Culture & Equity Critical Task Sherly Laguerre Spring 2016 EDA 5503 – The Principalship

School Information Renaissance Charter School at West Palm Beach  Year Opened: 2012  Location: West Palm Beach, FL  School Type: Public Charter  Grade Levels: K – 8  Number of Students Enrolled: 937  Number of Administrators: 3  Number of Faculty: 68  Number of Staff: 18  Accelerated Courses:  Advanced/Gifted: Gr. K-8  High School Credit Courses: Gr. 7-8

County Profile The School District of Palm Beach County  Urban, A-Rated School District  Fifth largest school district in Florida and 11th largest in the continental U.S.  187 schools, 183,000 students  12,898 teachers  21,656 regular employees  41,270 students in Exceptional Student Education (ESE) programs; approximately 10,291 are in gifted education programs  29,314 students in English Language Learners classes  145 languages spoken; 197 different countries and territories of birth

City Profile vs. State Profile (2013) West Palm Beach  Population: 102,436  Estimated Median Household Income: $43,070  Estimated Median House or Condo Value: $168,000  Foreign Born Residents: 27.8%  Unemployment (2014): 5.7% State of Florida  Population: million (2014)  Estimated Median Household Income: $46,036  Estimated Median House or Condo Value: $153,300  Foreign Born Residents: 19.4%  Unemployment (2014): 6.3%

City Profile (2013) Crime Index

City Profile (2013) Race Distribution

Student Demographics Grade LvlEnrollmentBoysGirls Kinder st Grade nd Grade rd Grade th Grade th Grade th Grade th Grade th Grade All Grades Students by Gender

Asian – African-American – Caucasia – Hispanic – American Indian – Other – 1% 65% 6% 21% 0.2% 7% Student Demographics

Students with Special Accommodations

Student Demographics Socioeconomics

Staff Demographics

Student Performance Data – FCAT/FSA FCATFSA School GradeDCC Reading / ELA Proficiency43%42%44% Math Proficiency37%42%44% Writing Proficiency71%78%N/A Science Proficiency32%33%42% Social Studies (Civics) ProficiencyN/A 59% Reading Grains54%69%N/A Math Gains58%65%N/A Reading Gains – Lower 25%61%79%N/A Math Gains – Lower 25%58%70%N/A Middle School AccelerationN/A 74%

Student Performance Data – By Subgroup Reading – % Scoring Satisfactory Math – % Scoring Satisfactory AMERICAN INDIAN ASIAN BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 36% 30%36% HISPANIC 55%49%48%53% WHITE 62%66%57%55% ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS 22%31%30%33% STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 15%28%31%22% ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 35%38%29%38%

Student Performance Data – NWEA Benchmarks, ReadingMath FallWinterFallWinter Kindergarten67%66%55%65% 1 st Grade66%59%67%61% 2 nd Grade57%60%61%57% 3 rd Grade51%48%43%39% 4 th Grade60%48%35%50% 5 th Grade51%58%40%29% 6 th Grade42%45%28%24% 7 th Grade53%52%37%46% 8 th Grade58%67%50%54%

Survey Results Organizational/Structure 1.My school’s learning environment is respectful and inclusive of all students. 58%42% 2.My school’s classroom’s practices validate and value similarities and differences. 17%66%17% Curriculum/Extra Curriculum Programs 3.My school’s efforts are equitable in student placement and quality or programs in the following areas: English Language Learners8%42%25% Gifted and Talented8% 34%42%8% Discipline34%58%8% Adv. Classes/Adv. Placement42% 16% Strongly Disagree Agree

Survey Results My school’s efforts to provide opportunities and access to extracurricular activities for all students are equitable in the following areas. Athletics 8%25% 42% Academic Clubs 17%24%17%42% Social Clubs 8% 42% Professional Learning/Development 5.My school’s efforts to provide professional learning opportunities and strategies that engage faculty in recognizing and understanding diversity to improve student achievement are equitable. 58%42% Strongly Disagree Agree

Best Practices To maintain a respectful and inclusive environment for students, parents, & staff.  Morning announcements with daily reciting of behavior expectations and mission of school.  The use of responsive classroom practices – including morning meetings/advisory.  School-wide classroom management systems; Classroom Dojo (K-5) and HERO (6-8) used with weekly/monthly incentives.  Keeping parents informed via Parent Link phone calls & s. That ensure equitable opportunities and participation across all student groups.  Offering a rigorous curriculum to ensure all students meet high expectations.  Professional development for staff to equip them with best practices to teach diverse populations.  There are pull-out instructional groups for struggling as well as gifted students to meet their needs.  Extended day tutoring and various clubs are offered to supplement what is offered during the day.  Emphasis on cooperative learning in the classroom.

Best Practices That take diversity into consideration when motivating students toward achievement  Multi-modal teaching approaches to reach various learning styles.  Weekly data chats to discuss student progress and collaborate on innovative teaching methods.  Ability grouping students for small group instruction and intervention.  Programs are coordinated that highlight diverse backgrounds.  Teachers develop lessons with consideration of accommodations students may need. Professional developments offered to understand diversity and close achievement gaps.  Developmental Designs and Responsive Classroom.  Data Analysis and how to use data to drive instruction.  Parent-teacher communication  Differentiated Instruction  7 Step Lesson Plan Structure that is focused on learning new knowledge in a systemic way to mastery.  ESOL and ESE Strategies  Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind

Recommendations  Offer Professional Development opportunities on Multi-cultural education and cultural sensitivity to better understand student and parent populations.  Offer Professional Developments on teacher language with the hope of increasing positive teacher to student interaction.  Use book studies in professional learning communities to learn new practices rather than only using workshops.  Offer parent education nights to improve the home-school relationship and encourage parents to work with their children at home.  Build stronger and more collaborative relationships with community leaders.  Offer more workshops that allow parents and students to work together both academically and socially.  Increase the use of technology in the classroom to improve the learning process for students.

References City Data. (2016). Information about West Palm Beach, FL. Retrieved March 3, 2016, from Florida Department of Education. (2016). School grades. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from Lupton, M. (personal communication, March 2, 2016). School District of Palm Beach County. (2015) Facts at a Glance. Retrieved March 3, 2016, from Brochure.pdf