Wisconsin SAGE Class Size Discussion

Amy Hetzner:

If his school couldn't exceed the SAGE ratios, Burdick K-8 School Principal Robert Schleck said his school probably would have dumped the program.

"There's different models that are being used throughout the city," he said, noting that in some SAGE classrooms, groups of students are pulled into the hallway or other locations during the day to maintain the teacher-to-student ratio.

Particularly in schools with fewer low-income students, which receive less SAGE funding, the state Department of Public Instruction has been willing to allow classrooms to exceed the law's 15-student cap, although it often requires that they have extra personnel for reading and mathematics.

State DPI data show that at least 40% of SAGE schools employed half-time teachers to meet the program's requirements in 2004-'05.

Marjorie Passman wrote:

Help me out here. I don’t quite understand your point in quoting Amy Hetzner’s article. Why not include the following web article as well: which concludes: Compared head-to-head against school vouchers, SAGE is far more effective in improving student achievement.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 20, 2006 6:46 AM
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