Cuts to Neenah School Staff Recommended. (Appleton Post-Crescent, 4/6/2011)
Excerpt: At the elementary level, administrators recommended adding two elementary teachers and five kindergarten teachers. The additional kindergarten teachers would lower the average class size from 24 to 19 pupils.
"We've learned through research that smaller class sizes, particularly at the primary levels, have academic benefits," said Steve Dreger, assistant district administrator of elementary learning and leadership.
To offset the additional elementary teachers, the administrative plan calls for cutting seven positions from instructional support services, including four of the eight elementary library-media specialists and two gifted-and-talented teachers.
LINK to "School Library Impact Studies 101: An Overview of the Research".
Everyone talks about smaller class size but in this case it probably will not make the difference that keeping the school librarians would make. The landmark study on class size (http://www.heros-inc.org/star.htm) showed a difference in achievement with classes of 15-17 students. While it is great to reduce class size from 24-19, it's not statistically significant.
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