EDC+503+Su13+-+Underwood+Elementary+School

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William J. Underwood school is located on 90 Harrison Avenue, the north of Newport, RI. It is one of four elementary schools serving students in Newport between kindergarten and fourth grade. This public elementary school is a second home to 154 students now. This school is largely white in an affluent area, which is well equipped with technological devices and high qualified teachers. Hopefully, readers could get an glimpse of how this schools respond to the pressure from NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act) through analyzing the information of student achievement, teaching, family, community and home life, safety and support, and funding and resources for this elementary school.
 * Introduction **

Students from William J. Underwood are largely white. The percentage of white is 71%, followed by Hispanic 16%, black 4%, two or more races 7%, Asian 1%, and American Indian or Alaska native 1%. Most students in the school are from relatively affluent family and the education level above completed college of their parents is higher than the statewide level by 14.7%. 39% students in this elementary school are eligible for the subsidized lunch meanwhile 46% students in RI State are eligible for this program. The percentage of students who play instrument out of school time is higher than the statewide level by 11.9% also proves this point. The percentage of students receiving ESL or bilingual Education services is 5%, which is lower than that of RI State by 1%. Whereas, the percentage of students receiving special education services in this school is higher than the statewide level by 3%, being 18%. The percentage of boys in this school is 34.6% and that of girl is 61.5%. (RIDE, 2011) To sum up, most students from William J. Underwood elementary school are while and their family backgrounds are good.
 * School Demographics **

As a public entity, William J. Underwood is not immune to be rated through many state and nationwide standardized tests, including accountability summary and classification, AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), and NECAP assessments (the New England Common Assessment Program).The Accountability Summary shows that William J. Underwood is classified as ‘typical’. William J. Underwood receives a total Composite Index Score of 68(out of 100), which is higher than the district rating of 50.0 and the state rating of 48.0. The good performance of being accountable for student's development met the expectation of many people. According to the AYP Summary Report in 2010-2011, William J. Underwood performed well and never had been on the list of schools which need improvements. Both in mathematics and English, the average scores of this school are higher than the target scores, being 84.6 and 91.3 respectively. The scores of white students are higher than the average level, being 94.3 in English language art and 89 in mathematics. However, the scores of economically disadvantaged students in these two areas are both below the average level, being 86.6 and 76. The AYP report also demonstrates that William J. Underwood is a leading force in Newport School District but compared to the average score of the state, it needs improvement. Regarding to English, the score of this school is 91.3, which is higher than the district score by 7 and the state score only by 1.6. Regarding to mathematics, the score of this school is 84.6, which is between the district score 78.2 and the state score 85.5. The attendance rate of the students is 93.8 which is between that of the district 93.2 and that of the state 94.5.The NECAP Assessments in 2011-2012 show that the average level of William J. Underwood is higher than the statewide level in all of areas. The William J. Underwood and state average are: 3rd Grade Math (68% vs. 60%); 3rd Grade Reading (84% vs. 73%); 4th Grade Math (80% vs. 65%); 4th Grade Reading (86% vs. 71%); and 4th Grade Science(68% vs. 45%). (RIDE, 2011)
 * Student Achievement **

To sum up, student achievements show that William J. Underwood elementary school met the expectation to be a good school in many field though there still exist some problems, such as the achievement gap between students from different race and from families whose financial situation are different. Compared to the district level, the student achievement of this school is outstanding but compared to the state level, student achievement is not that impressive. Is it a goal which deserves efforts or a misleading information that encourage them to make more academic progress?

