School Case Study

Park Middle is located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and is one of two middle schools within the town. On average there are 930 students enrolled at Park over the past three years (See Appendix A, Table A1). Additionally, Scotch Plains’ population consists of 77.4% White citizens, but is also composed of 11.1% of African Americans, 7.7% Asian, and 6.7% Hispanic citizens (see Appendix B, Table B1). The town’s population is largely representative of the school’s demographics (see Appendix C, Graph C1). When referencing the school’s performance on district benchmarks and state testing, Park Middle School has met most of their established targets. However, even with most established targets met, certain subgroups are in need of further attention

Rancho Minerva Middle School (RMMS) is located in the rural area within the Vista Unified School District (VUSD). A major issue occurring at RMMS is corresponding to sixth to eighth grade male students being recipients of ineffective punishments as a result of their disruptive behavior. Students’ disruptive behavior refers to those who engage in altercations, disrupt teachers during instruction time, and become involved in substance use. The ramifications for students with disruptive behaviors are followed by disciplinary approaches such as expulsions, suspensions, Saturday school, and after school detention. Such approach has resulted in students achieving lower academics which can also increase the chances of engaging in risky behavior outside the school. According to RMMS School Accountability Report Card (SARC), in the 2014-2015 school year, RMMS reported 10.4% suspensions which demonstrated to be higher than the previous years. Additional factors that have had an effect on suspension rates are the limited in house services provided to this particular population at RMMS. Though RMMS does not have an appointed mental health provider or personnel to assist with mental health support on site, students are granted the opportunity to be referred to outside providers/therapist for counseling services. However, this has been a major limitation for our

Samuel was last enrolled this past school year full-time in the New Directions School at S.H. Clarke Academy. He was in the General Educational Development (GED) program. Prior to attending New Directions School, he attended Churchland High School as a 10th grader. He had numerous suspensions while at Churchland High School and was placed at New Directions as a result of continued behavioral issues.

Gulf Shores Middle School- On October, 22, 2015, the eighth grade students were taken, as a field trip, to Playhouse in the Park, to go and watch plays of Edgar Allan Poe poems for the mystery and suspense unit. The students were taken to see The Tell-Tale Heart, Ligeia, The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, The Cask of Amontillado performed by the kind people at Playhouse at the Park. They did this because they’re in the mystery and suspense unit, and they have been reading Edgar Allan Poe works, such as The Tell-Tell Heart. After the plays the students were expected to create think and answer questions about what differences were in the plays, and the original pieces of writing.

To ensure that children are safe, I need to develop a set of safety rules for students. effective

The stakeholders being students, teachers, and parents. Standard two; an educational leader promotes the success of every student by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. Educational leaders must create and maintain a culture which is conducive for learning. Standard three; an educational leader promotes the success of every student by ensuring management of organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment which means providing safety. Safety is crucial in a school, teachers cannot teach in an environment where they feel unprotected and students cannot learn. In today’s society school safety, has become more of a concern be it from those on the outside but more so from those who have access to the inside of our schools. Threats must be taken seriously especially with the increase of students with mental illness walking the halls of our schools. Standard four; an educational leader promotes the success of every student by collaborating with the faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interest and needs, and mobilizing

Much of the information obtained in the transition plan should come from the student. This is because in high school the student is fully aware of their interests. It is important to include students

Standard Element 3.3 addresses the need for policies and procedures in place to safeguard internal stakeholders. The ELCC 3.3 was a culmination of assigned readings, coursework, and an internship activity. The School Crisis Plan Evaluation internship activity involved using the Crisis Management Plan Checklist. The following Emergency Management Plan Checklist is adapted from the ERCM Technical Assistance Center, “Components of Comprehensive School and School Division Emergency Management Plans,” Helpful Hints for School Emergency Management, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 2007. In using this guide, I was able to develop a comprehensive School Crisis Plan for our school. The guide provide a checklist of components that our school that our school did not have, consequently, we addressed those components in the School Crisis plan. In addition, the Safety committee (Crisis Response team) prioritized the recommendations for revisions and addressed improvements to the School Crisis Plan. Although, I was familiar with the components necessary for a School Crisis plan in the United States, this activity broaden my knowledge on the necessity of having a School Crisis Plan on an international

As part of an upcoming assignment for the class, Conceptual Dimensions of Instructional Leadership, I conducted a safety audit of Southern Choctaw Elementary School from May 29 through May 31, 2018. The purpose was to assess the safety conditions within the school, identify and develop solutions for physical safety concerns, and identify and evaluate patterns of student safety concerns. Based on the results of the audit, it is my hope the principal will develop responses and solutions which may include recommendations for structural adjustments, changes to safety procedures, and/or revisions to the student code of conduct.

According to the article from The Boston Globe, Josh Goldenburg, a student at Boston University, suffers from double vision and balance problems after jumping out of his house when an unexpected fire started. Universities in the Boston area don’t provide enough on-campus housing for the amount of students they accept, leading to terrible off-campus living conditions. Students are living with sometimes up to 12 people, making the houses overcrowded and living in closed off front porches and dining rooms. The owners of the house make rent very expensive because they know the kids don’t have anywhere else to live. A lot of the houses haven’t had inspections in years, causing the houses to have dangerous safety hazards and in cases like Goldenburg’s,

It is the, “use of supplementary aids and services that cannot be achieved satisfactorily,” that needs to be determined when considering placement change to a non-traditional setting. As a district-wide system it is our mission to not only protect a student’s right to a “Free and Appropriate Public Education,” but to protect our district

Thousands of people are affected by the lack of school safety in schools across the nation. Students everywhere are attending schools that are more dangerous than expected. This is a growing concern everywhere, and schools need to improve, or else they are prone to being unsafe. Whether it is building, drill, concussion, social, or technology safety, schools need to improve to lower the risk of an incident.

During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and

a. Which of these models offers better support for the young adolescent learner? I think the Middle School model is best for the young adolescent learner. The middle school model pays close attention to emotional and learning development. This is a transitional time period for adolescent as they are just leaving elementary school and entering a new world with more independence and responsibility than before.

Our own educational people have testified that a suitable educational system at Little Rock cannot be maintained on an integrated basis. Why, then, should we even attempt to keep these schools open as public schools to blacks when, based upon this sworn testimony, they clearly do not meet our constitutional provisions for a suitable and efficient system of education? We have a perfect right to close these schools as public institutions, and once closed and found to be not needed for public purposes, the school board has the right and the authority under a law that has been on our statute books for 83 years, to lease these buildings and facilities to a bona fide private agency….