Cindy+D

__**Phase I:**__ -46.3% female, 53.7% male -Average income of $61, 640 -89.1% White, 3.8% Black, 3.2% Hispanic, 2.2% Asian, .1% Native American, .006% other, 1.5% 2 or more races. || -Population of 13, 373 -46% female, 54% male -Average income of $57, 688 -86.7% White, 5.1% Asian, 2.6% Hispanic, 2.4% Black, .3% Native American, 2.9% 2 or more races. || -Black students: 2.6% minimal, 21.1% basic, 44.7% proficient, 28.9% advanced -White students: 13.9% basic, 29.1% proficient, 53.2% advanced -More than one race: 3.7% minimal, 11.1% basic, 44.4% proficient, 37% advanced || Reading: -Black students: 15.8% basic, 47.4% proficient, 36.8% advanced -White students: 1.1% basic, 18.1% proficient, 79.1% advanced -More than one race: 31.7% basic, 65.9% advanced || -With disabilities: 3% minimal, 33.3% basic, 39.4% proficient, 9.1% advanced. -Without disabilities: .9% minimal, 9.9% basic, 35.1% proficient, 54.1% advanced || Reading: -With disabilities: 8.6% minimal, 11.4% basic, 45.7% proficient, 31.4% advanced. -Without disabilities: 1.8% basic, 21.3% proficient, 76.9% advanced ||
 * || Field 2 || Field 3 ||
 * Mission and goals of the school || Delivers outstanding education that equips and inspires students to conquer their challenges now and in the future. || Each child is respected, included, nurtured, challenged, and successful. ||
 * Demographics of the community || -Population of 45, 599
 * Enrollment by race/ethnicity || 2010—2011: .6% American Indian, 9.4% Asian, 24.2% Black, 5.8% Hispanic, 58.1% White. || 2010-2011: .6% American Indian, 7.1% Asian, 13.5% Black, 4.5% Hispanic, 67.7% White. ||
 * Students performance on WKCE by race/ethnicity || Reading:
 * Student performance on WKCE by disabilities || Reading:
 * Student performance on WKCE by English proficiency || Not available || Not available ||

Summary According to the above table, my field two placement at Madison Elementary School has a mission statement that focuses on preparing students to succeed in their futures. Madison Elementary is in the Wauwatosa school district and is a city that it is not very diverse and is mostly of the Caucasian race. The school itself consists of just over half Caucasian students, about a quarter of African American students, and the last quarter is a mix of different kinds of races and ethnicities. When performing on the WKCE the whole student body, regardless of race and ethnicity, for the majority scored within the proficient and advanced areas. Over half the students with disabilities scored between basic and proficient on their WKCE test; while the majority of the students without disabilities scored between proficient and advanced. Information regarding student performance on the WKCE by English proficiency was not available. The table also shows the demographics of the students at my field three placement at Lake Bluff Elementary in Shorewood. The school’s mission statement focuses on making sure that all students are included and cared for. Shorewood is a smaller city than Wauwatosa but is also not very diverse with a mostly Caucasian population. The school itself is also mostly the Caucasian race with about a fifth of African American students and then mixed races for the rest. Regardless of race, the majority of students performed within the proficient and advanced range on the WKCE test. The majority of students with disabilities performed between the basic and proficient range. The majority of students without disabilities performed in the advanced area on the WKCE. Again, information regarding student performance on the WKCE by English proficiency was not available.


 * __Phase II:__**

Lake Bluff Elementary in Shorewood and Madison Elementary in Wauwatosa are two fantastic schools in the Milwaukee suburbs. They both are very similar in their student population when it comes down to diversity. They are both mostly Caucasian populated schools that have an open enrollment policy. They both cater to the needs of all religions and cultures by giving off for certain holidays and recognizing and accepting all different cultures and religions in their schools. Lake Bluff Elementary is a very respected school in the community. They thrive on parent involvement and keep communications between parents and staff open and often. Madison Elementary also has a strong parent base, but I feel that Lake Bluff parents are more involved in the school and different school events. Lake Bluff Elementary and Madison Elementary both have very strong special education programs. They both include lots of technology within their program, providing students with different smartboard activities, iPads, iTouchs, etc. While at both of these placements I was placed in a special education room. I have witnesses the special education programs in both Madison and Lake Bluff schools. After being at both of the schools, I feel like both programs are very similar and very strong, student-centered learning. Both schools believe in inclusion and have the staff and support to do so. At Lake Bluff they even have regular education students involved working with the special education students as peer buddies or helpers to help the students with special needs feel more included. Lake Bluff also does a really nice job in providing their special education students with social skills. Once a month, the special education teachers will take their students on a field trip where they will practice learning how to act in different public places, such as restaurants, and practice riding the bus along with other things. One thing that was nice in Madison Elementary was that they had a physical therapy room for their special education students. In this room, students were able to practice different fine motor and large motor skills with different specialists. Both, Madison Elementary and Lake Bluff Elementary, are very respected schools in suburban Milwaukee area. They both offer so many different kinds of learning opportunities for so many different kinds of students. They have so many active parents and involvement to help things move smoothly throughout the school. While both are mostly Caucasion, they both have so many other kinds of diversity and cultures within in their schools, which they all learn about and include in the different academic areas. I feel that both of these schools do an amazing job with their special education programs and with including different types of diversity and learning within their academics and social settings.


 * __Phase III:__**

During my placement at Lake Bluff elementary, I learned many different things about cultural proficiency, the achievement gap, and parent communication/involvement. To start, the parent communication and involvement is remarkable. The parents at this school are so involved with their children and are always there to help out whenever teachers need anything. Even in the time that I was there I saw different parents coming in and helping out throughout the school. The communication between the parents and teachers were also very strong. The students in the special education room had parents and teachers write in their assignments notebooks daily. As far as the cultural proficiency in the school it was also very strong. Although the school is mostly Caucasian, there are students of all different races and cultures in the school, as well. The school does a nice job incorporating different cultures into their every day lessons and to help make the students more diverse. The achievement gap amongst the students is the only thing that I think the school needs work on. I noticed in my time there the students that make up the special education room are primarily of different cultures other than Caucasian. I feel that the students that are having a harder time succeeding in school are generally different races and the school could work on closing the achievement gap more. All in all, I feel that my placement at Lake Bluff was very educational and helpful in my learning. The experience in the special education room was extremely interesting and taught me many new teaching strategies. Also, my placement in the general education room that was multiage room was very interesting because I have never seen or been a part of anything like that. The program that Lake Bluff has is a remarkable program.