Post by title1parent on Apr 23, 2008 6:01:07 GMT -5
St. Charles' tough call:Class size vs. teacher experience
April 23, 2008
By JANELLE WALKER Special to The Beacon News
ST. CHARLES -- When it comes to deciding how to best serve its children, the St. Charles School District likely must decide whether to pay for smaller class sizes or for highly qualified teachers.
"Would you rather have 30 students with a well-trained teacher, or 16 kids with a teacher with less experience or less training?" asked Brian Harris, assistant superintendence for Human Resources, at a gathering of about 150 parents and educators at the monthly Summit 303 meeting.
The presentation was the sixth meeting of Summit 303, St. Charles' ongoing "community engagement" process.
At a previous meeting, Summit 303 heard a presentation regarding the effects smaller class sizes have on student achievement. But, according to research presented by Harris, other studies show that a well-trained teacher who receives ongoing training has as much or more of an impact on student achievement.
Home and family factors -- including parental involvement, income, race, location and language background -- have the most impact on student outcomes, Harris said. Teacher qualifications come in a close second, he added.
For the past several years, St. Charles has made concerted effort toward retaining teachers, including increasing beginning pay for those teachers. Beginning salaries in the district now start at $39,400, slightly above similar area districts.
With that pay increase, the district is also hiring more qualified teachers. The average new hire for the 2008-09 school year is expected to be a teacher with a master's degree plus five years of teaching experience, Harris said.
Last week, the School Board made a $3 million commitment toward addressing issues that come out of the Summit 303 process. The money comes from a combination of state aid and $2 million from the district's fund balance, said School Superintendent Don Schlomann.
Funds will be used for one-time costs, like security or lab upgrades, technology or air conditioning, depending on the urgency, Schlomann said.
The board also approved spending $300,000 over the summer to improve security at district schools.
Those improvements will include locking doors once classes begin and buzzing in all late arrivals or visitors, and placing video cameras in buildings.
April 23, 2008
By JANELLE WALKER Special to The Beacon News
ST. CHARLES -- When it comes to deciding how to best serve its children, the St. Charles School District likely must decide whether to pay for smaller class sizes or for highly qualified teachers.
"Would you rather have 30 students with a well-trained teacher, or 16 kids with a teacher with less experience or less training?" asked Brian Harris, assistant superintendence for Human Resources, at a gathering of about 150 parents and educators at the monthly Summit 303 meeting.
The presentation was the sixth meeting of Summit 303, St. Charles' ongoing "community engagement" process.
At a previous meeting, Summit 303 heard a presentation regarding the effects smaller class sizes have on student achievement. But, according to research presented by Harris, other studies show that a well-trained teacher who receives ongoing training has as much or more of an impact on student achievement.
Home and family factors -- including parental involvement, income, race, location and language background -- have the most impact on student outcomes, Harris said. Teacher qualifications come in a close second, he added.
For the past several years, St. Charles has made concerted effort toward retaining teachers, including increasing beginning pay for those teachers. Beginning salaries in the district now start at $39,400, slightly above similar area districts.
With that pay increase, the district is also hiring more qualified teachers. The average new hire for the 2008-09 school year is expected to be a teacher with a master's degree plus five years of teaching experience, Harris said.
Last week, the School Board made a $3 million commitment toward addressing issues that come out of the Summit 303 process. The money comes from a combination of state aid and $2 million from the district's fund balance, said School Superintendent Don Schlomann.
Funds will be used for one-time costs, like security or lab upgrades, technology or air conditioning, depending on the urgency, Schlomann said.
The board also approved spending $300,000 over the summer to improve security at district schools.
Those improvements will include locking doors once classes begin and buzzing in all late arrivals or visitors, and placing video cameras in buildings.