SAGE a 'Godsend' in Beloit

Debbie McCann’s eyes light up when she talks about how the SAGE program has improved learning in her kindergarten classroom.

“I wish everybody could have this,” she said. “There’s time to listen to the kids and really get to know them without sacrificing the material I want to teach.”

The parents of children in McCann’s class and other kindergarten and 1st-grade classes at Robinson Elementary School in Beloit agree: The Student Achievement Guarantee in Education program has made a remarkable difference.

“With the additional help she has already received this year, I see (my daughter) as a completely different student than she was in September 1996!” said one mother.

Robinson is one of 30 schools in 21 districts in Wisconsin participating in SAGE, which reduces class sizes in schools with high concentrations of low-income students.

At another school last year, McCann taught two half-day kindergarten classes — 25 to 30 students in the morning and another 25 to 30 students in the afternoon. This year, thanks to the SAGE program, she teaches one all-day class of 15 students.

That gives her time to work individually with every child every day, she said. She knows all the parents and understands the family and personal circumstances that influence each child’s readiness to learn. She has the time to talk regularly with every parent.

As a result, “The academic growth of these children has been phenomenal,” she said.

Robinson Principal Thomas Teteak, who has been measuring that growth, is especially impressed at the success SAGE has shown with its primary target group — children from low-income families.

“Our low-income kids in the SAGE program have shown greater gains academically than middle- and high-income kids,” he said, citing results from school testing.

Robinson 1st-grade teacher Nancy Furman has also noticed “substantial gains.” Some children started the year “not even ready for the 1st grade,” she said, but all her children now are at or above expected levels.

Two children, in particular, she said, benefitted greatly from the added attention SAGE allowed her to provide. “I’ve talked over and over to the parents, and they feel if their children were in a class of 27 they would not have made it,” she said.

The smaller class sizes not only help teachers work one-on-one with students but also free up more time for interaction with parents.

SAGE parents sign a compact in which they agree to fully participate in their children’s education, and the teachers have time to make sure the parents follow up.

For example, Furman said she she assigns her kids to read a story at home with their parents nearly every night. “With 15 kids, I can keep track of that,” she said. “There is much more parent contact because I can keep up better than when I had 27 kids.”

At Robinson, SAGE also incorporates the “lighted schoolhouse” concept, offering evening classes and activities for families, including a parent library check-out and a series of parenting workshops.

It all works, the educators said, because small classes free up the teachers’ time.

“Even when you have 30 kids, you try your hardest, but we’re not miracle workers,” McCann said. “With SAGE, we have the tools to really help the kids and get them off to a good start.”

Photo: Debbie McCann reads to her entire kindergarten class of 15 students.
- Photo by Bill Hurley

Posted May 29, 1997