Niagara on target in reducing class
size
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Wed 28
Jun 2006
Page: A3
Section: Local
Byline: MONIQUE BEECH
Source:
CP

Niagara parents can check out how many students are in
their child's primary class by logging on to a new website tracking 32, 000
classrooms in Ontario.

The Ministry of Education website lists the number of students in all
kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms at Ontario's 4,000 elementary schools.

Education Minister Sandra Pupatello said the website will prove to parents
the government has succeeded at shrinking class sizes - something parents and
teachers have been demanding for years.

Three academic years into the government program, 48 per cent of primary
classes across Ontario have met the target.

In Niagara's public school board, 62 per cent of primary classes have 20
students or less compared with 55 per cent in the Catholic board.

Administrators from both the District School Board of Niagara and Niagara
Catholic District School Board said primary teachers are happy with the class
size reductions so far.

For the 2006-07 school year, the DSBN plans to add 20 primary classes while
the Catholic board intends to add about 15.

"It's not just that we've reduced the number of students in classrooms," said
Frank Iannantuono, superintendent with the Catholic school board.

"The teachers are given a very focused direction as to strategies to be used
in the classroom."

Warren Hoshizaki, director of the public board, said teachers with smaller
primary school classes have noticed a positive change, but it will take a little
more time to get to all schools.

The government's goal is for 90 per cent of primary classes in Ontario to
meet the target by the 2007-08 school year.

Hoshizaki believes the board is on track to meet that goal.

"We can't do this all at once. It's a progression."

Research has suggested smaller classes in the early grades lead to improved
reading, writing and math skills later in life.

"It makes a big difference for those students who are not as ready to learn
as other students," said Mary-Louise Vanderlee, an education professor at Brock
University who specializes in class size.

That's if a child is put into a smaller class from the start of his or her
primary school years, Vanderlee said. "Then it makes a much bigger impact."

But a report from the C.D. Howe Institute released last August suggested the Ontario
government was wasting its money reducing class sizes because it had limited
impact on student success.

Iannantuono said shrinking classes is an important tool to help children
learn.

"It's not the only piece in improving student achievement, but it's a
definite positive approach that we have taken."

More information can be obtained at the ministry's website,
www.edu.gov.on.ca.

© 2006 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights
reserved.

Edition:
Length: 436 words