Agenda - 03-11-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 Testimony of Robert R. Reeber to Montgomery County School Board Hearing. February 191- 198-1 RESULTS OF STUDY CONTINUED MINORITY RATIOS I found that the higher the ratio.between minority and non-minority students in the schools, the lower the degree of parent involvement. B ecause of the strong correlation between parent involvement and test scores.tbis indicates by reference schools with high minority ratios are generally Figure 1 that test scores for signifcantly lower than average. See figure 3. EFFECTS- OF INCREASED BUSSING Increased bussing was. not found to- significantly affect the composite' te st scores. It does however increase* costs both at the state and county level and indirectly must affect* (because of increased time not utilized for other acti.vities) such peripherals ad art, music and dance. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY -The factors I have identified..Must be considered- for, a••comprehensive school -planning study. We obviously should do everything we can to encourage parent involvement, in elementary school education. Schools' with good parent involvement have•a much higher test scores regardless of. S6hO�l "size- likelihood by far of ending up with better involved is significantly It is also clear that the social process of getting Parents in easier for smaller schools. It is clear that for small and large sollools.money spent schools will apparently in getting parents more actively involved in their children's ways of-.-spending it. havb a. on. the quality of education than many other at doing this it'a Federally funded one' The only. progr4rq in DJCP$S'I�resently.aimed at parents of und ra.. Li vir_ for $165,000 over three years. This is specifically aimed ar s e cl e students. It involves one full-ime positioti at 22.1K and parttimers for a zotal Of 14.2Y_ Additionally you should know whether the •dollars apparently saved by having largcr,• schools are. really saving money. If the quality of education in large schools is lower, society will pay a price in greater illiteracy, juvenile problems and the like not to mention lessened economic Opportunities in an increasingly technological society.• In -essence we need to know whether the lessened quality in large schools is OffsOt by .the dollars saved running them as opposed to smaller schools. Fi"nally, there is something operating in the' school system relating to minor i itses that is not good. It is•a problem that goes beyond the scope of. this present study. The data does indicate, however, that the higher the parent PTA involvement in high minority schools, the higher the test scores are. Again it may be that our dollars ts involved rather than on other mtters- may be most wisely'spent on getting parents . Appendix A lists some, ways, the school Boar d could-consider to.accomplish this. In conclusion, part of the reason for *declining test scores may be the nudging out of parents and families from their educational systems by expanding bureaucracies over the years. Parents,confronted by a large, impersonally cold school system, • may have been discouraged from providing a necessary ingredient in elementary school education. It may also be -that moving toward larger schools w ill c ost us dearly in intangible losses concerned. with the quality-of education and other real costs to society. it is certain that with the money spent on school administration in this -county, the system should already have analyzed the impact of PTA j.nvolvement and school size on the quality of education in some quantitative way.. -Yo%i.should obtain the answers to- the questions I have posed and related ones immediately:t ly' Appendix B qualitatively indicates how this might be carried out.*