. ….Administrators told us that many children arrive at the school ill prepared for the academic work. Even many 7th graders aren't yet familiar with the times tables for instance. And the behavior of some children is disorderly, according to the parent coordinator…

09	117	I.S.117 JOSEPH H WADE	GENERAL EDUCATION	06	26.8
09	117	I.S.117 JOSEPH H WADE	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	28.2
09	117	I.S.117 JOSEPH H WADE	GENERAL EDUCATION	08	30.3

 

“ CIS 117 is a big, mixed bag of a school. It's having a hard time figuring out how to help a significant number of its students to read and compute on grade level. In fact, the school has been so weak in reading and writing instruction that New York State is forcing it to restructure its program. And recently, it failed to meet its state targets for math, as well.”

 

21	095	PS 095 THE GRAVESEND	GENERAL EDUCATION	04	30.3
21	095	PS 095 THE GRAVESEND	GENERAL EDUCATION	05	31.0

“Suspensions in 2003 and 2004 significantly exceeded the citywide average. …The administration repeatedly refused our requests to visit. On two occasions when we arrived for previously scheduled visits, we were told a visit at that time would not be convenient and were turned away. “

06	528	I.S. 528 BEA FULLER RODGERS SCHOOL	GENERAL EDUCATION	06	30.0
06	528	I.S. 528 BEA FULLER RODGERS SCHOOL	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	30.3
06	528	I.S. 528 BEA FULLER RODGERS SCHOOL	GENERAL EDUCATION	08	29.7

A small school in Harlem: “At IS 528, the average class size is no lower than most schools, and, indeed, those classes might feel even more crowded because the rooms are on the small side. In several classrooms we visited, the teachers had to struggle to keep students working attentively in small groups instead of chatting or horsing around.”

04	108	PS 108 ASSMBLY ANGELO DEL TORO	GENERAL EDUCATION	06	31.3
04	108	PS 108 ASSMBLY ANGELO DEL TORO	GENERAL EDUCATION	07	33.0

(East Harlem): “The school has a good number of students at low levels of achievement. …The school received an influx of new students through the federal No Child Left Behind act, which allows students from failing schools to transfer to more successful ones. As a result, PS 108 is stressed for some resources. Although class size in the younger grades is low, 5th and 6th grade classes can reach the upper limits, with 30 students per class.”