A Case Study of Mary Jane Sims Elementary - Department of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% Sims Elem District State Figure 5. Retention rates for kindergarten (K), first, and second grade, 2005-2006. 14.00% 12.00% 10.00% 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% 2.00% 0.00% Sims Elem District State Figure 6. Retention rates for kindergarten (K), first, and second grade, 2006-2007. Educational Relevance GT children exhibit “outside of the box” thinking and demonstrate skills that require differentiated of instruction within a curriculum (Tomlinson, 2000; Van Tassel-Baska, 2006). “Differentiation is about high-quality performance for all individuals and giving students the opportunity to develop their particular strengths” (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 24). Further, Tomlinson (1999) argues that educators prepare curriculum for students who are at risk of falling behind and Page 14 K 1st 2nd K 1st 2nd
therefore should also be cognizant of preparing an appropriate curriculum for gifted and talented students (p. 21). Unfortunately, many minority students do not get identified and do not have the opportunities afforded to other gifted students. When reviewing reports on national demographics of gifted students in recent years, “the trends revealed that Black, Latino, and Native American students have always been underrepresented in gifted education programs, and in some years, their underrepresentation increased” (Harris, Brown, Ford, & Richardson, 2004, p. 19) Discipline Sims Elementary has faced many of the same challenges (i.e., high teacher turnover, low academic achievement, and high disciplinary actions) as other urban schools with similar demographics. Despite these sometimes overwhelming hurdles, over the past few years Sims staff have been very successful at mitigating many of the negative associations common to high poverty, urban schools, as illustrated by their turnaround from an Unacceptable accountability rating to receiving Recognized status for the 2005-06 school year from the Texas Education Association. Despite the increase in student achievement, there is still a general consensus among teachers and staff members that disciplinary issues on campus continue to be a major problem, impeding the teachers’ ability to maximize instructional time. As one teacher expressed, “The behavior is some of the biggest problems here and I think that’s the biggest thing. I spend a lot of time managing behavior.” Interviews with Sims faculty and staff identified student discipline as a major concern, revealing a general perception of inconsistency in the way behavioral issues were addressed by administrators and an overall perceived lack of administrative support. More than one teacher reported that students “just sit there” when sent to the office. One teacher, discussing the same issue, commented, “Other teachers had the same situation.” Several teachers also reported a “lack of consequences” for student misbehavior. As a result of these perceptions, many teachers reported they no longer refer problematic students to the office. The following interviewee statement sums up the responses of these teachers: “We don’t even send them [students] to the office much anymore…we send them to each others’ room. We kind of take care of it ourselves.” These sentiments could explain the general disconnect encountered between teachers’ perception of student discipline and that of administrators. Not all administrators interviewed mentioned discipline as a problem. In light of these findings, referral data may not accurately reflect the true nature of discipline at Sims or be an appropriate measure, as used in the 2006-2007 CIP, to identify improvements in this area. Although not as frequent, some teachers also reported disciplinary inconsistencies from classroom to classroom. One respondent said, “Right now it’s each child and classroom for itself.” Another expressed frustration in the following statement: “I can have my students walking quietly down the hall, but if they see fourth graders acting wild, they’re going to say, ‘I can’t wait until I’m older.’ It [discipline] needs to be across the board.” Despite seeing the previous evidence of teachers supporting each other with student discipline problems, there is Page 15
Page 1 and 2: A Case Study of Mary Jane Sims Elem
Page 3 and 4: Contents Executive Summary ........
Page 5 and 6: Introduction Through the partnershi
Page 7 and 8: and community interviews and Sims s
Page 9 and 10: each theme we have provided our fin
Page 11 and 12: Another factor that could affect co
Page 13 and 14: egarding collaboration arose in the
Page 15: instruction and being dedicated, th
Page 19 and 20: the teacher handbook, which mention
Page 21 and 22: packages, Christmas bags, necklaces
Page 23 and 24: parents’ involvement falls into t
Page 25 and 26: Percentage 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50%
Page 27 and 28: arrier to learning” (p. 22). In o
Page 29 and 30: a reminder of their purpose in educ
Page 31 and 32: location” (Burkhauser, Bronte-Tin
Page 33 and 34: The U.S. Department of Education (a
Page 35 and 36: 2008 Principalship Cohort Members M
Page 37 and 38: Evans, L. (1997). Understanding tea
Page 39 and 40: Pomerantz, E. M., Moorman, E. A., &

A Case Study of Mary Jane Sims Elementary - Department of ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?