ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Classes in the early elementary grades in five Roanoke schools will have no more than 15 children next year - a change that school officials believe will help improve the pupils' scores on standardized tests.
It is the latest step in the school system's ongoing effort to reduce the size of classes in elementary schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
With financial help from the state, classes in kindergarten through third grade in recent years have been reduced to 18 children in about half of 21 elementary schools and to 20 pupils in several others.
The city will hire 15 additional teachers to provide even smaller classes this fall in kindergarten through grade three at these schools: Fallon Park, Forest Park, Hurt Park, Lincoln Terrace and Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science.
Educators say that children, particularly those in schools in poor neighborhoods, do better academically in smaller classes because teachers can give them more individual attention.
"It might take four or five years, but lowering class size is one of the best ways to help improve test scores," said Linda Wyatt, an elementary teacher and City Council member. "You won't see it immediately, but it will have an impact."
In recent years, the General Assembly has offered state funds to local school systems as an incentive to reduce class size in schools where a high percentage of children receive free or reduced-priced lunches - the government's yardstick for measuring poverty and distributing financial aid. The state funds cover about 50 percent of the cost for the additional teachers. The localities pay the rest, including the expense of additional classrooms if needed.
State aid has been provided to lower classes to 20 pupils in kindergarten through third grade in schools where the percentage of children receiving free or reduced-priced lunches is between 25 and 50. Money also is available to help reduce classes to 18 children where more than 50 percent of the children receive subsidized lunches.
Next year, the state will provide money to reduce the class size to 15 in schools where more than 70 percent of the lunches are subsidized.
Overall, the average pupil-teacher ratio in the city's elementary schools will be 17-to-1 in kindergarten through grade three next year. The ratio for all grades will be 18-to-1.
Roanoke has added 137 teaching positions in the past five years to reduce class size and handle enrollment growth and the increase in special education students.
Wyatt said the smaller classes are already beginning to pay off. She teaches second-graders at Westside Elementary, one of the schools that qualifies for state incentive funds. She said some of the 18 children in her class are reading at the third-grade level and others are reading fourth-grade material.
The issue of test scores and class size in city schools arose recently when the School Board met with City Council to review the school budget for the next year.
Councilman-elect Carroll Swain wanted to know what school officials were doing to bring the city's scores on standardized tests into line with those in nearby school systems. Roanoke's scores have traditionally been lower than Salem, Roanoke County and some other localities in Western Virginia.
Superintendent Wayne Harris said he has set a goal of increasing the number of students scoring above the national 50th percentile on standardized tests by 4 percent for each of the next three years.
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