DOE releases school-by-school class size data

Dec 19, 2007 5:04 PM

Chancellor Joel Klein announced on December 19 the implementation of several improvements to increase the transparency and scope of annual class size data reporting, including more detailed school-level information. For the first time, the DOE is providing information on the total number of students in each school at each grade, the number of classes, and the largest and smallest class at each grade level. The DOE’s report also includes summary tables by district and borough. It is based on active student registers dating from Dec. 7, 2007.

You may find class-size information about your school online. Then click on “2007-08 School Level Detail Report” on the right side.

UFT President Randi Weingarten responded with the following statement:

The Department of Education kept its word and has compiled and released the most transparent data yet on class size. The data allow anyone to see where the class size problems are – by school, grade and subject matter – and make it possible for the DOE, which has taken the first steps to reduce class size, and others to monitor and measure progress. The most important commitment, however, is the agreement that DOE made first with the union to develop plans to reduce class size, and now with the state to set K-3rd grade class sizes of 20 and 4th-12th grade class sizes of 23 in five years. The state-city Contracts for Excellence should effectively end the debate about whether to reduce class size. The question that remains is how to achieve these goals.