Grade Level Or Perform Basic Math Operations

I teach first grade at Lowe Elementary School; my class is made up of twenty-four very diverse seven year-olds; they come from all over the city of Louisville, from a variety of socio-economic situations. Each student brings a unique personality to our classroom community, and they all work hard to become “smarter and smarter” and to “go to college”. Thirteen students are boys and eleven are girls. Of these twenty-four students, three of them are English Language Learners. Additionally, eight students receive tier two interventions and two receive tier three interventions in reading. In math, five students are tier two and four are tier three. I also teach one student who receives ECE services for a developmental delay. Within my class there is a wide achievement gap.

Our class is always in chaos in the mornings. The boys compare what they have for breakfast today and discuss last night’s baseball game play by play, while the girls get together and share a bit of gossip they heard last night and begin to make plans for the weekend. Today was no exception. Just as the tardy bell rings, I sit in my seat at the corner of the room and notice that Kaylin, who sits behind me, is crying. Her face is red and blotchy and she is staring at her phone. I choose to act like I do not notice, because it must have been a rough morning and I would not want anyone bothering me if I were in her position. Then Abbie, who sits in the desk beside Kaylin, comes in a few minutes late, also crying. Lauren and I exchange confused glances, and I suddenly realize our teacher, Mrs. Hendrix, isn’t in the room. How strange, I think to myself, she is almost always here to greet us when we walk in the

Channelview ISD, the district in which I was raised and currently teach, is considered a low demographic district with a high population of at-risk, economically disadvantaged and special education students. The TAPR results exhibit a clear correlation between the demographics of the school and their performance results. Results vary sporadically and show clear indicators of differences amongst demographic factors such as grade, gender, race, economic level, language capabilities and intelligence level, however, some factors influence test results more than others. Grade, intelligence level and language capabilities prove to be the main factors in the gaps between the percent of the state that were at Level II Satisfactory or Above and district percentage results. Also analyzed were the percentages of students who were at Postsecondary Readiness and Advanced and lastly and analysis on what percent of students made progress and exceeded progress as well as identifying which students performed well and

During the last couple of years, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have gone through many difficulties; ranging from teacher strikes to low funding, which has tremendously taken a toll on the students attending these schools. The Illinois Policy Institute, which writes to inform the public of issues affecting Illinois states, “Seventy-five percent of students at the lowest-performing elementary schools failed to meet standards on state exams. More than 20 percent of these students scored in the lowest category in reading, meaning they have a difficult time determining the main idea of a persuasive essay or the plot of a short story…Students at Chicago’s lowest-performing high schools drop out at nearly 12 times the rate of average Illinois

I attended school regularly, associating myself with the same group of friends. Social statues were not yet established at such a young age, although there was one girl in my class named Shanese who nobody ever seemed to associate themselves with. She was new to the school; quiet, unobtrusive and she always seemed to have a melancholy attitude. Similarly to many other students in the class, I disregarded Shanese and continued with my normal activities until one day when I decided to pursue my curiosity about this discreet girl. It was time for recess, and I told my other friends to go to the swings without me. Instead of following them, I made an effort to introduce myself to Shanese and invite her to the see-saw with me. She agreed, with a seemingly uncertain response, most likely because nobody had ever approached her in such a way. As we silently made our way through the tire pellets to

Education is a necessity in order to have the expertise needed to successfully perform in today’s society. It allows us to process new information and make deductions on a daily basis. In particular, grade school education is exceptionally important for proper human development. It provides children with the basic foundation for education and knowledge. Over the course of many years, it has become apparent that there are several disparities within early education. According to The New York Times Magazine, children who are minorities or who live in poor neighborhoods are more likely to attend schools that are lacking necessities compared to children who are not minorities or who live in rich neighborhoods. This disparity in education

Those who are currently teaching are required to take a course called Rethinking Equity and Teaching English Language Learners (RETELL) or Secondary English Language (SEI) course so they can be better prepared to teach the students of other primary languages. The data from the ELL students in the three districts are more dramatic than percentages of students with disabilities. Compared to Norwood and Brockton’s ELL student population, Monson only had 7 ELL students in their district in 2016. When comparing the ELA, math, and science scores for all three towns, Monson didn’t even have sufficient data to record. Norwood and Brockton however, had interesting data to compare. In ELA, Norwood scored higher than Brockton with a percentage of 41 and Brockton at 13 percent for students who performed with high proficiency. In math, Norwood had a 40 percent higher academic standing, whereas Brockton only had 15 percent. Both Monson and Brockton ELL students performed below the achievement gap goal with negative scores. Norwood, however, performed above the state level for all three subjects. There was no data found in the scoring of ELL students in Monson for MCAS scores. Out of the 5th grade ELL students in Norwood, who participated in the MCAS, 6 scored in above average, 31 percent scored in proficient, 50 percent scored needs improvement, and 13 percent scored as failing.

