Context of the Classroom and School Community

The school I analyzed was Greenbay Elementary School, which is located in North Chicago, Illinois. The district is North Chicago SD 187, grades: K through 5. I choose this school because I plan to work at this school once I have obtained my teaching certificate, or in this district.

At this school the majority of the students are Hispanic with 47.4 %, followed by Black with 45.3%, White 4.3%, Asian/Pacific Islander 2.1% and Multi racial/ethnic 0.9%. It was interesting to compared these racial statistics to the state, the majority of the racial background was white 53.3%, next is Hispanic 20.8% and then Black 19.1%. Considering the ethnic make up of the school, the English proficient rate is 16.7% compared to the 8.0% state rate. The average class size (as of the first school day in May) Kindergarten: 18.0, Grade 1: 15.3, Grade 2: 18.5, Grade 3: 15.3, Grade 4: 19.5, and Grade 5: 18.7. On the school report card there was no information regarding a special education program. But, while I was observing in the school I was able to experience a 3-4 grade self contained special education class. There were only three other special education classrooms at the school, most of the special ed. students are included in the mainstream classroom. The one rate that caught my eye was the Attendance rate 94.3%, which is high considering the state of Illinois only requires 93.7% for non high school. The mobility rate is 22.1% which indicates the number of times students enroll in or leave a school during the school year. The low income rate is very high at this school with 84.8% compared to the state which is 42.9%. Low income means students that come from a family receiving public aid, or eligible to receive free/ or reduced price lunch. The second rate that caught my eye, and I felt was the most important was Parental Contact, which is 100 percent compared to the state which is 96.7%.

In this district the teachers consist of 67.0% White, 22.6% Black, 8.1% Hispanic, and 1.4% Asian/ Pacific Islander. The teacher’s population is 71.6% female, and 28.4% male. The average teacher salary in the district is $57,999 compared to the states $61,402. The average teacher experience is 12.7 years. The percent of teachers with Bachelor’s Degree is 51.9% with in the district. One shocking percent was the number of classes not taught by highly qualified teachers was 14.3 compared to the states 1.2%.

The Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) is a test administered to students in grades 3 through 8. The grade I was interested in was grade 3, because I plan to teach grade 1 or 2 and I would be responsible for teaching my students the necessities for the ISAT. The reading score for 2008-2009 was 38.5% which has decreased from the previous years which was 46.6%, these scores show the percentage of the students who met and exceeded the standards of the test. The mathematic scores for 2008-2009 were 57.7% and had gone down from the previous year of 58.6%. The gender comparison for reading and mathematics was similar because the statistics showed more males failed to meet the standards in both then females, where more females passed both subjects then males. Both of these scores for Reading and Mathematics were extremely low compared to the state scores.

The classroom I observes in is 75% African American and 25% Hispanic (Mexican), the class is almost evenly split between boys and girls. The students in the class all differ in their strengths and weaknesses, but the majority of the class is on the same track. There are two boys who are going through testing for a learning disability. One students was going through the process while I observed in October, but when I started observing in January his parents were going through conferences to discuss where the best placement would be appropriate for him. The other boy is still going through testing because he was held behind once before, and now he is still struggling so the teacher has become worried and he is being monitored by specialists. There are 8 Hispanic children in the class, their first language is Spanish and it is reinforced at home because most of their parents speak little to no English. Most of the students do well with English, but one girl struggles with speaking English. She is taken out of class daily where she practices reading out loud to a teachers assistant, the teacher give her a lot of praise when she ask question or gets involved with discussions. Ms. Marron, has communicated with her parents to remind her to speak English and watch English cartoons; to help her practice English.

I believe all of the students have strengths and talents, but there are a few students who succeed in many different ways in the classroom. I think this is due to the support and reinforcement the students have at home, because you can learn a lot at school, but if you have no support at home to help you practice, then you will see the difference between the students that have support and student who do not.

The culture of the classroom and school is low in social economic status, and this is due to the community the school is in; which is not a safe area. In this area most kids do not get past high school and if they do, they are superior to the rest. The community is half African American and half Hispanic. Most teachers would look past this district due to the community that surrounds the school, but I believe this is where the most help is needed, and this is the school I would like to teach at once I obtain my Bachelor’s degree. Even though the community isn’t the best, to the most part the family support is good, but there are some families that do not help with their child’s school work. Ms. Marron discussed with me how she spoke with a student’s mother because the homework that was being handed was unsatisfactory, and it was clear the student wasn’t receiving any kind of guidance, but the mother continued to say “I help him”. When Ms. Marron told me this, it made me think how important it is to get across to the parents and how vital they are to the success of their child’s academics. As I was observing I began to notice most of the students guardians were single mothers, grandparents and or mother and father. I thought this was good to know because then you consider how much assistance the students were receiving at home, some students are looked after by an older brother or sister because their parents work nights.

The behavior of the classroom is alright, but sometimes the students get out of control. Most students come to school because it is the most structured environment they know. Some families have no structure or discipline and usually those are the students that act out or the students who follow directions, it all depends on the child. Since I have been observing at the school, I would say this is one thing they need to consider fixing. When I ate with the students in the lunch room, it was a total disaster, teachers were yelling at the top of their lungs to control the kids, it was pretty sad to see. I believe that teachers can only threaten to call the parents so much, and then it is in the hands of the parents.

Therefore, I felt that some teachers may look past this school due to the results on the ISAT, also the diversity in the school and community. I personally would like to be involved in helping the students improve their scores, and I don’t think people should look past a school because of the low income rate or diversity of the students. In conclusion, the school needs to make certain changes to meet the standards of the state and to make sure there is support for the children because of the community that surrounds them.