AlyssaA

=** PHASE 1 **=
 * || Field 2: Richards Elementary School || Field 3: Dean Elementary School ||
 * Mission and Goals of the School || Richard’s school focuses on a hands-on approach to learning to ensure that students have fun while learning.

Richards is very centered on collaborative team work and community.

The states that they are focused on ensuring that students leave Richards with positive memories. || The mission of Dean Elementary and the Brown Deer School District as a whole centers on creating a successful learning community.

The main focus is for students to be able to: adapt, thrive and excel in their lives now and to come. || Females: 7,161 (52%)
 * Demographics of the Community || Males: 6,613 (48%)

Estimated median household income in 2009: $101,934

White alone: 12,402 (90.6%) Asian alone: 622 (4.5%) Black alone: 266 (1.9%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: 208 (1.5%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Two or more races: 143 (1.0%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Other race alone: 42 (0.3%) || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Males: 5,755 (47.6%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Females: 6,332 (52.4%)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Estimated median household income in 2009: $58, 477

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">White alone: 8,021 (67.0%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Black alone: 2,904 (24.3%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Asian alone: 692 (5.8%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: 222 (1.9%) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Two or more races: 135 (1.1% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Asian: 4.4% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Black: 3.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: 3.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Pacific Isle: 0.1% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">White: 80.0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Two or More: 3.1% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">American Indian: 0.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Asian: 10.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Black: 40.6% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: 5.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Pacific Isle: 0.2% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">White: 34.0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Two or More: 7.9% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Black/Non-Hispanic: Min Perf- 3.4% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 13.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 51.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 31% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: n/a <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">White Not Hispanic: Min Perf- 1.2% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic: 1.2% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient: 24.4% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 72.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Combined Groups: Min Perf- 3.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 3.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 33.3% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced: 59.3% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Asian/Pacific Islander: n/a <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Black/ Non-Hispanic: Min Perf- 4.9% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 18.5% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 40.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 35.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Hispanic: n/a <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">White/ Non-Hispanic: Min Perf- 0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 9% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 43.3% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 47.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Combined Groups: Min Perf- 0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 10.5% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 42.1% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 47.4% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 10% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 40% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 30% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Students without disabilities: Min Perf- 0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 1.8% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 26.5% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 71.7% || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Students with Disabilities: Min Perf- 2.9% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 37.1% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 51.4% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 8.6% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Students without disabilities:Min Perf- 2.1% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 8.5% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 40.4% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 48.9% ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif; text-align: center;">Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">American Indian: 0.3%
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif; text-align: center;">Student Performance on WKCE by Race/Ethnicity || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Asian/Pacific Islander: n/a
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif; text-align: center;">Student Performance on WKCE by Disabilities || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Students with Disabilities: Min Perf- 16.7%
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif; text-align: center;">Student Performance on WKCE by English Proficiency || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Limited English Proficient: Enrolled in tested grades at test time: 8

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">English Proficient: Enrolled in tested grade at test time: 294

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">No other test data available // || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Limited English Proficient: Min Perf- 0% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 20% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 60% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 20% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">English Proficient: Min Perf- 2.5% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Basic- 13.7% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Proficient- 41% <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;"> Advanced- 42.9% ||
 * The diversity of Dean Elementary has increased at a steady pace since the 1995-1996 school year.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The diversity of Richards Elementary has not changed much since the 1995-1996 school year. The school consists of mainly White students.
 * The amount of students with disabilities at Dean Elementary has stayed fairly even throughout the past 8 years. The greatest number of students with disabilities within the school population was during the 2007-2008 school year.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-align: center;">The population of students with disabilities is much lower on average (Richards Highest Percetage- 10.3%/ Dean Elementary Highest Percentage- 17.6%) at Richards Elementary than at Dean Elementary.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">In the 2010-1011 school year, Dean Elementary reached its highest percentage of students with an economic disadvantage at 35.4%.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Richards Elementary has 0% of students at an economic disadvantage since the 2000-2001 school year.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-align: center;">During the 2010-2011 school year, Dean Elementary had the least amount of English Proficient students in 10 years.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Richards Elementary School has had less than 4% of students who were Less than English Proficient in the past 10 years.

=**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">PHASE 2 **= The demographics differ quite a bit between Dean Elementary and Richards Elementary. The biggest gap lays between the percentages of white students enrolled at Richards versus those at Dean- a difference of 23%. Richards, being a school in the district of Whitefish Bay where the estimated annual income is upwards of $100,000, doesn’t show much diversity. With only 9.4% of the population left for ethnic diversity, the students who are of Asian ethnicity take up half of that. Dean is a school in a suburban setting, like Richards, but with more of an urban atmosphere. Many of the students have transferred to Dean from the Milwaukee Public School District. Families in the neighborhood of Dean have an estimated income of about half that of Whitefish Bay at $58,477. Although Dean Elementary is still predominately white, there is still much more room for diversity.

Having experience at both of these schools, I haven’t seen much difference in the way students are treated or the way lessons are taught. I have been lucky enough to be placed in such open-minded schools. By looking at the statistics, it seems as though there would be more focus on cultural diversity and respect at Dean as opposed to Richards. I however, feel that the reality is the opposite. When I was spending time at Richards I saw a lot of focus on diversity- right down to the crayons the students used to color skin types. At Dean, I haven’t witnessed much focus on cultural diversity. This could be because Dean already is pretty culturally diverse so the lessons are right there in front of them every day. Either way, both schools are very accepting of all who enter their hallways and make an effort to show that everyone is equal and valued.

