Jocelyn_Ritger


 * School Profile- Data Collection Process (Phase 1)**
 * Profile School:** Madison Elementary
 * District:** Wauwatosa

Wauwatosa is a suburb located just west of Milwaukee. It covers 13.1 square miles and offers quick access to major freeways and the city of Milwaukee. It is home to several big corporations, including Harley Davidson, Mayfair Mall, and the Wisconsin Regional Medical Center. Of the 47,000 people who live there, 47.5 percent have earned a college degree. The average sale price of a single-family home in Wauwatosa in 2006 was $244,000. The city calls itself diverse, and it's mission is to “provide services that are essential or that enhance the quality of life in the community, all in ways that are efficient, effective, and affordable.”
 * Community Information:**

The mission statement of the Wauwatosa public schools, which includes Madison Elementary, states: “United with the parents and the community, the Wauwatosa School District delivers an outstanding education that equips and inspires our students to conquer their challenges now and in the future.” Language arts appears to be a big priority for the district as well, reflected in the fact that the official district focus for the 2009-2010 school year is 'reading'.
 * Mission and Goals of School: **

This graph shows that Madison Elementary's student body has been growing increasingly diverse over the years. As of the 2008-2009 school year, almost 40% of students were of a race/ethnicity other than white.
 * Student Demographics**

This graph shows that about 15% of students at Madison Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Although this number took a significant jump between the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years, it has remained relatively steady for the past three years.


 * Student Performance**

This is an interesting graph because it shows that the percentage of fourth grade students who met the 'proficient' or 'advanced' benchmark on the WKCE test for reading in 2008 was at the lowest level reported since 1997.

This graph shows that 90% of fourth grade students scored in the 'proficient' or 'advanced' categories on the WKCE in 2008 for social studies. This was the highest scoring subject for Madison Elementary in 2008. Despite the fact that 2008 claimed the lowest social studies score in three years, social studies seems to be a consistently strong subject area, evidenced by 90 % or more of students meeting the 'proficient' or 'advanced' benchmark for eight out of the past twelve years.


 * Teacher Qualifications**

This graph shows the percentage of elementary teachers who have five or more years of teaching experience. One thing to note is the disparity between the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years. In 2007-2008, 80% of teachers at the elementary level had at least five years of experience. In 2008-2009, percentage of teachers with five or more years of experience dropped to just over 50%, most likely reflecting a large number of new teachers.

This graph displays the percentage of elementary teachers with a Masters degree or higher. In 2008-2009, approximately 30% of teachers had obtained this higher degree. This percentage has consistently decreased in the last three years, and is at the lowest level since the earliest available year there is data for (2002-2003).


 * Student Attendance, Behavior, or Graduation Rates**

This graph show the attendance rate for Madison Elementary School. Attendance has remained fairly steady over the last 12 years. In 2007-2008, the average attendance rate was just over 95% of students.

City of Wauwatosa website: __ [|www.wauwatosa.net] __ Wauwatosa School District website: __ [|www.wauwatosaschools.org] __ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website, WINSS Successful School Guide: __ [|www.dpi.state.wi.us/sig] __
 * Sources:**

**School Profile- Data Collection Process (Phase 2)**

//As you walk through the school, what evidence do you see that the school practices culturally responsive practices? //

Walking through the school, one will notice that the student body is fairly diverse. Although white students account for the largest percentage of the population, there are many other races and ethnicities present, including students of African American, Hispanic, and Asian descent.

The school also emphasizes tolerance. They have a program called Six Pillars, which focuses on a different value each month. A monthly assembly introduces the highlighted value through a skit, song, or story. Then classes who best exhibit the chosen value are awarded traveling trophies from the specials teachers.

In addition to diverse pupils and a school wide tolerance program, multicultural curriculum is taught as well. Based on what my clinical teacher told me, first graders learn about and celebrate the holidays of students in their class, multiple grades do country or culture studies (third grade just finished a unit on Japan), and her fourth grade class studies Native Americans and lets students share their knowledge of a second language.

//In your classroom, how are issues of race, class, and culture addressed?//

The classroom I am in has a very diverse group of students from many different backgrounds. Multiple races and ethnicities are represented, just like the whole school.

Students are seated in heterogeneous groups of four to six students. Much work is done with table teams or partners, so an effort at community building is being made. Students must also work as a team during transitions, when the teacher gives a point to the table who is ready first. I have not seen many examples of race, class, or culture being addressed in lessons during the time that I have been there, other than reading multicultural stories from the basal reader. The class does learn about Native Americans, though to what extent, I do not know. The teacher also said that if she has a student who is bilingual,she'll often ask then to share their language's version of an English word they are learning about.

On the curriculum and instruction rubric, I would rate my clinical classroom between “culturally blind” and “culturally precompetent.” I think she values diversity and is making a little effort to be multicultural, yet she has no specific plans in place for a culturally responsive curriculum or classroom. Some of what she is doing is just part of a prepackaged curriculum (such as learning about Native Americans from their Wisconsin history textbook). She has a ways to go before she is “culturally proficient.”

//Look at the adolescent literature in your classroom or the school library. How well does it represent multiple cultures? Does it represent the cultures of the students who attend the school? How is the issue of multicultural representation addressed in the book selection process?//

One thing I noticed about the classroom's library is a lack of diversity. There are a sufficient number of books and a wide variety of genres, but the majority of books portray white main characters. (Think //Boxcar Children, Little House on the Prairie, Junie B. Jones, Babysitter's Club, //and //Magic Treehouse // series). For the diversity of students in the classroom, it is not reflected in the children's books. On top of that, a lot of the reading material is outdated. I found magazines from 1996- that's before students were even born! There were no books from current popular series, even though that's what kids were reading on their own. Even though students are always reading, but I have not seen the classroom library heavily utilized. I speculate it is because of these reasons.


 * School Profile- Discussion of Findings (Phase 3)**

One thing I discovered at my clinical that delighted me was the general attitudes of the students towards a peer with special needs. The kids are so kind and really care deeply about this young girl. She is not in the classroom the entire day, but when she is, the students act so mature. They speak in a gentle voice and encourage and guide her. From helping her get out the right materials to reminding her to be quiet when the teacher is talking, they really watch out for her. A few days ago, the students were playing a game at the end of the day that involved throwing a soft ball around. The young girl with special needs came back from the resource room, and wanted to play too. The other students gladly let her join and included her. The game was played that when you dropped the ball, you sat down and were 'out'. The girl dropped the ball on her first turn and would have been out by the game rules. She looked ready to cry. The other students looked at each other, and, knowing that she did not have very good coordination as and seeing that she was on the verge of tears, they let her stay int the game. They continued to include her, even though she would have been 'out' multiple times by game standards. She finally caught the ball once, and everyone cheered for her. The class sure does make this little girl feel loved and like she belongs. I am sure it took some effort on the part of the teacher to get them to this point.

If I were teaching in this school, one of the first things I would focus on is bringing multiple perspectives to whatever we are learning about, especially social studies, which naturally lends itself to such a thing. This would mean breaking away from a text book and tracking down resources that tell accounts of the same event from many angles. I would also like to give children opportunities to put themselves in someone else's shoes, whether for real or by reflective thinking, role playing, and other types of dramatization.

I also think it would be good to sit down with other grade level teachers and make a list of specific things that we can and will do to make sure our classrooms appreciate and meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Being metacognitive about your own practices is one of the first steps to becoming a culturally proficient teacher.

Finally, I would work to update and improve the classroom library by bringing in current and multicultural literature.