Chapter 1

A REVIEW OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

PUBLIC SCHOOLS' CLASS SIZE DATA

Office of Legislative Oversight

1. INTRODUCTION

A. Authority

Council Resolution No. 130-939, FY 1998 Work Program of the Office of Legislative Oversight, adopted June 24, 1997.

B. Scope

Elected officials and community members often cite reducing class size in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) classrooms as a high priority issue. At the request of the County Council, this Office of Legislative Oversight report explains how MCPS defines and calculates various class size statistics, and describes MCPS' process for allocating instructional staff to each school. Through the use of case studies, the report also illustrates how individual principals decide to assign the staff allocated to their schools. This process ultimately determines the number of staff members and students assigned to each classroom.

The report addresses the following questions:

• How does MCPS calculate average class size data?
• What are the Board of Education's maximum class size guidelines and how many classes are above the guidelines?
• What other data does MCPS generate on class size?
• What process does MCPS use to allocate school-based instructional staff and what are the MCPS staffing guidelines?
• How does the budget development process relate to the staff allocation
• process?
• What are MCPS' current initiatives to reduce the number of classes larger than the Board's maximum class size guidelines?

This report describes the allocation of school-based instructional staff, referred to as "instructional staff," including:

• regular classroom teachers;
• special support teachers;
• instructional assistants;
• career preparation and vocational support teachers;
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers;
• Head Start and Extended Elementary Education Program teachers;
• physical education, art, and music teachers;
• reading teachers; and
• Title I teachers.

This report describes the allocation of instructional assistants, but excludes all other support -services staff It also does not address how MCPS allocates principals/assistant principals, counselors, student support specialists, media specialists/assistants, or special education staff

C. Organization of Report

Chapter 11 explains the different MCPS guidelines and statistics related to class size, including: average class size, the Board of Education's maximum class size guidelines, student/professional staff ratio, and service ratio. It also summarizes the sizes of individual MCPS classes.

Chapter III describes MCPS' process for allocating instructional school-based staff, and explains how this process relates to MCPS' annual budget process. This chapter also describes the Board adopted staffing guidelines, which define how MCPS allocates different staff positions.

Chapter IV describes current MCPS initiatives to lower class size.

Chapter V uses six County schools as case studies to illustrate the staff allocation process, the principals' decisions regarding staff use, and the number of students in selected classes.

Chapter VI presents OLO's findings and recommendations.

The last section of Chapter I defines relevant terms used throughout this report.

D. Methodology

Jennifer Kimball, a research assistant in the Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO), conducted this project, with guidance from Karen Orlansky, Director of OLO.

OLO collected information for this study from enrollment reports, class size reports, and other memos and reports produced and provided by MCPS. OLO supplemented the written documents with information gained from interviews with MCPS central administrative staff and individual principals.

E. Acknowledgments

The Office of Legislative Oversight appreciates the cooperation and assistance provided by MCPS staff during the course of this project. In particular, OLO extends special thanks to Mr. James Terrill in the Office of the Deputy Superintendent; Dr. Steven Seleznow and Dr. Jerrilyn Andrews in the Office of School Administration; Dr. Marshall Spatz in the Department of Management, Budget, and Planning; Mr. Bruce Crispell in the

Department of Educational Facilities Planning and Capital Programming; Dr. Marlene Hartzman in the Department of Educational Accountability; and the principals and other MCPS staff who provided information for the case studies.

F. Definitions of Terms

Academic Classes - Refers to middle and high school mathematics, foreign language, science, social studies, and required and non-required English courses. Required English courses are middle and high school English courses required for graduation.

Average Class Size - MCPS calculates average class size as the total number of students divided by the total number of classes. Technically, it is the "mean number" of students per class, calculated at a single point in time. MCPS publishes the average class size for a variety of grade levels and courses. Chapter 11 of this report provides additional information on average class size.

Board of Education Maximum Class Size Guidelines - The maximum class size guidelines indicate the Board of Education's class size goals. The Board developed the maximum class size guidelines to describe and evaluate the class sizes of different MCPS courses and grade levels. MCPS tracks the number of classes that are above and below the guidelines to get a picture of class sizes across the school system and to identify where class sizes should be changed. Table 4 (page 14) lists the Board's maximum class size guidelines.

