Component 1: How is the achievement gap reflected in your classroom?

WARNING:  This is an extremely lengthy post.  It is copied and pasted from "Component 1" of my teaching portfolio.

These days I don't have much time to blog, but I do have essays to write for my grad school class.  This essay is to 'set the stage' for the rest of my teaching portfolio, and I thought it could also serve as a window into what I've been up to lately.

COMPONENT 1: The achievement gap in my classroom.

My placement is at Joseph George Middle School in the Alum Rock Union School District on the east side of San Jose, California.  The Alum Rock Union School District is a district comprised of 28 elementary and middle schools on the eastern side of San Jose, California.  There are approximately 13,372 students served by this district and 661 teachers.  The student/teacher ratio in the district is approximately 21:1, although in middle schools this number can be much higher.  Of these students, 8,903 are ELL (English Language Learners), and 1,347 have IEPs (Individualized Education Programs).  Students in this district are predominantly Latino/Hispanic, followed by a large percentage of Asian and Filipino students.  A small percentage of students are African American, white, or identify as two or more races.  Of the 9,184 students measured in the API (Academic Performance Index) of ARUSD, 9,132 were identified as economically disadvantaged.

In the state of California, a school’s performance is measured through STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) results.   Of the four standardized test options available, students in my school take the CST (California Standards Test) or CMA (California Modified Assessment) for students with special needs.

In terms of Alum Rock test scores, the numbers are staggering.  In ARUSD, 61% of 6^th graders and 56% of 7^th graders fall below Proficient on the CST in Math, and only 18% of 8^th graders taking the General Mathematics exam (which tests predominantly 6^th and 7^th grade competencies) score Proficient or Above.  In English/Language Arts, 59% of 6^th graders, 51% of 7^th graders, and 52% of 8^th graders fall below Proficient.   ARUSD is ranked 422^nd of 766 districts in the state of California, which ranks 46^th of the 50 states in middle school student academic performance.

These numbers are reflected at my specific school site as well.  In 2011, 53% of 6^th grade students, 56% of 7^th grade students, and 51% of 8^th grade students scored below Proficient in ELA.  61% of 6^th grade students, 61% of 7^th grade students, and a whopping 71% of 8^th grade students scored below Proficient in Math (8^th grade General Mathematics exam).  When students with disabilities are singled out, only 18% of 8^th grade students were Proficient or above for both General Mathematics and Social Studies.

I teach SDC class (Special Day Class - a self-contained group of students, all of whom have special needs) of 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders who rotate between an SDC classroom for English/Language Arts and my classroom, where they learn Math, Science, and for some, 8^th grade U.S. History.  My class size has ranged from 10-27, although the classes have now been evened out to between 17 and 19 students per period.  All of my students take the California Modified Assessment.

Last year, my 8^th grade students scored an average of 1.71 out of 5 on the California Modified Assessment (CMA) in ELA, and an average of 2.17 on the CMA 7^th grade Math assessment.  Only three students received “Proficient,” or a score of 4, on the Math exam and zero students were proficient in English, of 18 total students.  Of the 6^th/7^th grade students, the average ELA score was 2.37 out of 5, and the average Math score was 2.59 out of 5.  Only two students scored “Proficient” in ELA, and four students in Math, of 19 total students.

How does this data translate to the classroom?  In qualitative terms, this means that I teach 6^th graders who haven’t learned how to subtract with “borrowing.”  I have students who cannot read sentences.  Some of my students have not mastered multiplication or division, when 6^th grade standards cover Algebraic concepts.  My students struggle to remember and psychologically maintain concepts from one day to the next, let alone from September until May, when they are tested.  I have students in my History class who have difficulty understanding the concept of a map; who have never heard of Christopher Columbus.

The phrase “the gap within the gap” refers to the achievement gap of students with special needs within the context of the greater achievement gap between students of color and low-income backgrounds and their affluent, white peers.  This gap is immediately visible upon entering classroom C2 at Joseph George Middle School.  When the legal limit for students in a special education classroom is 18, and the district limit is 15, my classes are clearly overcrowded.  Breaking students into small groups is difficult based on the space available and the frequent outbursts and behavior management issues present in our classroom.  Students are consistently absent or suspended from school, and these factors are apparent when looking at diagnostic and benchmark exams in our math curriculum.

This does not, however, mean that there is no hope.  After the valiant efforts of a dedicated Teach for America alumna, many students have been placed in RSP (Resource classroom - a step up from my self-contained class) or general education settings for math class, and other students are at the brink of such a breakthrough.  Student behavior continues to improve each day, and students are already demonstrating proficiency at specific, scaffolded grade-level skills more and more frequently.  This year will be a year of growth for all of us.