Kickemuit+ES

School: Kickemuit Middle School District: Bristol Warren
 * Author: Craig Tilton

Kickemuit middle school, or KMS, as it is often referred to, is located in Northeast Bristol on 525 Child Street. It houses 776 students and 79 teachers. It is the only public middle school in the district and named for the Kickemuit River which is very close by. As for the demographics, Kickemuit is made predominately of white students, making up 90% of the school. Other races such as African American, Hispanic, and Asian, are sparse, making up the other 10% of the school. In this school, there are various sources of information related to the district. In this report, information about students, teachers, families, safety, and resources has been meticulously gathered from both school surveys, or information reported by students, and data reported by schools (such as NECAPS and attendance rates) and assorted into this report describing Kickemuit Middle School. (Rhode Island Department of Education,2010)[1]
 * Introduction**

 Students in Kickemuit Middle School are perpetually proficient in an array of subject areas. The NECAP scores relate to the student's ability to do well on tests. In some cases, for example, a succeeding school would have higher NECAP scores. In simplest terms, the test scores do not always mean something, although in most cases we take them to correlate directly to student’s intelligence. In the most recent testing period, at least three quarters of the students in each grade demonstrated proficiency in reading. The state, on the other hand, did not even reach 75% proficiency in reading in any grade. In general, the state is significantly less proficient in subject areas in sixth and seventh grade when compared to the levels of proficiency of Kickemuit Middle School. In eighth grade, however, the levels of proficiency of the state and Kickemuit Middle School are much closer. For example, in sixth grade the difference in pro ficiency is 20% in math.
 * Students **

However, in eighth grade, the difference in proficiency only 4%. This could either imply that the children statewide do better on testing in eighth grade or that students at Kickemuit Middle School do poorly on eighth grade tests. Or perhaps, for lack of evidence to put blame on one side or another, it was just a great year for the state and a poor year for KMS. (RIDE,2010,2011)[2]




 * Teachers **

Although, teachers could always be blamed for a decrease in test scores. When it comes to teaching, Kickemuit seems to have absolutely ideal teaching in terms of qualification. In terms of qualification, there are two categories of poor teachers; teachers with emergency certification and teachers who are not highly qualified. Teachers with emergency certification are not fully qualified for state certification but are allowed to teach if fully certified teachers are not available. Not highly qualified teachers are teachers who have not undergone rigorous state qu alification standards. These standards include having a bachelor’s degree, having full state certification, and demonstrating specific content mastery. KMS has no teachers that fall under either of these categories. The state on the other hand, has a low percentage of these teachers.  The qualification of teachers usually relates to how well they are able to teach students. I do not mean that teachers with emergency certification are poor teachers, however, the statistics point to the fact that these teachers may not be as ready to teach as individuals who are fully qualified.

 Another teacher-related quality of a school that may increase or decrease test scores is the teacher-student ratio. Teacher-student ratios relate to the numbers of students compared to the number of teachers. The teacher-student ratio of Kickemuit is better than the state.

 When it comes to passionate teaching, KMS has a great staff. At least a third of students report that all of their teachers help them by explaining something until they understand it, helping them catch up when they are absent, and giving them enough time to do well on classwork. Also, 21% of students reported that all of their teachers care about them personally. Statewide and at KMS, guidance counselors are very available to students when needed. Guidance counselors are needed for many reasons including when there is an issue with parents or family. (RIDE,2010,2011)

**Families**  One of the most important things about the success of students is the participation of their parents. If parents are willing to help their child succeed and they are supporting them along every step of the way, that child is more likely to succeed. Parents have the ability to supply their children with concrete resources like calculators, computers, tutors, and things of that nature, but also, and sometimes more importantly, parents have the ability to supply t heir children with confidence, help, support, and love. The information reported by students showing how much their parents help them through their journey relates to how many of these tangible, or intangible, resources they may have. Students have reported that 80% of parents sincerely care about their grades and 90% of students report that an adult other than their parents believe that they will attend college. These family related indicators imply that students will be more successful because they are given the support and confidence they need to succeed.

The information reported by schools, such as special education and bilingual services, relate to what the school does to help the children. For example, KMS supplies 4% of children with Bilingual services versus the state which supplies 5% of children. The resources necessary to support these children must be available within the school syst em for the children to succeed. KMS has fewer children enrolled in Special Education services (9%) than the state (16%). Also, 38% of Kickemuit Middle School children are eligible for subsidized lunch while the state is at 43%. (RIDE,2010,2011) **Safety and Support** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> The incidents, indicators, and attendance reported by schools relates to the safety of a school. The safety of a school directly correlates to the ability of students to learn. The less they have to worry about things like bullying or incidents, the more they can focus on learning and doing better. At KMS, far too many students have been bullied, being that more than half of students have been insulted. Bullying is a common problem in schools that I have attended personally so I can relate the problems of bullying to learning. In the very simplest of terms, it is very difficult to do your work if you are hungry because someone stole your lunch. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Another problem in schools are absences which can create problems for students, causing them to fall behind on their school work. The percentage of students at KMS suffering from chronic absenteeism is 12%. Compared to the state, it is less, but there should not be any students suffering from such a disorder. Also, 15% of students from KMS do not feel safe in their school, which is also too high. All students should feel safe at their own school. (RIDE,2010,2011)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> **Funding and Resources** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> The resources of a school can easily change a learning environment in an instant. For example, a school that does not have sufficient funding or resources can be forced to purchase, or keep, older, or even outdated, textbooks and could lack equipment for gym or functioning computers for a computer lab. At Kickemuit Middle School, the students seem to agree that the funding in the school is enough to have decent textbooks, gym equipment, and a computer lab. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> As for per pupil expenditure, which is the amount of money the district spend on each individual student during one school year, KMS weighs in at almost $17,202. This per pupil expenditure is 5th out of 36 schools meaning that KMS is in the top 16% of Rhode Island schools. Funding and resources can also come from parents who give money for fundraisers. The median family income is almost $54,000. (RIDE,2010,2011)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> ** Conclusion **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> Through the information gathered, a good picture of the school can be made. From this data, one can derive that the students do well and come from wealthy families, the teachers are passionate and qualified, the school is safe, and there is plenty of funding. One thing that still needs to addressed within the school is the problem of bullying. This issue, which spans across a plethora of schools, must be addressed by KMS in order to make it an ideal school. In conclusion, Kickemuit Middle School is a fantastic school to attend and I would have been more than happy to have attended KMS as my middle school.

> > Rhode Island Department of Education. (2010). Kickemuit Middle School. //Infoworks Live//. Retrieved from[] > > Rhode Island Department of Education. (2011). Kickemuit Middle School Report Card. //Infoworks Live//. Retrieved from[] || ||
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