Class reduction questioned

Friday, May 16, 1997 | 4:49 a.m.

The report comes as the Legislature is trying to decide whether to spend an additional $18.1 million to expand class-size reduction to all Nevada's third-grade classes. The law requires a 16-to-1 ratio between students and teachers only for first and second grades and provides money to hire more teachers.

Whether the practice is producing tangible solutions to class sizes is unclear from the newest round of test results issued by the state Department of Education. The study examines the results of recently taken fourth-grade standardized achievement tests, comparing the scores of pupils who lived in Nevada for first and second grades vs. pupils who lived elsewhere for both or one of the years.

Children who experienced the 16-to-1 ratio scored better than students who went to schools outside Nevada. But the differences were slight. Students with two years of class-size reduction scored the following means:

* 624 in reading, vs. 621 for students never in such classes.

* 631 in language, vs. 626.

* 600 in math, vs. 596.

State evaluation consultant Mary Snow insisted Wednesday the results were telling.

"They're small, but they don't have to be big differences to be statistically significant," said Snow, who wrote the report.

Snow conceded that it's unclear from the data if the increases are directly attributable to class-size reduction because of the limited scope of her examination.

Many educators expect lower test scores from children who move often because they lack stability, and Snow's study pits students who have changed states in the past four years against students who haven't.

Poor and minority children didn't seem to benefit from class-size reduction, according to a breakdown included in Snow's report.

"I was surprised at the results in the lower socioeconomic groups," said state Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the Human Resources and Facilities Committee. "I expected a bigger change. We need to do more for those students."

The only dramatic contrast in the study showed students who consider English as a second language benefited most from their Nevada experience. Reading scores were 12 points better for students who were in the state for first and second grades than those who weren't, while language was eight points higher and math was nine points higher.

Rawson and others object to how class-size reduction is being implemented in first and second grade because many Las Vegas schools don't have the physical class space to provide 16-to-1 situations.

Instead, many of those classes are taught by two team teachers who manage a class of between 32 students and sometimes more.

Gov. Bob Miller's $18.1 million third-grade plan doesn't address how districts can pay for the construction of schools, an omission that has critics unconvinced the plan is a good idea.