Master FIR (1988)

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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Picraux		DATE TYPED:	02-14-00		HB	HJM 67/aHEC
SHORT TITLE:		Class Size Reductions				SB
					ANALYST:		Baca

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY00

FY01

FY00

FY01

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The amendment adopted by the House Education Committee changes the phrase "class size reduction" to "reduced student/teacher ratio." The intent of the bill remains unchanged: seek to discover the impact smaller class size (lower student/teacher ratio) on student achievement.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Joint Memorial 67 requests that the State Department of Education, the Legislative Education Study Committee and Educational Initiatives and Accountability Committee study and make recommendations on class size initiatives being conducted in other states.

Findings of the study are to be reported to the Legislative Council no later than December 15. 2000.

Significant Issues

The memorial requests that the study compare the benefits of reduced class size on student achievement with other reform measures and make recommendations on the positive impact on students and teachers in reduced size classrooms.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

None apparent.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Research on the impact of class size on student achievement is available. Whether the questions raised in this memorial can be satisfactorily answered with existing research results from school reform efforts nationally will be determined by the study.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Is the research needed to make viable comparisons of the impact of school reform initiatives with the impact of class size readily available? Is it available?

Do we have any "hard data" showing the impact of lower class sizes from New Mexico schools?

LB/gm