North Salem High School, also known as North, is located about five blocks northeast of the Oregon State Capitol building and tucked away in neighboring homes. It is one of the six public high schools in the Salem-Keizer School District. It is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse high schools in Salem. North is located in Salem, Oregon. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Salem’s population was 154,637. About 25.2% of the population was under age 18. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the school year 2009-2010 North had 1,895 students enrolled. The breakdown of the 1,895 students consists of 878 Hispanic students, 818 White students, 75 Asian/ Pacific Islander students, 26 Black students, 26 Native American/ Alaskan students, and 72 students did not specify a race or ethnicity (Figure 1).
The gender breakdown was 964 males and 859 females. One thousand three hundred and ten students were eligible to receive free lunch, while 270 students were eligible to receive a reduced-price lunch. North is labeled a Title-1 school that receives Federal government funding to close the achievement gap between at-risk low-income students. In the school year 2010-2011there were 27 schools in the district receiving Title-1 funding out of 67 schools. More than half of Salem-Keizer’s student population was considered living in poverty based of the number of students receiving free or reduced meals. Salem-Keizer School District is the second largest school district in Oregon after Portland Public School District. In the school year 2010-2011 there were 2,025 students enrolled at North (School Profile, 2011). Currently North has 1,917 students enrolled, which is the third largest student population in the district after McNary and South high schools (Enrollment Report, 2011). On North’s school website under its school profile (2011) it says North had 100 teachers with seventy percent of them with their Masters degree. According to the NCES at North there were about 87 full-time teachers with the student-teacher ratio of about 22 students per teacher. Most classes I observed had about 30 students in the classroom.
North has several resources available to students and their families. One program that is offered is called the Migrant Education Program that offers summer school, tutoring, in-class assistance, interpretation services, free lunch, and health and other social services. North has the second largest number of students identified as migrant in the Salem-Keizer School District. There are more than 2,00 students from K-12 identified as migrant in the district. At North there is a Migrant Specialist named Cipriano Mañon. Also, there are programs that support homeless students that provide transportation and supplemental services. There are instructional services for English language acquisition available in Spanish, Russian, Mashallese, Vietnamese, and Chinese.
According to the 2009-2010 Oregon Report Card for North Salem High School, the school did not meet federal adequate yearly progress (AYP). The graduation rate was 73.9% at the school compared to the statewide average was 98.8%. Three other high schools in the district did not meet AYP along with North. The student groups that did not meet were students with disabilities (both English/Language Arts and Mathematics), students with limited English proficiency (both English/Language Arts and Mathematics), and Black (not of Hispanic origin) students (Mathematics). As mentioned above there, there were 26 Black students at North during the 2009-2010 academic school year. Also, students with limited English proficiency did not meet graduation requirement, which is at the minimum rate of 68.1%. North is accountable for student achievement and student participation for various student groups under the No Child Left Behind Act. The statewide goal for the minimum percentage of students expected to meet or exceed standards is 60% in English/ Language Arts and 59% in Mathematics. The 2010-2011 Salem-Keizer Public Schools Strategic Plan lists various strategies to improve student achievement. North is working toward the same goals, and is undergoing revision of their school improvement plan for next school year. North’s Site Council meets once a month to discuss strategies of improving the school’s AYP. The Site Council consists of teachers, parents, administrators, instructional coaches, and classified staff. The Strategic Plan for North for 2010-2011 implemented EducSoft system and data warehouse, District Literacy Model, differentiated instruction, and professional development. The plan also stresses effective organizations to support student achievement, staff leadership development, and public engagement.
My cooperating teacher has worked at North for 15 years. She teaches various upper level mathematics classes and a robotics class. She also works as the scorekeeper at North’s volleyball games. I taught her 5th period geometry class for eleven days. This year she moved rooms and the room she is currently in is located in the STEAM Academy section of the school building. STEAM is a Smaller Learning Community (SLC) that includes engineering, manufacturing, natural resources, networking, programming, and visual arts. There are three other SLCs at North: Freshmen Houses, CaHBaM Academy, and Liberal Arts Academy. North is on its fourth year of SLCs, but funding has been cut by the school district that supported the SLCs. The classroom is located on the northwest corner of the building near the train tracks and adjacent to D Street. In the classroom there are individual desks and chairs. Outside the windows one could see Parrish Middle School, which is west of North. Last year North was on a block schedule and this year they changed it to a 7 Period Bell Schedule. My cooperating teacher and other teachers are still adjusting to the shorter periods compared to the block schedule from last year.
The majority of my cooperating teacher’s classes consist of more male students than female students, and class sizes range from 18 to 28 students. The 5th period geometry class has 28 students, with 22 boys and 6 girls. All the students are sophomores. The racial breakdown of this 5th period Geometry class is thirteen White students and fifteen Hispanic students. There is one male student labeled as talented and gifted (TAG) and two male students that have individualized education plans (IEP). No students are in Section 504. There are a range of English language learner (ELL) students in the class. There is one male who is in the ELL program. There are five in the ELL transition, which the state tracks their progress for two years. One female ELL student passed out of the ELL program, and there are two male students that did not qualify for ELL services at North.
The classroom is a fairly large class with two doors facing south. The north wall has five long windows facing D Street. There are 32 desks and 32 chairs in room 123. The room is equipped with a Smart Board, and one white board. There is a large television that displays the screen of the graphing calculator in the front of the room, which is the south wall. There is six-tier tray where students turn in their work in the front of the room right below the calculator television. There are tape dispensers, staplers, and pencil sharpeners around the room for students to utilize. When the clock turns to 11:04AM, students walk in the room checking the Smart Board to see what the agenda for the day is. Some students tend to stand outside until the minute warning bell rings, and other students stand inside around friend’s desks until the class bell rings.
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