Smaller Classes--and High Achievement

Tests taken by first-graders in classes of 20 or fewer pupils in the last academic year reveal high achievement in such areas as phonics and reading, school officials said.

The tests, given in the fall and again in the spring, measured what students knew when school started and what they knew after nine months of instruction. About 1,200 students in 77 classrooms took the exams.

The tests give teachers a look at where each pupil stands, said Linda Caillet, assistant superintendent of Fullerton School District. She said the results will be analyzed and given to the students’ second-grade teachers to determine what areas need more emphasis.

First-grade teachers have already presented the results to parents.

Though there are no previous test results for comparison and no proof that the smaller classes contributed to the students’ academic success, Fullerton school board trustees said teachers ought to be praised.

“There’s no question there’s some good teaching here,” Trustee Hilda Sugarman said.

Some of the results show that in the fall of 1996, 24% of the pupils tested were “phonemically aware”--able to distinguish the sounds that make up words. By the spring of 1997, the awareness jumped to 82%.

Similar outcomes were found in writing skills. Only 25% of the students could alphabetize words in the fall. By spring, 85% could do so.

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Soaring Scores

Fullerton first-graders in classes of 20 or fewer made substantial progress in several skill areas. About 1,200 students took the tests last October and this May. Some selected comparisons of how the scores changed:

Reading

Able to retell a reading selection in own words

Fall 39%

Spring 87

Knows all letter sounds

Fall 51%

Spring 95

Writing

Writes more than one complete sentence about an idea

Fall 22%

Spring 80

Alphabetizes words to first letter

Fall 25%

Spring 85

Phonics

Ability to distinguish sounds that make up words

Fall 24%

Spring 82

Identifies short and long vowels

Fall 24%

Spring 85

Math

Writes numerals from one to 100

Fall 44%

Spring 92

Reads time to the hour and half-hour

Fall 18%

Spring 78

Source: Fullerton School District; Researched by MIMI KO CRUZ / For The Times