Enrollment Drop Changing School Programs

"The 'pill' must be finally having its effect here," says Stanley Zubel, personnel director for the Ann Arbor Schools. The steady decline in enrollment over the past five years supports his observation and this year's figures listed 258 less students than in 1970. The total enrollment for this year ■ is 19,894, while last year it was 20,152. "Elementary school enrollment continues to decrease," explained Zubel. "The secondary schools remain fairly constant in enrollment numbers but each year there are fewer and fewer children entering the primary grades." The lower enrollment in the Ann Arbor Schools has brought about some interesting changes for students and teachers in this system. "This reduction has helped to accelerate a trend toward the ungraded classroom and the multi-grade experience," said Zubel. "Our system is developing a new approach to elementary school education. The lower enrollment has necessitated that elementary school teachers who have considered themselves specialists in the lower kindergarten through third grades be shifted to upper elementary grades," explained the director for personnel. Some teachers are resisting this change and some are apprehensive about the trend says Zubel. But he adds: "If teachers are going to survive they will have to consider themselves generalists in elementary education." Grade orientation, according to the Ann Arbor administrator, is a false concept. It is an arbitrary grouping that has been used for the convenience and expedience of school administrators. "You might as well group kids by height and weight," Zubel said. "But because of this reduction in enrollment the teachers and schools have to search out alternatives for their students," he said. "We are now beginning to look at each child more individually and the class groupings and programs become child-orientated," Zubel said. Several such innovative programs were started by teachers this year in an , attempt to work out the lower enrollments in their individual schools. There are open classrooms at Clinton, Mitchell, and Wines schools. According to Zubel, the open classroom is not a "free School" but instead it is a program that allows each child to have individualized instruction and to work at his own pace. . "The teacher knows at all times where the child is progressing and he is consistently receiving the assistance of the teacher." Zubel added that this open classroom situation involves a great deal more work on the part of a teacher in addressing the needs of each individual child. "Besides the individual instruction, teachers and classes are able to plan more interesting and varied projects," Zubel said. Another new aspect of the lower enrollment is the combination classes. At Mitchell there is a combination class of 83 kindergarten and 6th graders. "In these combination classes the children benefit from peer instruction and they are albe to clarify things in their own minds by having to explain them to I classmates," he said. Zubel said peer instruction helped I reinforce learning in the minds of stuI dents and it helped the underachievers I understand things in the language of I their own peers. Another combination class is located at Abbot School where the third graders are being taught with the kindergarteners. "Combining big and little kids helps in their social adjustment as well as their learning skills," he said. One of the drawbacks in these innovative programs, however, was in the attitudes of parents, Zubel said. He said many parents don't realize the whole concept of grades is an artificial theory. "Many parents feel that their child has lost his status as a a third or fourth grader if he is combined with a group of ( younger students," Zubel said. "But these types of arrangements help both the younger and older child in learning and with getting along with people." Zubel said the trend for multi-grade classrooms will not cause a decrease in the hiring of teachers, because more than one teacher will be assigned to the larger groupings of students. This will lend itself more to the team teaching concept in which instructors are able to I pool their own resources to provide a ; "broader learning experience to more dents. "In the early 60's we only had about I five split grades, but now there are about 35 split grades and three open classrooms in the elementary level," said Zubel. "Teachers will now have more opportunity to explore education I alternatives for their students and develop programs for their specific schools," he said. Students in these classes will have a responsibility to each of their fellow students and Zubel feels that this provides a greater motivation than the traditional approach.