Parent participation is generally high in the Redlands Unified School District, but some educators think parents could be putting in more time at home.
'The involvement
we need from parents
is at home'
-Carol Purvine-
Cope Middle School Principal
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Principals agreed that while participation is welcome in any form, some would prefer that parents make it a point to be involved with their child's education at home.
Their comments come in response to the Audit of Educational Effectiveness, which showed teachers and administrators would like parents to play a more active role in their children's education.
"The involvement we need from parents is at home," Cope Middle School Principal Carol Purvine said. "Kids are allowed much more freedom, and that's when they get into trouble."
Last month, Cope staff discussed ways to boost parent involvement. Among the options: sending home notices reminding parents to check their child's progress; reinstating parent conferences; and implementing evening meetings for parents, she said.
While parents often define involvement as belonging to parent teacher associations or coming to their child's plays, teachers also see it as making sure children finish homework on time and keeping in touch with the school about the child's progress, Smiley Elementary Principal David Cisneros said.
At Smiley, teachers contact parents if a child seems to be lacking attention at home, Cisneros said.
Problems often can be traced to temporary disruptions in the child's life. The school and parents usually work something out, he said.
"I feel very fortunate," Cisneros said. "It's been a very small problem, but it tends to stick out in our minds more when it happens. I don't know any parent who would ever not want to help their child."
Redlands East Valley High School Assistant Principal Linda Frye said the school has a high level of parent participation.
But often what high school parents do goes unnoticed because it is often behind the scenes - after school and on weekends.
"Teachers may not be aware that participation is so high," she said.
Because many families are headed by one parent or parents who both work, it can be difficult to get parents involved during the day, Frye said. That's why many of Redlands East Valley's booster clubs and parent groups meet at night or on weekends to encourage participation, Frye said.
"It's difficult to be involved with day-to-day school activities," said Anita LaVelle, assistant superintendant of educational services for the district. "With more parents working and maybe more parents commuting, they have to prioritize time with their children.
LaVelle said the district sees generally high levels of parent participation in booster clubs, PTA's, attendance at band performances and sporting events, and on committees, but there can never be too much.
"We do as much as we can to encourage parent participation," she said. "I think a lot of the parents feel they do support the children. The schools' perception is that we always need more moms and dads to volunteer."
Crowded Classrooms a Challenge
By JILL WALKER
San Bernardino County Sun
Susan Johnston, center, works with Spanish 3 students at the high school.
Middle school and high school teachers are hoping the school district puts limits on class size, much like they do at the elementary school level.
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Districts statewide jumped when the state offered incentives to reduce class size to 20 students in the primary grades.
Redlands was no different but the Audit of Educational Effectiveness says it now must do more in the higher grades.
Redlands Unified has reduced class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and this year added ninth-grade language arts when state funding became available. This fall, ninth-grade math classes also will be cut in size.
The district is studying what to do with an additional $300,000 it could receive in federal funding.
The district likely will target middle school grades and perhaps a particular subject, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Anita LaVelle said.
"We are going to try to take advantage of anything out there to reduce classes, but I think we're going to get to the point where we run out of space," LaVelle said.
The audit advised the district to seek ways to reduce class sizes at the upper elementary and secondary levels.
While the average class size is less than 20 students per teacher in kindergarten through third grade, class size averages 32 students in fourth and fifth grades. It can be as high as 35 students in sixth through 12th grade, according to the contract with the teachers union.
"We believe that the sudden increase in class size may contribute to the decline in test scores in grades 10 through 12," the report said.
The audit states that groups of students achieving at certain levels in early grades should continue to achieve at that same level in upper grades. While the district's scores generally remain stable, math scores declined in grades 10 and 11 after peaking in ninth grade, according to the audit.
High school administrators already are seeing the benefits of reduced class sizes in ninth-grade.
Students being referred for behavioral problems decreased 38 percent from last year - Nov. 1 through May 13 - through the same period this year.
Students' grades also rose.
The average grade-point average for ninth-grade language arts was 2.07 the first quarter, rising to 2.32 the second. The 34.6 percent of students receiving D's and F's the first quarter declined to 30.6 percent the second quarter.
"It seems to have made a difference," said Redlands East Valley High School Assistant Principal Linda Frye.
Anyone involved with students notes the difference.
"It's night and day with 25 students," said Joan McCall, a Clement Middle School reading teacher.
Clement reduced its sixth-grade reading classes to 25 students this year, down from the 35 students allowed by contract.
"You can prescribe to individual needs," said McCall, noting how essential that is in subjects such as reading.
Other benefits include creating more space, having fewer discipline problems and encouraging greater attentiveness.
"The ones at the back are not so far in the back," McCall said.
Victoria Elementary School parent Annette Hernandez said she sees a difference between her kindergartner in a 20-student class and her two older boys when they were in larger classes at that grade.
"They get a little bit more one-on-one," she said.
Although she said the improvements are "not as much" as she had hoped, she does notice it's easier for children to adjust socially in smaller classes.
"It seems to be easier," she said. "They seem to adjust a lot better."
Michael Celano lectures to a Spanish 1 class at Redlands East Valley High
