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How does the data support and/or illustrate the Culture of Literacy at your School?
In 2006, the relatively small Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) had over 18,000
students and was a fiscally sound competent system. Today, IUSD has 8,400 students, is 30
percent privatized and drowning in debt (“Are Public Schools in California’s Inglewood a
Warning?”, 2018). Clyde Woodworh Elementary School is no different, with enrollment at an all
time low and 90% of teachers on the precipice of retirement, aggregated data provided by The
wide. The above measure is based on student performance on the Smarter Balanced Summative
Assessment for English Language Arts last school year, which indicates that; 74.1% students
performed below standard which is a 30% increase from the previous year. 7.2% of students
exceed performance levels, 14.4% students met performance expectations, 22.2% nearly met
performance expectations and 56.2% did not meet performance expectations. Overall, this data
does not have a very robust literacy culture, many of the classrooms have dated books, the school
does not have a library, the school grounds are being remodeled and students and staff are
preparing for a facility merger with neighboring Monroe Middle School. The project is costing
IUSD approximately three-million dollars, leaving few resources for currently enrolled student
needs. Teachers and staff are having a difficult time sustaining a minimal personal budget for
their classroom needs because of the school and districts lack of available funding.
Additionally, there is a strained administration; Clyde Woodworth alone has had 5 principals
in the last 7 years, giving teachers little hope for substantial support and overall creating a
staggeringly at 5,242nd out of 5,662 California Elementary Schools, making it one of the lowest
performance elementary schools in the state. Operating as a Title I school; 86.3% of the students
are socioeconomically disadvantaged, 49.8% are Emergent Bilinguals and 2.7% are foster youth.
The schools racial and ethnic demographic is approximately 67.3% Hispanic, 29.8% African
Look at the data through the lens of a “Reading Specialist.” How do the scores at each
grade level confirm your impression of the teaching effectiveness at those levels? Reflect
upon what you see in the data and what you know about the teaching at your school.
The scores provided on the California Department of Education website only reflect those grades
levels that were assessed using the SBAC (grades 3-5), the results of the assessment only detail
accountability system, California illustrates state measures, using comparable statewide data
represented by one of five colors: red, orange, yellow, green and blue.
Based on this accountability system, if viewing literacy performance from the perspective of
a Reading Specialist, these scores are cause for alarm. African American students are performing
92.9% below standard, ELLs are performing 70.7% below standard, students who are
socioeconomically disadvantaged in total are performing 76.3% below standard and Hispanic
students are performing 66.7% below standard for English Language Arts. All groups are in the
orange, just barely stretching out of the lowest performance level; with the exception of
underservice that is taking place at Clyde Woodworth, lack of resources coupled with
socioeconomic disadvantage amongst the families, is a recipe for academic decline when met
with low teacher performance expectations. Most of Woodworth’s teachers are approaching
retirement and generally feel unsupported by administration and overwhelmed by the demands of
the students. There is an observable lack of current evidence-based instructional strategies for
ELLs, an ineffective and impractical approach to socioemotional needs of the student population,
and a curriculum that is widely unpopular and not appropriately aligned to the full spectrum of
If you were the Principal, what grade level would you be most concerned about. Identify
three steps you would take to help that grade level move closer to grade level
expectations.
The aggregated data provided is not categorized by grade level, though the measures are
based on the SBAC scores for grades 3-5. Using this collective data, the grade level I would be
most concerned about is 1st grade. It is during first grade that most children define themselves as
good or poor readers. Unfortunately, it is also in first grade where common instructional
practices are arguably most inconsistent with the research findings (readingrockets.com). When
it comes to reading, the nine months of first grade are arguably the most important in a students
schooling. With a predominantly ELL population and students from low-income families
enrolled at Clyde Woodworth, it is a moral imperative for effective research based instructional
practices and strategies to be implemented. Using the Universal Design for Learning Framework,
principal, the three steps I would take to help 1st graders move closer to grade level expectations
are:
and Expression: The UDL Guidelines for the Principle of Action and Expression
better determine their students learning goals. Some action and expression strategies
include:
a) Provide options for physical action- vary how learners can respond and
b) Provide options for expression and communication – use and encourage use of
setting.
help to bring Woodworth’s first graders closer to grade level expectation by assessing
student culture. Taking pride in knowing your students is the hallmark of any well-
functioning school; I would get to know the students by talking with them in the
classroom setting, interacting with them on the playground, and observing them
working and playing with others. Also, invite family members in to share aspects of
their culture with their children’s class. In addition, I would familiarize myself with
the cultural makeup of the students at the school and trace ELLs language
development based on geographical and social factors, truly educating myself on the
would branch out into the first-grade students reading instruction. I would first
and comprehension and use these components as a basis for determining whether
established, I will propose culturally responsive assessment strategies that are catered
to the cultural diversity of the student body. For example, an effective reading
assessment for ELLs is a Cloze Procedure, a cloze procedure is good for assessing
both vocabulary and comprehension. In the cloze procedure, the reader attempts to
Instructional Coach, I would attend the grade levels team meetings twice a month, using the
collective teacher vision for their students as a stepping stone towards higher academic
teacher to go over student progress, areas of challenge, strengths and whatever additional
support the classroom teacher may need. If the budget for the school remains fixed and
unsubstantial, I would research non-profits and organizations that offer free or reduced priced
educational resources and materials and provide catalogs for the teachers to place orders
Collectively and cooperatively organizing with the teachers, I would establish this peer-
monitoring reading program as a tool to help build overall fluency and reading skills school-
wide.
References
Ultican, T. (2018, June 13). Are Public School in California’s Inglewood a Warning? The San
californias-inglewood-a-warning/#.XM3eWI5KjIU.
Wisnieswski, R., Fawcett, G., Padak, N.D., Rasinski, R. (2012). Evidence-Based Instruction in
www.readingrockets.com