Task 603.2.3.01
Deborah Ford
Teacher Work Sample—Contextual Factors
Environmental Factors--Community
Our town is a small interurban community located several miles south of the Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma. The area is known for its proximity to the Arbuckle Mountains and its many lakes, as well as championship golf courses.
Our population is approximately 24,800. There is great cultural diversity with Caucasian, Black and Native American as the majority of cultures. Because the town was built during Indian Territory days and on Chickasaw tribal lands, the majority of Native Americans are of the Chickasaw Tribe.
Today, it is most notable for its location at a crossroads of two transcontinental highways. The United States Interstate 35 runs from Duluth, Minnesota to Laredo, Texas, which practically divides the U.S. in half. The other highway is U.S. Highway 70. It was an east-west transcontinental highway before the Interstate systems were created. It is still a major east-west artery for transportation. It traverses the United States from Los Angeles, California to Atlantic, North Carolina. In many areas, it overlaps or parallels two major interstates, I40, and I10. Its location at this crossroads makes it ideal for distribution centers. It is home to five major retailers’ distribution centers—Best Buy, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Dot Foods, Michelin Tires, and previously, the now defunct Circuit City. Shipping has been so successful in the area that it now competes with the oil industry as a major employer of the town's work force.
The town's history is older than the state of Oklahoma. It began as a small trading post and practically grew over-night to a major urban area when a major oil field was discovered in the western part of the county. Until the 1980’s, the oil industry was the major employer and economic investment. But, after the oil industry fell in the ‘80’s, the town almost died. Now it thrives on the distribution industry and various small businesses.
Environmental Factors—School District
The City Schools consists of one Preschool/Kindergarten school, three elementary schools, one middle school serving grades 6-8, one high school with grades 9-12, and several private schools. ACS serves 3,126 students, with 88% of them underprivileged. The district’s ethnicity is 2% Asian, 25% Black, 13% Hispanic, 20% Native American and 40% Caucasian. (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005-2013)
The City Schools is surrounded by three other school districts, which lock its boundaries and limit school district growth. It is virtually locked and cannot expand its boundaries to increase enrollment. And, with 88% underprivileged, it qualifies as a Title 1 school district. Teaching in such a low socio-economic situation is difficult at best and requires a different set of teaching skills. Teachers have to be educated with the nuances of poverty survival, and its impact on students and families. These students do not see the world as a child raised in a mid-level socio-economic home would see it. They view the world from beginning of the month to the beginning of the next month, (that’s usually when food stamp monies are available on their debit card). They usually wear one or two outfits until they can’t be worn anymore, then go buy new clothes. This is usually done instead of washing clothes, and new clothing is purchased with money that should be used for a utility.
Environmental Factors—School
This High School serves students in grades nine through twelve, with an enrollment of 680-700 students. The demographics of the school closely resemble those of the school district as a whole.
The high school is served by a terrific cadre of teachers, 20 of whom are male and 27 are female. Ethnic diversity is unavailable, except by visual inspection. I am a Native American, three of the male teachers are Black, one of the female teachers is from South Korea, and the remainder of them is white. The honors and accolades of these teachers are numerous. One was chosen three times as a Master Teacher by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, several are Nationally Board Certified, some have their Doctorate of Education degree and many have a Master’s Degree in Administration, Education or Counseling. There are even a few that have received their Bachelor of Science or Arts in other fields, then took the certification tests and have become good teachers.
At one time, HS produced three or four National Merit Scholars per year. Then there was a great decline in the enrollment and an increase in discipline issues at AHS. For many years now, AHS has not had a National Merit Scholar, a few achieved National Merit finalist status, but none the Scholar level. Because of the discipline issues, a change in administration at the high school, and declining discipline, many teachers left the HS, at the rate of more than 30% every year for eight years. It was a sad state. It also led to a weak teaching staff, and low morale among the remaining staff. Thankfully, the school district and its high school have had a major change in administration. Last year was the first year that the high school had a teacher turnover of less than 10%. (Ford, 2013)
The High School is housed in a 37 year old building, which was recently remodeled to incorporate geo-thermal heating and cooling, change of wall treatment to ceramic tile in HS colors, and a sloped, metal roof on each building. The campus consists of seven buildings, a beautiful, state recognized football stadium and track, baseball-softball complex, and a gymnasium. The campus also houses a University Center, which affords the high school students the opportunity for concurrent enrollment.
