|Class Size Reduction and Teacher Financing Initiative -- $1,100,000,000 (FY 99)|
|Goal: Reduce average class size nationally in grades 1-3 and provide qualified teachers so that all children may learn to read independently and well by the end of third grade.|
|Objectives||Indicators||Source and Next Update||Strategies|
|1. To reduce average class size nationally in grades 1-3.||1.1 Smaller classes. States will annually reduce the average class size in grades 1-3 so that, by 2005, the average class size nationally in the targeted grades is 18 students per classroom.||1.1 Annual state performance reports; national evaluation study, 2006.|| Achieve enactment of the program.|
|2. To improve student achievement in reading, in concert with America Reads Challenge and other federal programs and initiatives.||2.1 Student achievement. Increasing percentages of fourth graders will score at or above the basic level in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In 1994 the baseline was 60 percent.
2.2 State/ local assessments. Increasing percentages of fourth graders at schools receiving program funds will score at basic, proficient, or advanced levels in reading on State or local assessments.
|2.1 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2002.
2.2 Title I performance reports; annual State performance reports.
| Promote improvement of teacher preparation in elementary school reading and link school curriculums to high standards in reading.|
|3. To ensure that newly hired and existing teachers are fully qualified, and have the knowledge to teach reading effectively in small classes.||3.1 Increased professional development in reading instruction. Increasing percentages of teachers in grades one through three will complete intensive professional development in teaching reading effectively, especially methods for teaching reading to students who experience difficulty in learning to read.
3.2 Improved preparation for teaching reading in small classes. Increasing percentages of teachers in grades one through three will receive intensive professional development in effective teaching methods in small classes.
|3.1 Annual state performance reports; national evaluation study.
3.2 Annual state performance reports; national evaluation study.
| Strengthen the Department's existing programs that provide support for personnel preparation to provide improved pre-service and inservice professional development for school staff.|