I didn’t get to spend much time with parents at Richards. The extent of that time was spent in parent-teacher conferences for a few hours. With that observation, I didn’t note any specific race or ethnicity seeming more or less involved in the conference. Like I said before, all of the people who I encountered at Richards were very open-minded. As for Dean, I have been able to see the interactions between parents and their children a little more. This is because I am working in a special education classroom, and parents often have to stop in for IEP meetings or to discuss behavior in general. My experience has been very similar to that of Richards. Each of the parents that I have come in contact with are very understanding of what my cooperating teacher is saying and they are willing to work with their child to strengthen their behavior and performance.

By looking at the achievement test scores of both Richards and Dean, the only significant difference that I have seen is between the scores of students who are White/Non-Hispanic at both schools. The students who fall under White/Non-Hispanic at Richards score in the Advanced level in the WKCE more than any other category. The White/Non-Hispanic students at Richards who are scoring in the Advanced level is about 30% higher than those in the same category at dean. Overall however, the rest of the WKCE scores are very similar between the two schools.

I haven’t seen much 21st century skills integrated into the curriculum in either of the two schools. The highest level of technology that I observed was the use of a smart board at Richards Elementary and the use of a scan tron test at Dean Elementary. There were computer labs available at both schools, but neither of the classes I observed took advantage of them during the time I was present.

I believe that students at both schools are pretty equally culturally competent. Each school shows a high level of understanding and advocacy for their students who use special education services. In my clinical experience at Richards, I witnessed the relationship between a boy with severe cognitive disabilities and his general education classmates. This clearly was a relationship that taught cultural competency. The students were in school together from kindergarten on and were currently in fourth grade. The way the students handled the student was truly amazing. Having a paraprofessional in the room was even unnecessary at some points because the students knew exactly how to take care of him and how to help him express himself. At Dean Elementary, there is a clear bond between students as well. The most obvious one I see is that sometimes students from the general education population will hang out during a break time in the special education room. They know that it is a safe place to be and that all students are accepted equally in that room.

Although there are students at both schools with limited English proficiency, I have not been able to observe any of these students at either of my placements. However, by looking at the test scores from the WINSS website, both schools showed that the majority of their students who were ESL scored at the proficient level.

I was lucky enough to spend time at Richards during their social studies class time so I was able to see a lot of different current events and historical issues getting some focus. The students, like most other fourth graders, were studying Wisconsin while I was working with them. They had to go all the way from the earliest times of Wisconsin as a state to the most current events and elections. At Dean, however, I am working with the students during their English Language Arts periods and don’t get to see much in the way of country or world events.

=PHASE 3= <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> In my current field placement, I have experienced a lot of situations that are much different from those I have been exposed to in past field placements. I spent some time at a school in the Milwaukee Public School District, where I witnessed a lot of difficult family situations. With these family structures, I noticed that there were a lot of students not receiving the important at home instruction and needed outside support. This experience was important because it allowed me to be able to open my eyes and see the bigger picture when looking at a student and their situation. At Dean Elementary, I have noticed many of the same trends that I did at the MPS school. There are a lot of student who aren’t getting the much needs support at home and who aren’t performing well in school. The fact that is rather shocking to me, however, is that these are students who are living with their birth parents. These are students who are in a more “traditional” family structure. I say this because I have noticed that students who are currently in foster care at Dean are getting support at home and are doing things like reading for time and working through flashcards. It both makes me happy and saddens me that this is the situation that I have been observing. I think it is great that there are foster parents out there who are truly doing their best to make their foster childrens’ lives more promising. However, it is very sad that many “real” parents are paying the necessary attention to their children and their education. Of course, this could be for any number of reasons, but regardless, it is very sad.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> As for cultural proficiency, I believe that Dean is more than proficient. There are students of all races and ethnicities as well as student with all types of different backgrounds. This proficiency spans not only across this typical race differences, but across areas like students with disabilities and gifted students. In the special education room where I am doing my clinical experience, I have noticed a great deal of acceptance and community. There are students who are not in special education who come in and out of the special education room to just hang out or get some extra help or quiet time. Many students even choose to have their recess in doors with special education students who are on break. This shows that the students have been brought up through the grades to treat everyone with the respect that they deserve. Aside from the community between general and special education students, there is a great deal of unity between students with racial and ethnic differences. During my time at Dean, I have yet to see a time when students are grouped together in cliques by race and have not seen or heard anything that I would deem unwelcoming or inappropriate. The 4th grade room that I am working in has been working on an Immigration to America project where they need to put themselves in the shoes of families coming to America. The students have shown a great deal of empathy for the struggles that people of different races had to go through and still go through today. <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In regards to the achievement gap, Dean is pretty well-rounded with student achievement.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Students perform pretty similarly across race and ethnicity on the WKCE test. The main gap is between students who are categorized as White/Non-Hispanic and students who are Black/Non-Hispanic in the Advanced range. White students who performed in the advanced range was 19% higher than African-American students who performed in the advanced range. I have been see teachers paying much more attention to the standards, especially in the area of math. The teachers have analyzed outcomes from the WKCE test and are working towards closing that gap and focusing on areas more strenuously when necessary.