Katie+L

=Phase I: Matrix of Data on Woodlands and Nicolet=

=Phase II: Narrative Comparison of Multiculturalism in Woodlands and Nicolet=
 * || Woodlands Charter School (Field II) || Nicolet High School (Field III) ||
 * Mission and goal of the school || Woodlands focuses on “Time for Living” standards which emphasize responsibility towards self, others, and the community (Woodlands School, Guiding Principles). The school also seeks to define its teaching model and implement it in charter schools throughout the country (Woodlands School, Principal’s Message). || Nicolet’s mission revolves around respect and creating a strong learning community that includes the families of students and utilizes contemporary teaching methods and technology(Nicolet High School). ||
 * Demographics of the community || Zip code 53214: This community is primarily white with 2% African Americans 1% American Indians and 5% other. I would consider this community to be lower-middle class with a little over 40% of the families make between $50 and $100 thousand per year and about 24% are making below $30 thousand. Less than 5% make more than $100 thousand (Maps, 53214). || Zip code 53217: This community is also primarily white with a slightly larger African American population at nearly 3% and less than 5% of other ethnicities. When it comes to financial status, a much higher percentage (45%) of families make over $100 thousand per year and less than 21% make under $50 thousand (Maps, 53217). ||
 * Enrollment by race/ethnicity || In the 2010-2011 school year, Woodlands hosted about 40% white students, about 30% black, 20% Hispanic, slightly less than 10% students of two or more ethnicities, and less than 3% Asian students (Evers, Woodlands, Enrollment by Student Groups). The racial percentages of enrollment do not match that of the community because Woodland’s is a charter school. || In the 2010-2011 school year, over 60% of Nicolet’s students were white. About 20% were black, over 5% were Hispanic, about 5% were of two or more ethnicities, and about %5 were Asian. Also, a small percentage were American Indian (Evers, Nicolet, Student Groups). These numbers come closer to matching the ethnic percentages of the community than Woodland’s numbers did. ||
 * Student performance on WKCE by race || The information on Woodlands’ students’ WKCE performance was not available according to race (Evers, Woodlands, State Tests). || Close to 70% of Nicolet’s 175 white students scored advanced on the WKCE tests in 2010. 25% of the 59 black students scored advanced and 75% of the 20 Asian students scored advanced (Evers, Nicolet, State Tests). This indicates a lack in meeting the needs of the black student population. ||
 * Student performance on WKCE by disabilities || 50% of Woodland’s 8th grade students with disabilities scored advanced on the WKCE tests in 2010. About 17% scored proficient and about 33% scored basic. No 8th grade students with disabilities scored below basic on the WKCE tests (Evers, Woodlands, State Tests). || About 30% of the 37 students with disabilities scored advances and about 30% scored basic. The remaining students with disabilities were split evenly below basic or proficient (Evers, Nicolet, State Tests). ||
 * Student performance on WKCE by English proficiency || There was no information available on students’ with limited English proficiency test scores. || Of the six students with limited English proficiency enrolled at Nicolet, two scored below basic, two scored basic, one scored proficient, and one scored proficient on the WKCE tests in 2010 (Evers, Nicolet, State Tests). ||

As is made evident from the WINNS data and analysis, Woodlands Charter School and Nicolet High School are fairly different when it comes to the diversity in racial and socioeconomic status. Nicolet hosts a majority of students who come from white, middle or upper-class homes while, Woodlands serves a very diverse mix of students. This change in demographics has made my clinical at Nicolet very interesting in regards to how multiculturalism is maintained in the classroom.

On Monday, March 19, 2012, I interviewed my co-op, Patti Ziementz, about multiculturalism in her classroom at Nicolet High School. She started by saying that she knows there are students more well-off than she is and there are students who come from less well-off families than she. In regards to socioeconomic status, she feels in the middle (Patti Ziementz, personal communication, March 19, 2012). She expressed feeling the greatest difference between herself and the students who are African-American; however, she said that a few years ago she worked with a paraprofessional who is African-American and she asked him for advice on how to communicate best with students who are African-American. He said to her, “If you’re a good teacher, than you’re a good teacher for everyone,” implying that she should not have to communicate differently with students who come from a different background than she; if she’s a good teacher, she would naturally be able to reach all of her students. Ms. Ziementz integrates a variety of cultures into her curriculum by giving her students choice when it comes to projects. Just recently she finished up a 9th grade poetry unit with a poetry slam. For the activity, the students were allowed to pick their own poem and perform it for the whole class. By allowing them to pick a poem, she believes they will bring their own culture into the classroom. During her short story unit she gives her students the option of suggesting a short story that everyone should read. This too allows for the students to bring their own culture into the classroom. She also said that whenever she teacher To Kill a Mockingbird or any other material that might contain something offensive like the N-word, she always begins with a discussion that warns the students something offensive is coming and explains the significance of it (Patti Ziementz, personal communication, March 19, 2012).

From what I remember about my placement at Woodlands Charter School, my co-op, Mrs. M’s, room was much more visually multi-cultural than Ms. Ziementz ‘s room. Mrs. M’s room was covered in artwork from around the world, contained a border with flags from every country, and had multiple bookshelves that were filled to the brim with books representing many different cultures. In contrast, Ms. Ziementz’s classroom contains a variety of student artwork but nothing that clearly represents a culture, and she does not have such an extensive library of multicultural literature; the books in her classroom are mainly class material. I think it is easier for Mrs. M to make her classroom more multicultural because she is surrounded by a wide range of cultures in her students. Ms. Ziementz also has students from different cultures, but the amount of minority students is not as great so she is not as pressed to really focus on multiculturalism.

=Phase III: Reflection= = = As a future teacher, my goal is to help students learn as much as possible so that they can get good grades and graduate with a great chance of going on to higher education. The sad truth is, no matter how spectacular of a teacher I am, I am not the only factor in student achievement. This semester my placement at Nicolet High School, a noticeably affluent school, pitted up against my internship at Green Tree Community Learning Center, a center that serves a population in low-income housing, has revealed to me how greatly student learning can be affected by parent involvement as well as financial situations.

Most of the students at Nicolet come from high-income homes and many students have parents who frequently communicate with the teachers there. My cooperating teacher has told me many stories of parent involvement within the school. She has one student who has all of his teachers initial a slip saying that his homework was completed and turned in on time. He does this because his father wants to make sure that he stays on track. This level of involvement is not unusual at Nicolet high school and it is clear that it positively affects student achievement. In my observation I have heard many students say things like, “I hope I got a good grade so my parents will be happy.” The high WKCE test scores at Nicolet suggest that parental involvement does play a very important role in education.

At Green Tree, it is even clearer how strongly parental involvement affects student achievement. The students who have parents who are involved in their education tend to get much better grades than the students who do not. It is also true that when a student’s parent is going to school him or herself, the student’s quality of work improves. Unfortunately we also see many students who do not have parents who are involved suffer academically. The only consolation is the few students who manage to motivate themselves to achieve high grades despite their parents’ lack of involvement.

The achievement gap that poverty creates is very apparent when I compare my placement at Nicolet to my internship at Green Tree. Although there is a mix of students who are high-achievers and students who struggle in both settings, the overall difference is striking and sad. I know that when I teach, I cannot blame myself totally for low student achievement; I still have to do my best to fill that achievement gap. That is the reason I want to teach.

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