The success of students heavily relies on the learning environment and the quality of teachers. A good school is supposed to provide students with supportive learning atmosphere and highly qualified education which is supported by good teaching strategies and sufficient educational resources. Statistically, William J. Underwood seems to be such a good school. William J. Underwood has 8 students for every full-time equivalent teacher, with the RI state average being 11 students per full-time equivalent teacher. The ratio of teacher to students makes small size class possible. No teacher from the school was labeled as “Not highly qualified teachers”. The qualified teachers and the small size class may be the major factors in the high test scores. (RIDE, 2011)
 * Teaching **

Sometimes, how parents and students feel about the school is very important when we evaluate a school. All of parents who did the survey say that they like the school and want their children to get good grades. Their engagement matches their expectation for high scores. The overall rate of parents' engagement is 92.3%. 58.2% parents say they know what their children are studying in their classes and 95.5% parents help their children with homework daily or weekly while the statewide rate is 37.2% and 83.3% respectively. Many parents stated on the website Great schools “The small class size is great and all teachers knowing the kids are nice too.” “One positive comment I can give this school is that it has a favorable student to teacher ratio. My third grader had 15 kids in his class and my first grader had 16-18 kids in his class.” “This is not simply a school. It's a family. The staff cares and nurtures every child. As a parent, I genuinely feel the staff has a vested interest in my child's future. There is a positive energy at this school that is unmatched”. Hopefully, these response from parents could explain why the performance of their children is better than other students in Newport District.

However, the feedback from the students from the teacher-student relationship is totally a different story. The rate of all of positive reflection about teacher-student relationship are lower than the statewide average level. For example, the percentage of students who think their teachers care them is lower than the statewide level by 13.4%, being 80.8%. Meanwhile, relationship between students seem not to that good. Only 68% students say that they can talk to good friends about their problems while 83.9% students in the state think so. (RIDE, 2011)

There are two reasons for the different feedback. One is that parents are outsiders. Though 91.1% parents of those students are well educated and have the school experiences, and even they are deeply involved in schooling, they still can't evaluate the school comprehensively. Another reason is that they know what is going on but they still think it is the best choice for their children. The simple reason is that after training in this school their children are guaranteed to be winner when they compete with children from other school. They are good at getting high grades in standardized tests. Sometimes parents are distorting the big picture, especially the parents who received advanced education. They are setting a bad example.

To sum up, teachers and parents cooperate and communicate fairly well. However, students in William J. Underwood seem not to be grateful for their corporation. To be contrary, the strong joint force from parents and teachers make the students feel reluctant to learn, bores the process of learning, and tense the relation with teachers and friends. What’s wrong with their good intention on earth?

The caring atmosphere at William J. underwood may be another factor contributes to the good performance of students. The attendance rate of William J. underwood is the same as that of the state, being 95%. The chronic absenteeism rate at this school 9% is only half of the states. It is a result of the strict attendance rules of William J. Underwood stated in its handbook for students and parents. (RIDE, 2011)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 18pt;">Safe and Supportive Schools **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Attendance Report **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The learning environment is relatively safe. Fourteen students were involved in suspensions 2011-2012, which are 9.09% of students in this school. Three students and six students are in a fight out of school and at school respectively. Two students stole things at school. Two students disrespected others. (RIDE, 2011)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Incidents of Suspension **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The high rate of mobility may have negative effects on the performance of students in this school. William J. Underwood elementary school has to deal with the high turnover rate of students due to a large military population and tourists in this area. According to the survey, the mobility rate of the school is 25%, which is higher than the statewide level which is only 14%. (RIDE, 2011)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Student Indicators **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The estimated median household income in Newport is $55,916 which is higher than the state level which is $54,119. Though the cost of living index in 2012 being 117.5 is much higher than the average U.S. index which is 100, the educational funding and resources are still relatively abundant. Property value per student is $2,670 in the year of 2009. The expenditure of per pupil is $18,732. “The district has one of the highest amounts of total spending per pupil in the nation, with a well-developed visual and performing arts program, advanced technology in preparation for careers or college, and a community literacy program utilizing volunteer tutors.” (RIDE, 2011)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 18pt;">Funding and Resources **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Regarding to students achievements, NECAP assessments show an upwards trend in the four years from 2009 to 2012. The percentage of the NECAP scores in this school are higher than the statewide level, being 50%, 60%, 80%, 100% in the successive four years. Teachers, parents and students all paid great efforts to improve their performance in NECAP. Take the third grade math for example. In 2009, the percentage of this school is 48% which is lower than the state level by 12%. But in the following three years, the percentage is 60%, 72% and 68% which are close to or higher than the state level. (RIDE, 2011)On one hand, the progress in NECAP reflects NCLB indeed have effects on the performance of students. On the other hand, with more and more teachers paying attention to the assessment and adapting their teaching to meet the requirements of this assessment, students may be involved in the “game of school”.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 18pt;">Changes over the Past Decade **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">There is an upward trend of students who need special educations in this school. The percentage of students who need special education from the year 2010 to 2012 is 11%, 15%, and 18% while the state level stays the same being 16%. The increasing number of students who need special education may be a result of better process of identification special needs.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The downward trend of chronic absenteeism demonstrates that the school has paid great efforts to decrease the rate of absence. From the year 2009 to 2012, the absenteeism rate is 15%, 15%, 10% and 9%, being lower than the state level by 1%, 5%, 8% and 8% respectively. (RIDE, 2011)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">William J. Underwood is always facing the challenge of high rate of mobility. From the year 2009 to 2012, the rate of turnover is 19%, 19% and 25%, which are all higher than the state level. (RIDE, 2011)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">To sum up, many positive elements contribute to the academic success of William J. Underwood elementary school, including good financial situation, sufficient teaching resources highly qualified teachers and supportive learning environment. But it seems exist a kind of powerful force that decides what teachers should teach and how students are supposed to behave, and even how administrators should manage the school. What is the power?

