Dist. 303 weighs smaller class sizes

St. Charles elementary schools would need to trim average class sizes by less than a third in order to see academic results that span students' education careers, an expert said Thursday.

Research suggests classes of 13 to 17 in kindergarten through third grade gives students an academic advantage in all subjects through eighth grade, according to Charles Achilles, who has authored or co-authored dozens of reports on the subject.

Achilles, a professor of education administration at Seton Hall University and Eastern Michigan University, spoke about class sizes at the St. Charles school district's third monthly Summit 303 community forum. About 200 people attended.

"Long-term, students who attended small classes -- especially minority and low-income students -- were more likely to take advanced coursework in high school, take college-entrance exams, graduate from high school … and attend college," Achilles said. "The benefit increases each additional year (a student is) in a small class."

Superintendent Don Schlomann said the average number of students in District 303 elementary classes is roughly 23. In order to cut that figure by six, or 26 percent, the district would either need to take on major teacher reassignments or build more facilities, he said.

"That would be substantial, but it may be that we get to it over a number of years," Schlomann said. "Space is clearly an issue for us."

Achilles' research indicates that simply adding teacher assistants to large classes has no effect on academic performance, even though it decreases the number of students per teacher.

He recommended that any class-size cuts be done in phases, starting with the expansion of half-day kindergarten to a full-day program and then working toward smaller classes in first, second and third grades.

Schlomann had no cost estimates for reducing class sizes to the levels Achilles discussed or for building the necessary facilities. He said financial estimates will be available toward the end of the yearlong Summit 303 series, during which participants will draft recommendations for the school board.

Schlomann said district enrollment dropped by about 130 this year and is projected to decrease by 200 next year.

"That frees up space, so maybe we can start looking at this (class sizes)," he said. "It depends on how far we want to go and what the community's expectations are."