Alpine School District Class Sizes Continue To Rise.

Orem school class sizes, which are 10-30% larger than those in the Provo District, may dramatically increase by 23% during the 2022-2023 school year as part of projections for the Alpine School District.

The Feasibility Study found that the schools on the west side of ASD have increased class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios because of the increase in student enrollment and the shortage of schools necessary to accommodate the enrollment growth. The east side schools of ASD, including those schools in Orem, have experienced increased class sizes because financial funding and resources required to pay for additional teachers have been transferred to the west side to accommodate west side growth.

ASD has told various parents that in order to achieve “equity” for the large class sizes in the west, that classes in east side schools must also increase. This statement cannot stand on its own, because if true equity is to be maintained district-wide than specialty classes should be equally available to every student district-wide, which it is not.

"Both students and teachers thrive in smaller class sizes - evidence that students in smaller classes perform better on state examinations!" ~ Brookings

A success story: Northridge – a local look at historical resolutions to large class sizes:

  • In 1995 enrollment at Northridge was 1,001 students (as per Ada Wilson posting on Facebook). At that time, there was just 20 classrooms at the school. That would put the class sizes at 55.5 students per classroom, which they obviously did not do. Instead, the school did morning and afternoon shifts to accommodate the incredibly high number of students. A 2004 addition added an additional 10 classrooms, and in 2006 the student capacity was still at a whopping 166% (as stated in the Lewis and Young Feasibility Study). The school had a staggered start time (early bird, later gator) to facilitate the large enrollment in the neighborhood school. Not only were test scores terrific, the morale and specialty class selection made Northridge one of the most desirable schools to attend in Utah.

  • Is ASD willing to attempt this strategy out west? In the name of equity, they must at least try since they required it of generations of students at Northridge.

  • If ASD is truly behind its claim of equity, then it must bring back all specialties to every school in the district.

In Alpine School Districts recent study by Y2 Analytics, the survey showed that ASD residents were concerned about the rapid growth in the west and its impact on teachers. The were also concerned about being able to hire and retain qualified teachers, especially with class size numbers growing.

Several studies have shown that reducing class size increases overall student achievement, especially for younger, disadvantaged children. The following are some of the benefits of fewer students in a classroom.

  • Students receive more individualized attention and interact more with the teacher.

  • Teachers have more flexibility to use different instructional approaches.

  • Fewer students are less distracting to each other than a large group of children. 

  • Teachers have more time to teach because there are fewer discipline problems. 

  • Students are more likely to participate in class and become more involved. 

  • Teachers have more time to cover additional material and use more supplementary texts and enrichment activities.

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