MINUTES OF THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND FACILITIES
Sixty-seventh Session
February 3, 1993
The Senate Committee on Human Resources and Facilities was called to order by Chairman Raymond D. Rawson, at 1:30 p.m., on Wednesday, February 3, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator Raymond D. Rawson, Chairman
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Vice Chairman
Senator Randolph J. Townsend
Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.
Senator Bob Coffin
Senator Diana M. Glomb
Senator Lori L. Brown
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Judy Alexander, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Dr. Eugene Paslov, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Mary Peterson, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
David Smith,Department of Education, Evaluation Consultant
Joan Zadny, First Vice President, Nevada State Parent Teachers Association
Rick Millsap, Nevada State Education Association
Clyda Anderson, Katherine Dunn Elementary School
Dr. Eugene Paslov, State Superintendent of Public Instruction introduced Ms. Mary Peterson, Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Dr. Paslov presented The Class Size Reduction Act Evaluation Study (Exhibit C) and began by reviewing some of the background material and issues concerning class size reduction, shared findings from the preliminary report and summarized the information from the latest evaluation information of the Tennessee Star Study, referenced in his summary (Exhibit D).
Dr. Paslov presented a video "State Superintendent's Message" which aired December 1, 1992 on Channel 10, Las Vegas (Exhibit E). The video showed a discussion among Dr. Eugene Paslov, Bob Ryan, columnist for the Review Journal and Rick Millsap, President of Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) on class size reduction.
Senator Glomb reminded Dr. Paslov that the legislature was not able to include the team teaching training money. Dr. Paslov acknowledged and responded that the report may reflect the impacts of not having the money available.
Ms Peterson summarized other findings related to class size reduction in her summary (Exhibit F). She referred to Referrals to Special Education on page 4 of Exhibit C and advised that in a reduced size classroom a teacher has individualized contact with the child, has greater individual knowledge of that child and the child's real needs and increased ability to meet those needs within the regular classroom.
Senator O'Donnell referred to the reading scores, under second analysis on page 7 (Exhibit C) and asked Ms. Peterson to quantify the word significantly.
David Smith, Department of Education, Evaluation Consultant, responded to Senator O'Donnell that they were statistically significant at the .0001 level which means they were very reliable findings. The reading score differences in the means between the groups was 12.17.
Ms. Peterson reminded the committee this was a preliminary summary and anticipates the final report mid-March.
After discussion by the committee, Chairman Rawson noted the differences were significant, 7.51 percent in Math and Reading at 12.17 percent.
Senator Brown, asked, "Are we going to follow these students longitudinally because even though we don't have class size reduction in the higher grades, what they start with is very important as to how they do later on?" Dr. Paslov, stated they would be able to do that if they had a automated student record base.
Ms. Peterson advised at the time they do not have student identifiers throughout the state and it would be hard to do longitudinal studies without individual student identifiers to follow them over the long term.
Dr. Paslov noted the response to the survey from the parents was very good with a high approval rating for these issues.
Senator Coffin noted the response and approval rate was very similar to the survey in the 1991 session.
Senator Neal asked what was done in preparing the teacher in the area of individual attention since that was the purpose of class size reduction. He noted that there was no change in the minority students indicated in the report.
Ms. Peterson responded that they would like to send trained observers into the classrooms who would quantify and qualify the kinds of interactions that are taking place in order to have a full-blown evaluation. Parents and teachers have reported that there is time for more individualized instruction.
Dr. Paslov addressed the reference to minority students by Senator Neal and advised that there were improvements including the English as a Second Language (ESL) and lower social economic group students . Also, significant numbers of parents have told the educators that the smaller class sizes have made a difference in the math and reading ability.
Senator Coffin pointed out, the data shows in Clark County, class size reduction has worked in those schools made up by minority students.
Senator Brown, noted that in the study, Tennessee findings were much higher and they were using a control group.
Chairman Rawson stated he had talked with a lot of teachers that have spent their first year in the classroom in 1st grade. He advised they may want to sort out those teachers that were hired for this class size reduction and look at their average level of experience. He also noted there were fewer special education referrals, some of the students who would have been marginal or not able to achieve in the classroom under different circumstances did stay in the classroom and probably had some effect on the scores.
Joan Zadny, First Vice President, Nevada State Parent Teachers Association (P.T.A.) testified in support of class size reduction as referenced in her summary (Exhibit G).
Rick Millsap, President, Nevada State Education Association and sixth grade teacher advised that the legislature is investing in a long run where you will see benefits down the road. He advised the Tennessee Star Project has a new report out this year in which they have tracked the students longitudinally over a period of time. That report shows even after the students have left the smaller classes they still do better than their peers who were in crowded classes at the same time. The Glass and Smith Report, from Far West Laboratories, called Meta-Analysis of Research on the Relationship of Class Size and Achievement correlated all reports on the project and showed the same results as the Star project.
Clyda Anderson, second grade teacher at Katherine Dunn Elementary School in Sparks testified in support of class size reduction in her summary (Exhibit H). She referenced a bibliography (Exhibit I) from a book How Changing Class Size Affects Classrooms and Students, from the State Department of Education which gave a all around grouping of research into that area over the last 15 years.
Senator O'Donnell asked for her opinion, whether or not class size reduction works as far as the academics go. Ms. Anderson responded the average C students now have a much better retention level and are scoring better academically due to the opportunity to review something four to six times instead of once or twice as is the case in a larger size class.
The next order of business was introduction of a BILL DRAFT REQUEST (BDR).
BDR 3-85: Require presentation of additional information to screening panels for actions for medical malpractice.
SENATOR O'DONNELL MOVED TO INTRODUCE BDR 3-85
SENATOR COFFIN SECONDED THE MOTION
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Chairman Rawson adjourned the meeting at 2:55 PM.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Judy Alexander
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator Raymond D. Rawson, Chairman
DATE:
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Senate Committee on Human Resources and Facilities
February 3,1993
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