I have been working for the district for 4 years now and have noticed countless issues relating to student achievement. The district is not considered low perfuming, but rather has scored above average in numerous grade levels on the NJASK and PARCC assessments over the past years. The special-education population has been increasing rapidly, and the declining total population is on a declining trend. The upcoming 5th grade class is anticipated to have 67 students with 24 being classified with an IEP or 504 plans. This is the highest percentage in one particular grade level the school has seen. The current 8th grade class is 74 students with 22 students being classified with an IEP or 504 plan. The total special education population of the district is just over 20 percent and is anticipated to increase next year. One of the problems that arise is that the basic skills program has not been implemented for the past 5 years. The district claims that there is a program that is provided for students in kindergarten to 8th grade. We have teachers that are considered basic skills teachers, but are often pulled to serve as

In Detroit, for the academic year of 2014-15, only 17.2 percent of all 8th grade students scored proficient in reading and only 6.9 percent of all 8th grade students scored proficient in mathematics (“Annual education report Detroit city school district M-STEP grades 3-8,” 2016). This is compared to an annual

[Introduction] Extra recess, free choice, no computer lab —to much spark time. The elementary school I was visiting is one of the best schools in one of the best School District in Arizona, rated both with an A, the maximum educational quality level for a school. “All the schools in this District are same good…” I remember the words of the Principal during the school tour. I felt so satisfied, I was on the right path looking for the best public school for my family, moving from Colorado. But where was the art class? where was the gym equipment? where were the instruments at the music class? why there were so many tables in the classroom.? For a person who cares about children’s education there are so many questions

I like how you mentioned that we can help student’s see that just because they don’t understand something, does not mean they never will. I feel that your quote is a powerful sentence to comprehend. I was a victim to a fixed mindset in Math starting in middle school. I thought that I would learn more every year in school until I hit 6th grade Math.

During the 2013-2014 school year, 63% of students were two or more years below grade level in ELA. These students demonstrated the need for additional support in reading comprehension in order to effectively analyze data. In addition, 17% of students had at least three of the following risks factors: 1) two or more years over age for grade level, 2) chronically absent, 3) two or more years partially proficient in ELA. In obtaining the school’s instructional goals, the most compelling achievement gaps are found in male students who are Black and have disabilities. The purpose of this

Although it is notorious that children acquire knowledge at different rate, the school system insists on labeling the children who “they claim” are underachievers and often place them in lower level classes. As mentioned earlier, my younger child did not converse before 3 years of age. The majority of children communicates in full sentences at a much younger age; but from our experience, when a child start to speak will not determine how smart they will be. At schools, the educators expect to have 25 children progressing at similar rates. Some schools have accelerated classes, but fail to move students in a regular basis as their skill improve.

The school is known having a diverse student body, and the curriculum taught to the students is equally diverse. Their Ingenuity Program is top-notch, targeting gifted students in the STEM fields before they reach middle school and funneling them into high-level math and science courses. The students in mandatory after-school tutoring, however, are not the Ingenuity students. These are the students, like Keyshawn, who are struggling to maintain passing grades in standard-level classes. Students like Keyshawn are not told they can handle high-school level math in seventh grade. Instead, they are saddled with assignments that suggest housekeeping is the maximum amount of success they can

Equally, “Cognitive and noncognitive skills are least developed among those with the lowest socioeconomic status and sharply increase as one ascends the socioeconomic ladder.” Additionally, children of affluent families test higher than students who haven’t participated in preschool education or engaged in equal amounts of developmental play time and literacy activities with adults. Programs and policies must account for the fact that schools and teachers serve students who do not start school on equal terms. Not only, are children not prepared to learn when they enter school, but they are inevitably living in a community with schools that have little resources from a lack of funding. American culture depends on its families to nurture its children and for schools to level the playing field for children born into disadvantaged circumstances. Schools must be expected to provide an environment that bridges