The High School instituted a block schedule this year. The day is divided into 4 block classes, a period that allows half of the student body to go to lunch, and the other half to a study class. The schedule is also split into A and B days. Mondays and Wednesdays are A days, Tuesdays and Thursdays are B days, and Fridays rotate between A and B. The class periods are 85 minutes long and within a two week period each class meets five times. This schedule allows students to complete more credits per year, and open more opportunities for concurrent enrollment, which is a great opportunity because in Oklahoma, concurrent enrollment in college classes is provided tuition free for students in high school. This type of schedule has also reduced discipline issues in the hallways, as well as provided the teacher with more time on task, less time on necessary the distractions like attendance, tardies, etc. In a two-week period, on the usual seven-period-day, teachers spent five minutes of each period taking care of necessities which totals a loss of 35 minutes per day, for 10 days. During the block schedule, five minutes per class is 20 minutes per day, times 5 periods in a two week period is 100 teaching minutes lost. Compared to normal schedule, block schedule saves 250 teaching minutes per two week period, 500 minutes per month, and 4,500 minutes per school year. This equates to 13 ¼ days more per year of teaching time.
Classroom Contextual Factors
The classroom I am working in is a ninth grade geometry class. It is housed within the Math Department, and taught by a male teacher who became certified through the alternative certification program. Usually Geometry is taught in tenth grade, but this HS math staff decided to move it to ninth grade. Here in Oklahoma, students must pass four End Of Instruction tests to graduate, one of those four tests must be the Algebra I test. Many freshmen failed the test. The staff felt that one of the issues affecting the test failure rate was the level of the maturity of most of the freshmen. They also believed that all of the math skills necessary for geometry had been taught in middle school. Because the Geometry EOI is not required for graduation, the staff felt that it would give the students a better opportunity to grow and mature without affecting their test requirements. So my Teacher Work Sample will be based on a ninth grade geometry class.
The classroom is arranged in an array, with five desks per column and six columns. The students have been allowed to sit wherever they choose. (I will be instituting a seating chart.) All desks face the West wall on which hangs a Smart Board between two blue chalkboards. The classroom also has a teacher’s computer, a set of graphing calculators, a classroom set of textbooks, and access to a computer lab, with 20-25 computers, which usually allows each student to have their own computer.
This is a high school classroom, and has minimal parent involvement physically. But many parents are involved via the internet. At enrollment, parents set up an account on Power School which allows them to communicate with the student’s teachers and keep abreast of their student’s grades.
This class is 69% freshmen students, the remainder is juniors and sophomores due to enrollment issues and repeating because of failing the class previously. (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005-2013)
Student Contextual Factors
The student contextual factors that affect this work sample are numerous. The first and foremost is the number of underprivileged students in this school. The school district is 88% free and reduced lunch, AHS is 87% free and reduced lunch. The greatest need is vocabulary. From previous experience working with the underprivileged, their greatest need was the vocabulary necessary for comprehension of the subject matter. After observing in this class and investigating the students’ background, vocabulary is a major factor in their success or failure. (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005-2013)
Another factor is the varied ethnicity of this class. Of the 16 students, eight are Caucasian, two are Native American, three are Black and three are Hispanic. (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005-2013) Also, this class is 2/3 male, and 1/3 female. A factor that surprised me is that this class has no students with Individual Education Plans. Due to the nature of confidentiality, I was unable to ascertain if any of the students were still in the English Language Learner program. In Oklahoma, students are given certain accommodations in class and on the EOI tests if they have been learning English for three years or less. During conversations observed, the Hispanic students conversed fluently with native English speaking peers, and with each other in Spanish. It appeared that they had a great command of the English Language and needed minimal interventions for their language.
A major factor that is influencing my lessons is the level of failing grades among the students. Upon inspection of their history in the class, 75% of the class is failing. (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005-2013) Even with rigorous coursework, that failure rate is deplorable. During the observation, I witnessed a lot of apathy towards the coursework and the subject in general. I hope to change the attitude. Through the use of a daily log, I hope to ascertain the cause of the apathy.
Discussion of Student Skills and Prior Learning
This group has great ethnic variety, no language barriers, and no students with special education needs. It also, has a large percentage of underprivileged students of which 75% are failing the class. The activities are going to need to be fun and interesting to motivate the students. Using application of the skills outside the classroom has to have a lot of impact to grab and maintain their interest. The activities will need to be structured so that at first it will be easy to see the connection to the math skills.
This work sample is being taught at the beginning of the fourth nine weeks. The students have had seven months of instruction on geometry topics. But, because of the percentage of failure, it appears the class needs more guided practice to ensure comprehension of concepts and concrete applications to cement the skill. In this classroom, I believe that traditional methods have not made a difference for 75% of this class.
Ford, D. (2013, March 20). (D. Ford, Interviewer)
Pearson Education, Inc. (2005-2013). Teachers/tisdale/5AGeometry. Retrieved March 26, 2013, from PowerSchool: www.PearsonSchoolSystems.com
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