Gilbert+Stuart+Middle+School

= Gilbert Stuart Middle School =  **District:** Providence  **Author:** Kayla Belanger  188 Princeton Avenue  Providence, RI, 02907
 * Address: **



Introduction
 Gilbert Middle School is a middle school containing grades six, seven, and eight. It is located within the Providence School District in the zip code of 02907. This area of Providence is in the southwestern region of Providence. 873 students attend this school with a teacher-student ratio of 1:12 which can be compared to a state wide ratio of 1:11. The student eligibility for subsidized lunch in this middle school is 95% in comparison to a state wide percent of 43%. Also, in this middle school 16% of students are involved in ESL or bilingual education services compared to a state wide percent of 5%. [1] This area of Providence is one of the poorer and less educated regions of Providence which reflects into the information that has been gathered from this middle school including proficiency, testing, and student surveys.

Proficiency
  First of all, Gilbert Stuart Middle School has a lot of diversity. In this school there are 44 different cultures represented out of the 873 students attending the school. 59% of the students are Hispanic, 23% are African American, 9.7% are Asian, 7.3% are White, and .8% are Native American. [2] Looking at the statistics of students by characteristics (8th grade) in 2008-09, we can see that there is not a great deal of fluctuation between different types of students. For example, the percentage of students proficient in math is exactly the same between students in poverty and students not in poverty. Reading proficiency percentages are about the same as well at 32% and 26% respectively. In this case, it is surprising to see that a greater percentage of students in poverty are proficient in reading. Another comparison is between races of students. Between African American and Hispanic students, the statistics were very similar with 12% and 15% proficiency in math and 33% and 29% proficiency in reading (both respectively). The one that stands out, though, is the Asian population of students in eighth grade. Proficiency percentages in both math and reading were higher than the other two groups of students. The Percentage of proficient students in math is 42%, which is significantly higher, and the percentage of proficient students in reading is 29%. A final comparison is between male and female students. In both math and reading, the female student population had a higher percentage of proficient students. For the male student body, 13% of students were proficient in math and 20% were proficient in reading. For the female student body, 20% of students were proficient in math and 42% were proficient in reading. [3] Diversity is abundant in Gilbert Middle School, but there is not much differentiation in proficiency. Even though diversity is usually looked at in schools as good for culture, Gilbert Middle School is much lower successfully in comparison to Barrington schools, for example, which have little diversity.

Testing
Testing in this middle school unfortunately produces very poor results. According to the NECAP exam in the school year of 2009-10, Gilbert Stuart Middle School is shown to be much lower than the state averages. In the sixth grade assessment of math, only 3% of students were proficient with distinction compared to 19% of the state, 18% were proficient compared to 40% of the state, and 56% were substantially below proficiency compared to 23% of the state. In the sixth grade assessment of reading, 2% of students were proficient with distinction compared to 15% of the state, 37% were proficient compared to 53% of the state, and 25% were substantially below proficiency compared to 11% of the state. The results of seventh grade and eight grade are are almost equal to the results for sixth grade. These scores are shockingly low compared to state percentages. 

Student Surveys
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> There is more to a school than just looking at test scores, though. From various surveys taken by the students of Gilbert Stuart Middle School, some facts about the comfort level students feel during school were revealed. For example, 17% of student attending this Providence middle have said that they are not getting along with their teachers. This seems like a very low percentage until it is compared to the percentages of many other schools in Rhode Island. In Barrington Middle School, for example, only 8% of students claim to not get along with their teachers. When asked if someone has ever tried to sell them drugs, 9% of student said they have experienced this. This statistic is also higher than that of Barrington who’s percentage was 6%. In Gilbert Stuart Middle School, 32% of students confessed to being robbed at school at least once. And, again, this was higher than the percentage in Barrington which was 23%. The next percentages that are presented are interesting. 14% of students in Gilbert Stuart Middle School claim to have family problems most of the time and 19% of students claim this problem in Barrington. Also, 22% of student in Gilbert Stuart Middle School say they are academic problems most of the time whereas 57% of students from Barrington say the same. The first two percentages are assumed since Gilbert Stuart Middle School is located in a bigger city which has more crime than Barrington. There is more poverty in Providence and less educated parents who don’t make as much income compared to Barrington. The last two percentages are interesting because the students who may not have the best situations at home are complaining less. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SALT Visit Team Report
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> February 27, 2004 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In addition to the supporting facts previously examined for Gilbert Stuart Middle School, The SALT Visit Team Report for 2004 states that Gilbert Stuart Middle School is “categorized as low performing” and “in need of improvement making insufficient progress.” Recognized in the SALT report is the difficulty of learning due to the fact that, to many parents, English is a second language. It was expressed that writing in Gilbert Stuart Middle School is the most focused on subject toward improvement. Students write in every class and in many different ways including journal entries, reports, portfolios, and more. Although the students’ writing levels are significantly low, the focus on extensive writing is making a step toward drastic improvement in this subject. On the other hand, students’ knowledge in math is poor. Students have trouble with problem solving and were observed to become frustrated easily with math problems. Not many teachers are able to effectively guide students through problem solving solutions. Teachers express their need for help in effective methods of instruction in mathematics and hope to soon receive guidance. As a whole, most students hold a desire to succeed in school. Most all students have goals of going to college and getting a job after high school. Most students are proud of their achievements in school and are admired by their peers for those achievements. In Gilbert Stuart Middle School, there exists a positive environment for students and learning. Students are eager to learn with goals of doing well in school and dedicated teachers embrace professional development, and encourage positive change. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Conclusion
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> As a conclusion for Gilbert Stuart Middle School, the performance overall is substantially lower than what it should be compared to other schools in Rode Island, but also seems to be making progress. While test scores show how inefficient the school is with about a third proficiency within the student population (compared to over 50% proficiency for the state wide statistics), the SALT Visit Team Report shows the potential that the school has. This is why schools cannot solely be evaluated on test scores. From other sources, we are able to see that the students are eager to improve as well as the teachers. There is a positive atmosphere for the students and with time, should only improve. Once the school learns how to overcome its biggest drawbacks, this school will be a lot more successful.

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 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">^ # Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, “InfoWorks LIVE! A Rhode Island Education Data Initiative - RIDE.ri.gov,” InfoWorks Live, October 28, 2010, [].
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">^ # “Gilbert Stuart Middle School Final Report.pdf,” [].
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">^ * “28144M-acco.pdf,” []