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Why students from this school perform well? The teacher-student ratio and good quality of teachers can't well explain it. Students from other schools in the same district perform poorly compared to them even though they enjoy the smaller class size and the quality of teachers is equally impressive.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 18pt;">William J. Underwood and the Game of School **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Based on the discussion above, there are three reasons for the good performance, namely so-called effective teaching methods, corporation between teachers and parents, and strict discipline. Teachers don't like to have students work in small groups in class, tell students to work with a partner on classwork or call on a lot of different students in class. The percentage of answers to the three question Mostly and Always together are lower than the statewide level by 10.4%, 11.4% and 17%. With those teaching strategies, teachers can take advantage of the valuable in-class time to prepare students for tests and memorize some standard answers. Besides, the close corporation between teachers and parents are another main elements for their academic success. All of data about parent engagement are much higher than the statewide level, such as parent-teacher conferences rate. At last, strict discipline plays an important role in the success. Teachers print handbook for parents and clarify the discipline at the beginning of each semester, such as students should be punctuated. on the discipline survey, 85.7% parents thinks school staff apply rules equally for all students while the rate of the state is 46.3 which is much lower than that of this school.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Why the teachers and parents pay close attention and efforts to improve student’s performance in the Standardized tests? Because they are high-stake tests. In other words, these tests, or the educational reform policy, such as NCLB do have impacts on how to teach, how to manage school and how to deal with parents.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">It is too early to cheer for the success. Only we figure out the cost of success can we say it is a successful example or a bad one which goes too far away from the role of the public school. The essence of these tests is competition. With this consideration that students are not allowed to get help from their partners or group and what they need to remember are standardized answers, group working becomes useless and time-consuming for teachers. Students are derived of the opportunity to work with other classmates and learn from others. Thus some students are fed up with the tedious textbooks and don’t like to communicate with their classmates. When asked do your teachers making learning fun and do your teachers make you want to learn more, the answers of Mostly and Always together are less than the statewide data by 8.2% and 9.7%. What's more, all of stake holders narrowed their focus on academic study, ignoring something that is more important than scores. Students who were bullied in this school are more than the statewide average number. Most of them report to adults but there is no data about whether the bullying stop after they report. Ironically, most students in the school think they will finish high school and go to college, but when they are asked do your teachers think you will go to college, only one third of students say yes, while two thirds of student say yes on the statewide level. Why teachers work hard but they make their students feel being treated with low expectation?

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The solution of William J. Underwood Elementary School to respond to high stake tests is to learn and practice the rules of the game of school. It is not only one of the schools which try to survive in the same way.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">InfoWorks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting - RIDE.ri.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2013, from []
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 18pt;">Resources: **