Combination Classes - Combination classes are elementary level classes that include students from two grade levels. MCPS creates the following combination classes: grade 1/2, grade 2/3, grade 3/4, grade 4/5, and grade 5/6. Combination class teachers cover the curriculum requirements for both grade levels and develop lesson plans appropriate to students in both grade levels. Each school's principal decides whether the school will have combination classes during the school year.

Educational Load - Educational Load identifies demographic features related to academic performance. The factors that MCPS may consider when calculating Educational Load include:

• Free and Reduced-priced Meals System (FARMS) participation;
• number of students older than the grade age;
• internal student mobility;
• external student mobility- and
• number of students with limited English proficiency.

For the 1997-98 school year, MCPS calculates Educational Load as the percentage of students who currently or ever participated in the Free and Reduced-priced Meals System (FARMS).

Education Management Team V School Admission, Review, and Dismissal (EMT/SAM - Refers to the group of school-based and central office staff that determines what special services students need in order to succeed in the regular classroom and/or determines eligibility for special education programs and the appropriate level of special education services. Free and Reduced-price Meals System (FARMS) - Provides free and reduced-price meals in school cafeterias based on economic need.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) - A FTE represents a position allocated to work 40 hours per week. The table below shows how portions of full time equivalent positions convert to hours worked.

                                     Full Time Equivalents (FTES) Converted to Hours

                                 Professional Positions               Supporting Services Positions
                          FTE Positions      Hours (Bi-Weekly)         FTE Positions       Hours (Daily)
                                1.000                  80                  1.000                  8
                               .900                    72                  .875                   7
                               .800                    64                  .750                   6
                               .700                    56                  .625                   5
                               .600                    48                  .500                   4
                               .500                    40                  .375                   3
                               .400                    32                  .250                   2
                               .300                    24                  .125                   1
                               .200                    16
                               .100                    8

                    Instructional System for Mathematics Program (ISM) - The ISM program consists of
                    mathematics instruction and assessment, and data collection and reporting at the
                    elementary and middle school levels.  The ISM instructional assistants assess student
                    performance of mathematics objectives, record data on student performance, support
                    classroom mathematics instruction, and meet with groups of students to provide more
                    individual mathematics assistance.

Mobility Rate - The sum of entrants and withdrawals from a school during the school year. Entrants are the number and percent of students who transferred into a school; withdrawals are the number and percent of students who transferred or dropped out of a school during the school year. The two percentages are added to calculate the total mobility rate.

Multidisciplinary Educational, Training, and Support Program (MIELS) - The METS program establishes small classes for ESOL students with interrupted education, to prepare them for instruction in a regular classroom. At the elementary level, students remain in the METS classroom for the entire school day. At the middle and high school level, students take mathematics, reading, and social studies in NffiTS classes and the remainder of their courses in regular education classes. MIETS program classes contain approximately 15 students.

Quality Integrated Education Program (QIE) - The QIE policy establishes a means for identifying schools most in need of supplementary resources to support quality education as economically as possible. MCPS identifies schools and allocates QIE resources based on Educational Load calculations and academic achievement levels, including MCPS Criterion-Referenced Test and Maryland School Performance Assessment Program results, and the percentage of students who qualify for Algebra I in grade 9.

Regular Student Enrollment - Regular student enrollment includes all regular education students and students receiving intensity one, two, and three special education services.

Service Ratio - The service ratio represents the ratio of students to special support teachers in a school. MCPS calculates the service ratio by dividing the school enrollment by the number of special support teacher positions in the school. MCPS allocates special support teachers in addition to regular classroom teachers to serve a particular need or program area in a school. Special support teachers include:

• Quality Integrated Education (QIE)/ academic support teachers;
• cluster magnet/special program teachers;
• disadvantaged support/alternative teachers;
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) support teachers;
• special needs teachers;
• mainstreaming support teachers; and
• instructional support teachers.

MCPS does not publish the service ratios in Schools at a Glance or the MCPS budget. Staff members use the ratio internally to verify that they allocated special support teachers appropriately.

Student/Professional Staff Ratio - The student/professional staff ratio is the number of students per professional staff member in a school. MCPS defines professional staff positions to include: principals, assistant principals, principal trainees, certified teachers, counselors, media specialists, and positions for professional special education related services. The professional staff category and the student/professional staff ratio do not include instructional support, building services, and other non-professional support positions.