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Don't let fuzzy math undermine co-teaching

Addition and division are two of the most basic mathematical functions. But confusion between the Hernando County School District and the state Department of Education about how to total the number of teachers, and divide that number by students, has created a challenging math problem.

As the convoluted data is deciphered, superintendent Wendy Tellone and members of the School Board should take care to safeguard a progressive and successful teaching practice that, depending on the formula used, could be affected adversely.

The school district is trying to comply with the 2002 amendment to the Florida Constitution that cuts the number of students per classroom. By 2010, school districts may have a maximum of 18 students per class in third grades or lower, 22 students in grades 4-8, and no more than 25 in high school. As the department phases in the voter mandate, it requires school districts to change the way they classify and count classroom teachers.

According to recent news reports by Times staff writer Abhi Raghunathan, Hernando officials have changed the way they are classifying teachers who participate in the highly regarded educational method known as inclusion. That approach places children with learning disabilities in the same classrooms as their peers who are not challenged in that way. Two teachers are assigned to the classroom, and typically one specializes in special education and is available to help students who need one-on-one instruction.

Because next year the state will prohibit the district from using co-teaching arrangements to lower class size calculations, local officials have countered by classifying many of the special education teachers as "support facilitators" who move from one classroom to another so they will be reported under a different category. When combined with the addition of some portable classrooms, it easily brings Hernando into compliance with the state directive.

Conforming with that decree is important. Last year, Hernando County did not meet class size requirements for the lower grades, and it prevented the district from being able to launch its much-needed pre-K program. If the district fails to measure up this year, the Education Department could declare the need for mandatory double sessions or a year-round school calendar.

The possibility of such radical changes is a compelling incentive for the district to abide by the class-size edict, and it would appear the district has found a creative way to do so.

However, knowing that they have received mixed signals from the state about how to determine teacher-student ratios, district officials must be absolutely certain their solution is permissible and that it does not jeopardize the practices of inclusion and co-teaching.

Learning-disabled students score better on standardized tests when they learn side by side with their peers and have the benefit of individual instruction. Those students also assimilate better in social settings outside the classroom. That, in the long term, may be as valuable as a formal education.

District officials have assured the public that modifying the way they report teaching jobs to the state will not affect how students are taught. We trust the administrators' commitment to that goal, but caution that they be prepared if the state takes an alternative view, issues new guidelines or uses a different calculation.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]