Cindy+Miles

Type in the content of your page here. Cindy Miles ED421 School Profile Data Collection process –Phase 1

1. The demographic I studied was the Village of Whitefish Bay, as well as the Whitefish Bay School District and the Middle School specifically.

2. **__Describe Community__**: The Village of Whitefish Bay is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, between Fox Point and Shorewood. It is a predominantly single family residential community, covering an area of 2.4 square miles, with a population of approximately 14,000 people. I think it is interesting to note that according to questionnaire sent out by the village to the community in 2005, the youth did note they did not feel they had a place to hang out that was affordable. [] According the 2000 census, approximately 40% of households had school age children and the average family size was approximately three people. The median income for a family in the village was $95,744.

3. **__Mission and Goals of School__**: The main page of their middle school website notes “ Our staff of 70 dedicates themselves to ensuring that all of our students experience success. We provide a compassionate, safe environment that encourages creativity, critical thinking and an enthusiasm for learning. We use the best middle level practices to promote the intellectual, physical, emotional and social growth of our students. . . Our curriculum provides exploratory, hands-on life skill experiences integrated with academic subjects. We are dedicated to a home, school, and community partnership.”

4. **__Information gathered from the DPI website__** · **__Student Demographics__**: This school is currently made up of 80% white, approximately 5% Asian, 12% African American, and 3% Hispanic. This trend has remained steady for the past four years with a slight dip in minorities in the 2007-2008 school year.



· **__Student performance on WKCE__**: Students in the Whitefish Bay Middle School sixth grade scored quite high on the WKCE in 2008. 96% scored proficient or advanced in reading and 95% in Math. This is considerably higher than the state averages which are 83% in reading and 76% in math. I did note that the scores for eighth grade were lowest in language arts and science. Since I will be in the seventh grade language arts classroom, I am interested to see if I can find out why the scores in language arts is lower than the reading scores.

· **__Teacher Qualifications__**: According to this graph, approximately 2% of teachers are not fully licensed or are working with an emergency license.Surprisingly this is a higher rate than the state average. It appears from the data that these teachers are teaching the subjects of foreign languages, music and/or art. Perhaps they are not fully licensed because the school is adding more elective courses, and current teachers, licensed in another subject, are adding new subjects to their daily schedules.

· **__Student attendance, behavior, or graduation rates__**: Student attendance rates for the middle school are above 95% and have remained so for the past ten years. When compared with the state average, Whitefish Bay Middle School has an approximately 1% higher attendance rate. The suspension rate for this school has been declining over the past three years and is considerably lower than the state average. It is important to note that when comparing suspensions by race, the percentage for african american students is significantly higher than the white students. It appears there may be some cultural differences which need to be addressed. ​ Data Collection Process-Phase 2 Throughout the school, there are many diversity related posters. They also have posters from "Foundation for a Better Life" which address different topics such as dyslexia with famous representatives such as Whoopi Goldberg. Over the past couple months, I have noted several student projects displayed in school such as essays and posters with topics such as "Your friends can be my friends" and "Celebrate Differences". I also noted on a bulletin board that students wrote essays on the importance of the Civil Rights movement from the perspectives of different racial groups involved. Within the classroom, I am impressed by how much the class discusses issues of race, class, and culture. I have been observing seventh grade Language and Literature classes. The third quarter unit I have been involved with has a unit title of "The Human Spirit" which includes the subheading of 'Do the Right Thing'. The students were finishing up //__The Outsiders __// by S. E. Hinton. The students were discussing crossing the lines of different classes, in relation to the 'soc's' and the 'greasers' and the underlying common needs and feelings between both groups. They discussed this in relation to different groups within their own school such as the ‘popular’ versus the 'computer geeks' (the students own words) and how they all really just want to fit in and feel important or likedreally they all want to be respected as individuals. As the semester progressed, the students have read //__Night __// by Elie Wiesel and watched the movie //__The Diary of Anne Frank __//. They have discussed religious differences, as well as racial differences and are continuing to discuss how such hatred can happen and how it was allowed to get so huge. The student’s discussions have been very insightful about why it is so hard for example to stand up to a neighbor or friend if they say something racially inappropriate. They also have made a connection that if you let one comment go, then there is another comment, and it becomes harder and harder to say anything. I interviewed a teacher who is on the committee that chooses the literature. She reports that the curriculum both in text and short stories is chosen to include a variety of protagonists of both genders. They choose authors who are culturally diverse as well as readings from various times in history and from differing perspectives. This is to help give diverse perspectives to the students since the majority of students in this school are white. The literature committee includes a parent, the school librarian and other teachers from the school and rotates on a 4-5 year cycle. All literature is approved by the school board. Both in the classroom and in the Library, there were books, movies, and music from every culture. When analyzing this school with the Curriculum and Instruction Rubric, I feel the students have an excellent opportunity to learn about self and others. I also feel the curriculum values diversity. I do however also feel that perhaps not all the teachers have had the opportunity to be educated in cultural diversity. I get diverse books are not being utilized to their fullest potential. It was also interesting to note that it appears that one teacher out of three in the language and literature department, appears to have more of the "struggling students" as she calls them. The majority of these students also happen to the sense that the curriculum is not followed in all classrooms, or that perhaps the culturally be students of color. When asked about this, the teacher reports that she understands the students better and doesn't have any problems with them in her classroom. Her belief is that failure is not an option. If a student is getting a failing grade, she is not doing her job. Both the curriculum and outward appearance on such items as hallway exhibits gives Whitefish Bay Middle School a grade of "culturally proficient". They have all the right books, lessons, ideas; however, they need to hold the teachers to the standard they portray on paper. So I give them a lower grade of "Cultural Competence" since I feel they are heading in the right direction in that the school does value diversity, and gives many opportunities to learn about other cultures. They need to do more training with the teachers to be truly proficient.  Phase 3 I discovered Whitefish Bay Middle School has an extensive program relating to cultural awareness as it relates to the Language and Literature programs. The committee that chooses the curriculum is very thorough in selecting authors from many cultures. The books and short stories also relate to many different cultures and perspectives. These allow for students to gain an understanding of other cultures and perspectives ideally by class discussion and interacting with multicultural peers. I was surprised to see over time that not all of that actually occurs. I think that not all the teachers are comfortable having those discussions yet and the school needs to train and encourage all teachers in that direction. As a new educator in the building, I would utilize the wonderful materials available to encourage cultural proficiency with all students. I would try to ‘buddy’ with a seasoned teacher who could mentor me in how the school works. I would ask to be on committees, or at least sit in on committees to get to meet other teachers and see the process of choosing curriculum. This way I would be able to get a feel for what direction I could go. As a new teacher, I would not want to begin by causing a huge ruckus, and arguing they are not using the books to their fullest potential. Rather, over time, I would like to be able to show other teachers how to fully implement a more culturally proficient attitude toward their classrooms by my own classroom example. I do think that is what my cooperating teacher is doing in her classroom. She also combines some group projects with other classrooms which I think is a brilliant way to lead by example for the other teachers involved.
 * __Source:__** http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/sig/