Some Barrington parents concerned with class sizes

'Why would you give the underperforming students the worst class sizes?' asks a parent

Posted 9/6/17

What is the ideal number of students for a third grade classroom?

Some experts say it's 18, while others say it's fewer. Chapel Road resident Kristen Pearse said that she would happily settle for …

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Some Barrington parents concerned with class sizes

'Why would you give the underperforming students the worst class sizes?' asks a parent

Posted

What is the ideal number of students for a third grade classroom?

Some experts say it's 18, while others say it's fewer. Chapel Road resident Kristen Pearse said that she would happily settle for 20 students in her child's third grade class at Primrose Hill School. Instead, there are 25 boys and girls in the class.

In fact, Primrose Hill School has the largest student-to-teacher ratios from the entire district. The three third grade classrooms at Primrose Hill have 25, 25 and 26 students. That's more than Nayatt and Sowams, where the vast majority of classes have 23 students.

But Ms. Pearse is concerned about more than just class sizes at Primrose. 

The recent round of PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) standardized test scores show that Primrose Hill School third-graders are scoring about 26 percentage points lower on the math assessments than their peers at Nayatt and 15 points lower than third-graders at Sowams Elementary. The results are similar for the English language arts tests.

"Why would you give the underperforming students the worst class sizes?" asked Ms. Pearse. "That's totally counter-intuitive."

And it's not the first time, she added. Ms. Pearse said Primrose Hill School had very large first grade classes two years ago, which should have served as a warning to administrators. 

Ms. Pearse has shared her concerns with local school officials and plans to talk about the issue again at Thursday's school committee meeting. 

Barrington Schools Superintendent Michael Messore said he has been closely monitoring classroom sizes at all of the town's public schools. He said he and other administrators work hard to find equitable solutions to the fluctuating student enrollments. 

"I understand that some of our numbers look high," he said. "Some look high at our K-to-3 schools. Some look high at the high school."

Mr. Messore said it is a difficult task to maintain equally-sized classes across the district, and he added, the current sizes of elementary school classes is pretty close. If a fourth teacher was added at Primrose Hill School, classes in that school would drop to 19 students per class, which is four to five students less than the other elementary schools. 

Currently, the difference in class sizes range from one to three students.

"There's always a level of concern when there's a higher number than usual," Mr. Messore said. "But to see 25 in a classroom, that's not an unusual situation."

Just a few years ago, a first grade class at Sowams School had more than 26 students.

"We want to keep things equitable across the district," Mr. Messore said.

The superintendent quickly added that he is keeping a close eye on the situation at Primrose Hill School. He communicates daily with the principal, Pat Tolento, about the class sizes and is also focused on student achievement.

"We want to make sure that students are properly supported, and we want to make sure our teachers are properly supported," said Mr. Messore. "If more support is needed, we will provide it."

Mr. Messore said district officials will make a decision about whether to add a teacher's aide or some other measure of support at Primrose Hill School once students and teachers are better acclimated. He said students and teachers have only been in class for a few days and it is likely too early to see if some changes are needed. 

"It's still early," he said. 

"I understand the concerns about class sizes," Mr. Messore said. "I totally understand. That's a lot of students in a classroom. I understand it as a parent. The quality of our teachers makes a difference, and I have great teachers."

Not alone

Ms. Pearse said she is not the only parent with concerns about the class sizes and assessment scores at Primrose Hill School. Email chains with dozens of addresses are shared regularly and a handful of parents turned out for the recent school committee meeting. 

In an earlier email she sent to the school committee, Ms. Pearse wrote the class sizes at Primrose Hill were unacceptable.

"If one school or grade level at a school continually receives smaller teacher to student ratios their outcomes are destined to be significantly better than their peers in other schools," she wrote. "Think about the amount of hands-on attention each student receives in a class of 18 versus 25.

"If remapping is required, then do it! Put more students in Sowams! Who says it needs to be a school only for children 'over the bridge'! What about Country Club Plat, or that area off the trail? Remap the town so the numbers are even and fair. Primrose is busting at its seams and it is going unnoticed, or worse: it is being ignored."

Mr. Messore said that while third grade class sizes at Primrose Hill School are larger this year, the classes that yielded the lower test scores (the PARCC results are from last year's third-graders) numbered about 21 students each. 

Ms. Pearse said that the entire district needs to prioritize additional supports for students and mandate student-to-teacher ratios. Mr. Messore said there is no provision in the teacher's contract restricting class sizes or mandating student-to-teacher ratios. 

Another Primrose Hill parent said Barrington schools need to better adhere to a state statute titled the "Rhode Island Literacy and Dropout Prevention Act." Passed in 1987, the statute, in part, directs schools to consider reducing class sizes to no more than 15 students in order to improve student achievement. The parent questions why Barrington school officials seem content to allow class sizes to increase at Primrose Hill despite the decreasing test scores. 

Mr. Messore said officials were aware of the PARCC scores at Primrose Hill School and are working to address the situation. Officials caution that numerous factors — not just class sizes — must be considered when evaluating student achievement.

Ms. Pearse agreed: "There's something else going on. It might not be correlated, but I certainly wouldn't give them (Primrose Hill students) less resources."

Not just a 'Primrose problem'

Ms. Pearse, who grew up in Barrington and attended Nayatt School, said she does not want this class size situation to be categorized as a "Primrose problem." She said the entire community should want all local students to succeed.

"No one seems to thing that a 20 percent difference is OK," said Ms. Pearse. 

The local mom — she has children in kindergarten, second and third grade at Primrose — credited Barrington officials with adding a fourth kindergarten teacher at Primrose Hill this year. Still, she added, more must be done to support all students.

Ms. Pearse said she was inspired by the community's commitment to restoring funding for sports programs and staffing positions during the recent school budget discussion, and she hopes people will rally again to ensure smaller class sizes at local elementary schools.

She said the district should consider forming a committee to study classroom sizes.

Angry over enrollment data

Kristen Pearse is questioning school enrollment data provided by Barrington school officials this summer. She said that early reports appeared to indicate four third grade classrooms at Primrose Hill School, but later in August, the information shared by administrators with the school committee showed just three classrooms. At the same time, student enrollment was actually increasing.

"I would like an explanation as to why an additional student in a grade would result in eliminating a teacher (meaning going from four to three 3rd grade teachers)," she wrote, adding that class size limits should be considered while drafting the district's next strategic plan.

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said that the enrollment data provided to the school committee was constantly changing, and how it was presented — groupings in three or four — should not have been taken as an indication to how classes would be organized. 

Student scores

Following is the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations on the PARCC assessments:

Math

            2017 2016 2015

Nayatt     79.8 — 84.8 — 75.6

Primrose  53.8 — 62.4 — 63.4

Sowams     69 — 73.5 — 60.8

English language arts

            2017 — 2016 — 2015

Nayatt     73.4 — 73.6 — 65.6

Primrose  55.4 — 57 — 64.2

Sowams   63.4 — 50 — 58.2

Class sizes

Following are the class sizes for third grades at Barrington K-to-3 schools:

Nayatt 23, 23, 23, 23 — 92 total students

Primrose 25, 25, 26 — 76 total students

Sowams 23, 23, 24 — 72 total students

Total school enrollments

Nayatt: 328 students

Primrose: 320 students

Sowams: 250 students

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