Reply to Fairfax County: McLean Citizens Association demands smaller class sizes

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Reply to "Fairfax County: McLean Citizens Association demands smaller class sizes"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So they don't speak for everyone in McLean, but they aren't totally pulling this stuff out of a hat, either.  The very large class sizes in McLean schools are a major source of concern among many parents.   [/quote]

But the data presented on their associated website misrepresents the facts.

I have not had the time to review all 4,103 rows of data, but a cursory look at just a quarter of the data shows case after case where they have labeled a classroom as "20 or under" as they are viewing a single classroom among several classrooms in the same grade. What they should have done (instead) is look at the grade as a whole (therefore, look at the classrooms in a cluster), and try to identify specific instances where there is "20 or under" scenarios across the entire grade [b]and[/b] by reaggregating the total number of students in the grade would reduce the number of classrooms in the grade by at least one classroom. Through the quarter of rows of data I have reviewed thus far, there were no such instances.[/quote]

It's data that FCPS has and it's accurate. It's an excel file that can be arranged to draw as many conclusions as you'd like. FCPS can analyze schools and call the principal if they see some classes are smaller than others in a grade. It's the principal's discretion where to place the teachers. At our school the difference between classes is about 2-3 children and is typically for something like a combination class being 26 children and a single grade class being 29. Not a lot of difference between the two classes.[/quote]

That's my point -- the classroom data is accurate. But it misrepresents the data when conclusions on individual classroom sizes instead of taking the classrooms in a single school in a single grade and totally up the number of students.

I know of no principal who would state 22 students should be in each of four classrooms in 1st grade, and the fifth 1st grade classroom should have 2 students, to total 90 students in 1st grade. Simple as that. How might a principal spread 90 students out across 1st grade classes in a Title I school (with a K-3 state limit of 22 students in a classroom)?  22 * 4 = 88 and that is less than 90, so it will need to be 5 classrooms. 90 divided by 5 =  18 students per classroom

And the 18 students per classroom triggers the Spreadsheet alarm bell.[/quote]

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