The Effects of the Class Size Reduction Initiative on the LEP population
Dianna Gutierrez (UC Davis)

In 1996-97, the Class Size Reduction Program (CSR) was established to improve the California Educational Program, especially in the areas of reading and mathematics, for children in grades kindergarten through third. Currently, 1.6 million California children are participating in the respective grades. The initiative provides 800 dollars (650 dollars for the first year) per student to schools that reduce class sizes to twenty students or fewer in first grade, second grade, and then third grade and/or kindergarten.

On account of knowing about how CSR is unfolding at the classroom level, this first year study aimed at providing background for a formal evaluation of the program. This short term study; conducted by PACE and WestEd is a way to help inform a more comprehensive evaluation being undertaken by a consortium of research organizations. This consortium includes American Institutes for Research (AIR), EdSource, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), RAND, and WestEd.

A telephone survey of California districts was designed and implemented. Though district administrators were also interviewed, the study focuses on the school-level. This focus reflects our concern for school staff perceptions. Some general information was sought about the implementation of CSR, but our interest was how CSR was specifically affecting Limited-English Proficient (LEP) (which is the focus of this report), and special education students, distribution of qualified teachers, professional development, and instruction. In looking at how CSR affected special populations, particularly LEP students, we wanted to unveil how the scope and quality of services provided to these students changed as a result of CSR implementation.

Methods
Our data collection focuses on urban districts. This approach was chosen due to inadequate facilities, concentration of special populations, and general complexity of implementing CSR in such districts. While the sample is representative of other urban districts and schools implementing CSR across the state, our findings do not pertain to all schools implementing CSR.

In selecting districts, four large urban districts (two in Northern California and two in Southern California) were chosen to be among the purposive sample of twelve. Student enrollment in these urban districts range from 60,000 to 125,000 pupils. The remaining eight districts were chosen according to per-pupil expenditures, enrollment, and percentage of LEP students.

In selecting schools, samples were taken from the previously mentioned district sample. A total of 129 schools were selected to participate, 90 of which were sampled. To collect data from each school, we conducted 25-minute telephone interviews with four staff members: a teacher in a 20:1 classroom, the principal, the bilingual coordinator, and the resource specialist. To capture the particular perceptions of each individual, four different staff-specific questionnaires were developed, consisting of both open-ended and discrete questions. For purposes of this presentation, the responses of the bilingual coordinators will be highlighted. The topics in the LEP questionnaire include implications for LEP students, teacher classroom practices, parent involvement, and general challenges posed by CSR implementation. Due to time constraints, we were unable to contact all of the bilingual coordinators, thus, 64 bilingual coordinators were contacted out of the 90 schools sampled.

Findings
Nearly all teachers and three fourths of bilingual coordinators report benefits for LEP students. Some benefits include more one to one teacher-student interactions and improved classroom climate. It is also important to note that uncredentialed teachers are concentrated in schools serving large percentages of LEP students. According to principal reports, approximately 40 percent of teachers hired for CSR are working without any state credential and more than half are not certified to teach LEP students (are not CLAD or BCLAD certificated). In the sampled urban districts, schools serving greater percentages of LEP students are hiring smaller percentages of teachers certified to work with this student population when compared to schools serving smaller percentages of LEP students.

Overall, most educators report that CSR is having a positive affect on LEP students. Many of the benefits stem from increased one-to-one interaction between students and teachers. Furthermore, bilingual coordinators explained more individualized attention helps teachers understand individual student's needs, making them better able to employ second-language-teaching strategies, which promote language acquisition and development. Hence, nearly all teachers agreed that smaller classes are more nurturing learning environments where children are more cooperative with one another. Bilingual coordinators speak of LEP students who were previously too intimidated to speak English, but now are more willing to and have more opportunities to practice English. Nearly half cite achievement gains, maintaining that students' oral proficiency and reading skills are improving at faster rates compared to previous years.

Though there have been positive effects in implementing CSR, nearly 25 percent of the bilingual coordinators report disadvantages. Many of the problems result from statewide shortages of fully trained teachers. They report difficulty in finding bilingual (credentialed as well as non-credentialed) teachers who speak such languages as Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, Hmong, or Persian. Coordinators also stated that due to the unavailability of Bilingual certificates in certain languages, often times when bilingual applicants apply they do not possess the BCLAD certificate (i.e. they cannot provide instruction in the students' primary language). A few principals also claimed that applicants sometimes also lack writing skills in both languages. One coordinator mentioned that their school was "literally hiring people off the street." Another explained that her principal traveled to Mexico and attended Chicano/Latino conferences across the state to recruit potential teachers.

In addition to teacher quality, some principals and coordinators cite a shortage of teacher aides. Nearly two thirds of the principals report being unable to hire any additional aides whatsoever. As some bilingual coordinators report, this shortage resulted in aides being redistributed amongst more classes in low grades, as well as some being redistributed to the upper grades to assist teachers working with more than 20 students. Consequently, early-primary-grade teachers were left with little in-class support. As a result, some schools report relying more heavily on strategies such as "pull-out" programs and "clustering" LEP students according to their native language and/or English proficiency, that permit teachers with bilingual qualifications to serve more students at one time.

Due to the lack of qualified bilingual teachers, materials, and aides (who only can provide primary language support), nearly half of the bilingual coordinators interviewed acknowledged that most LEP students are not receiving any instruction in their primary language. Many of whom expressed concern that clustering practices leave LEP students isolated and tracked, thus limiting their opportunities to learn from native English speaking students.

Although all agreed there are disadvantages to the implementation of CSR, coordinators also unanimously agree that it is having a positive impact on LEP students and are certain it will boost student achievement in the future.