February 3, 2003
     
    MEMORANDUM
     
    TO:
      
    MIS
    FROM:
     
    Lavan Dukes
     
     
    SUBJECT:
    Class Size Count/Highly Qualified Teacher Data
    Collection
     
     
    Background
     
    In November 2002, Florida’s voters passed Constitutional
    Amendment 9, which establishes the following limits for class size
    in Florida’s public schools: 18 students in prekindergarten through
    grade 3, 22 students in grades 4 through 8, and 25 students in grades
    9 through 12. The amendment requires state funding for school
    districts to achieve full compliance by 2010. The amendment also
    specifies a two student per year reduction in average class size to
    begin with the 2003-2004 school year.
     
    The DOE’s Student Course Schedule and Teacher Course data
    reporting formats were designed primarily to collect data for funding
    purposes and not to determine class size, rendering it difficult to
    determine accurate class size numbers. In order to rectify this
    situation, several new data elements have been created that allow
    districts to accurately report the number of students in each
    classroom, at any given period in the day, on any given day of the
    week. These Class Size Count data elements are designed to provide
    benchmark class size data and track changes over time.
     
    The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 sets minimum qualifications
    for teachers in all public schools. The Act defines a “highly
    qualified” teacher and requires that all new Title I teachers hired on
    Class Size Count/Highly Qualified Teacher Data Collection
    February 3, 2003
    Page Two
     
    or after the first day of school year 2002-03 meet those qualifications. All teachers in the state
    who teach in “core” subjects must be “highly qualified” by the last day of school year 2005-06.
    The data element “Highly Qualified Teacher” was created to allow districts to report each
    teacher as Highly Qualified under the NCLB guidelines.
     
    How the Class Size Count data elements will be used with existing data elements to
    determine accurate class size
     
    In order to determine accurate class sizes--that is, the number of students in a classroom with a
    teacher or teachers during a class period--it is necessary for districts to report the assigned FISH
    (Florida Inventory of School Houses) number for each classroom. For classes held in non-
    district-owned facilities, such as Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, charter schools,
    hospitals, and jails, the district will be responsible for creating a unique number based on the
    scheme employed by the FISH number. The district will indicate that the facility is a non-
    district-owned facility via the Facility Suffix position within the created number. The type of
    facility is to be designated using the “Facility Type” data element.
     
    For districts that are not already doing so, it is necessary to report every instructional grouping of
    students in order to calculate accurately class size. For instance, if a student is scheduled in a
    self-contained class for the day, but is pulled out for individual instruction during part of the day,
    the schedule should reflect that the student is not in the self-contained class during that period of
    time.
     
    New elements have been created to allow districts to report accurately the variety of scheduling
    options employed in district classrooms. These elements include “Day of Week Scheduled
    (Monday – Saturday)” and “Scheduling Method.” “Day of the Week” will allow the department
    to generate class counts based on the number of students in a classroom on a specific day/period
    in any given district/school/facility. “Scheduling Method” will allow the district to accurately
    report how many teachers are assigned full-time to a classroom, whether a class meets on
    alternate weeks, whether different groups of students meet in the same class for the same course
    with the same teacher on different days, and so on.
     
    How and when the Class Size Count/Highly Qualified Teacher data will be collected
     
    In order to establish baseline data, the Class Size Count and Highly Qualified Teacher data will
    be collected on the Teacher and Student Course formats in the following datasets:
     
    STUDENT DEMOGRAPHIC DPSxx.GQ.F70359.Y02033
    STUDENT COURSE SCHEDULE DPSxx.GQ.F70356.Y02033
    TEACHER COURSE DPSxx.GQ.F70357.Y02033
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
    Class Size Count/Highly Qualified Teacher Data Collection
    February 3, 2003
    Page Three
     
    For the purpose of this collection, the following schedule has been established:
     
    Survey week: March 3-7
    Due Date: March 14
    State Processing: March 12-21
     
    Detail reports will be available for the districts to check the accuracy of their data.
      
     
    Technical Assistance
     
    Districts are encouraged to direct questions dealing with reporting the Highly Qualified Teacher
    data element to Beverly Gregory at edcert@fldoe.org. Districts should contact their district
    Facilities Coordinator for assistance with FISH numbers. Questions or concerns regarding Class
    Size Count reporting should be directed to Dr. Martha Haynes, martha.haynes@fldoe.org, or by
    contacting the EIAS Program Specialist assigned to your district by email or at (850) 487-2280,
    SC 277-2280.
     
    CC: District Superintendent
    Personnel
     
    Attachments:
     
      
    Data Element:
    Highly Qualified Teacher
    Data Element:
    Classroom Identification (FISH) Number
    Data Element:
    Scheduling Method
    Data Elements:
    Day of Week Scheduled (Monday – Saturday)
    Format:
    Teacher Course
    Format:
    Student Course Schedule
    Edit:
    Teacher Course
    Edit:
    Student Course Schedule
     
     

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