I was informed by my host teacher that Delaware Academy of Syracuse School District qualifies as a High Needs School. According to the NYSED website, this is defined as “Any K-12 public School whose District’s Poverty Level is 10% or more, AND the School’s free/reduced cost lunch percentage is 50% or more.” (National Program Definitions). This means that according to the requirements set in place for a school to qualify as a High Needs School, at least half of the students are qualified to recieve free or reduced lunch costs, and 10% of the community is considered to be in poverty. In taking the time to drive around the community, it is apparent in the surroundings that the families in the very urban area do not have the same funds as those families you may find in a typical suburban community. This poverty not only effects the community, but the school as well. The school lacks a great deal of funding for supplies that would benifit the children who attend, which could be due to the lack of appropriate incoming taxes to fund these supplies.

When working in a school such as Delware Academy, it is important for educators to reflect on the situation that many families may be in. It is also important to recognize that in a High Needs School, educators may be far more likely to pay out of pocket for supplies to help provide the appropriate education their students deserve. 

References

Having spoken to my host teacher, I was informed that along with being a High Needs School, Delaware Academy is also associated with having students who come from a socioeconomic disadvantage. The surrounding area of Delaware Academy is a very urban neighborhood, containing many families who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. It is my understanding that having students under a socioeconomic disadvantage is directly correlated with the school’s status as a High Needs School.

In observing at Delaware Academy I was surrounded by students who are learning English as a second language. In the Pre-K classroom I was in twice a week, there were multiple students who spoke Spanish. These students although they spoke primarily Spanish, spoke a great deal of English. Each student’s ability to communicate in both languages varied, however each student was perfectly capable of expressing their needs and being able to understand and learn in the classroom.

The classroom I observed in is well equipped to fit the needs of both English language learners and native English speakers. My classroom had two teachers in it: my host teacher and an assistant teacher. While my host teacher speaks very little Spanish, the assistant teacher’s first language is Spanish, and easily communicates with all of the students in the classroom. The classroom is also set up in a way where there are labels in both English and Spanish, and lessons commonly incorporate both languages as well. 

While Delaware Academy does not specifically cater to students with disabilities, I conducted a Child Study Report on a child in my classroom who is currently receiving services for speech, as well as being evaluated for ADHD. In my Child Study Report, I conducted running records and anecdotal records so that I could implement lesson plans that took the student’s needs into account.

In my field placement I had a difficult time gathering information about the child’s services or disability in order to appropriately conduct my Child Study Report. It turned out that in Delaware Academy, even my host teacher was not permitted to view the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). This made my search for information difficult and trying, and in the end I found out the most information about the child from the child’s mother during an interview. 

For my Child Study Report in ECE 330, part of the requirements was to conduct an interview with the parent or guardian of the child I was observing. In trying to schedule the interview with the mother of the child, I had a hard time contacting her. After a great deal of effort, we had been able to get in contact and I conducted and brief interview with her since she had time constraints. Through the interview, even though I had asked very basic and general questions, I learned a lot about the child that I had not had the opportunity to learn through my placement. After the interview had been conducted, the child’s mother was much more open to talking to me when she dropped her child off. Although the experience started off rocky, it was an excellent experience and ended in a positive manner. Below, I have provided the interview I conducted with this parent, with all names removed for privacy purposes.

Introduction

            On April 5^th, 2012, I met with K M. who is N’s mother. The interview was set to happen whenever she arrived to drop off her daughter N. to her Pre-K classroom in Delaware Academy. On this particular day we met at 8:10 am. During my short interview with K.M, I asked her five questions. These questions were such that she could make the conversation as short or as long as she wished depending on if she felt she would like to provide explanations or not.

The Interview

Me: Tell me what N. is like in five words?

K.M.: I would have to say: active, smart, funny, goofy, and loud. She is always running from place to place, trying to make people smile.

Me: What do you as her parent think her strengths and weaknesses are?

K.M.: N. is always interested in everything around her. She desperately wants to explore and wants to learn about everything she can, however, her constant activity can keep her from sticking with one topic for too long.

Me: What is your impression of the services N.is receiving while at school?

K.M.: N. has been receiving services since she began early intervention at three years old. We are also working on services for ADHD. I am satisfied with the services that have been provided in the past as well as the services she is receiving here.

Me: Have you seen improvement in N. at home?

K.M.: Yes I have seen improvement at home. We have been able to come up with strategies to make her life easier at home to help her with self control.

Me: By the time summer comes, where do you expect N. to be academically?

K.M.: Something that I think would really help her is for her to get a grasp on schedules. We would like to start building in schedules not only at school to help her but at home as well. I would also like to see her be able to do more everyday activities by herself.

Feedback and Reflection

            When I had rehearsed for this interview and selected questions, I went in believing I was interviewing her mother about ESL services. However, during the course of the interview, I found out she is actually receiving services for ADHD. When I had begun to observe in the classroom and asked my host teacher who she thinks would be a good candidate for me to observe, she had suggested N. because most of the children speak English as a second language, and N.’s mother would be the easiest to interview. My host teacher did not mention ADHD, and in the process of the conversation I had took her suggestion to mean that N. was also receiving services that were helping her to learn English.

This misconception was definitely a fault of my own, because I should have asked more in-depth questions of my host teacher. At this point in my observation of N., I am going to use this new information to do what I can to appropriately differentiate my last upcoming lesson. This coming week while the class is on spring break, I will be in contact with my host teachers, and asking if I can actually see N.’s IEP and any other important information.

In going back to reflecting on the interview, I found that a lot of what K.M. had to say very much reflected the same observations that I have had in the classroom with her daughter. I would agree that N. is an extremely smart child who is eager to learn and ask questions, as well as an active and goofy child.

Something I found very useful from this interview was what K.M. wanted to achieve for her daughter by the time she enters Kindergarten. I think that the idea of putting schedules together for N. would be very beneficial. With this being said, I am thinking about coming up with a fun way to create a schedule board specifically for N. as a piece of my service project.

Insight Gained

            This experience has been very eye opening for me, both in terms of getting to better know the child, and getting to know what I have been doing both right and wrong in my time observing in this classroom. 

            The big piece of this interview was that I was unknowingly unprepared to talk to N.’s mother about her services. I went in feeling I knew what I was doing, and leaving completely frazzled at the thought that I really had no clue about what services were being done for this child. It really forced me to reflect on how I have been conducting myself.  I have gone through most of this experience thinking I knew what I was talking about, and what I was differentiating my lessons for, when I really had no idea. This was all because I never forced myself to ask the important questions that were so crucial to this experience.

            I feel that this was a massive wake up call for me. I needed this to happen so that I could really sit back and think about what is necessary for me to complete what I came here to do over the next few weeks. Now that I have this knowledge, I will be able to more appropriately assess this child, and I will be able to sit down and really ask the necessary questions that I should have been asking all along.

            With all of this new information I gained from her mother, I feel that I have a whole new understanding of N. as both a person and a learner. My observations from previous lessons and everyday classroom experiences now make so much more sense as well as provide new meaning to everything I have seen and done with this child.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, this interview was more than beneficial to my understanding of the N. Not only was it an experience that helped me to grow as an observer and an educator, but it allowed me the opportunity to really have a conversation with her mother. I think that the next time I enter a classroom, one of the very first things I need to do is to get to know the parents. This does not just apply to the parents of the student I am studying, however to all of the parents and guardians who walk through the door. There is so much to be learned from the families of these children that I may not have found out from other resources available to me. My hope for this year however, is to have a few more informal conversations with K.M. about her daughter, and to get to know her better as well.