Who Are My Students - Coursework Example

Who are my Ed Quest Superior Street Elementary School is a charter elementary school in Los Angeles Unified. The school considers itself tobe a multicultural and a different learning community and aims at preparing students for increased performance at all the levels including academic, personal and social by providing a safe, prospering, meaningful as well as challenging environment (Superior Street School, 2014; Los Angeles Unified School District, 2012). At present, the school serves 557 pupils, 80 kindergarten, 92 first graders, 101 second graders, 96 third graders, 95 fourth graders and 93 fifth graders (Education Data Partnership, 2014). Superior Street Elementary School is committed towards meeting the academic needs of diverse population. The students in the school comprise 0.4 per cent American Indian or Alaska Native, 15. 8 per cent Asian, 0.4 per cent Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 6.6 per cent Filipino, 42.0 per cent Hispanic or Latino, 5.0 per cent Black or African American and 29.8 per cent White. The proportion of student in the school is identified to be similar to that of the average school ratio in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) with little divergence. The average district data reflects similar ratio of students’ backgrounds which includes 0.4 per cent American Indian or Alaska Native, 4 per cent Asian, and 9.2 per cent White (Education Data Partnership, 2014). With respect to Ed-data, 66 or 11.8 per cent were English learners (EL) during the school year 2012-2013. Additionally, 83 or 14.9 per cent of students were designated Fluent-English-Proficient (FEP) and 9 students were ELs who were Redesignated Fluent-English-Proficient (RFEP) since the past year. 36 ELs identified Spanish as their first language while 5 as Vietnamese, 4 as Armenian, 4 as Filipino (Pilipino or Tagalog), 2 as Arabic and 16 as other non-English. During 2011-2012 school year, Superior Street Elementary School was consisted of two administrators and twenty six full-time certificated staff members. Among these, four teachers were Hispanic or Latino, five Asian, two Black or African American and fifteen were Black or African American (Education Data Partnership, 2014). DataQuest According to the 2012-2013 Accountability Progress Report (APR) for Superior Street Elementary School, the school had scored 920 wherein 375 students were included in the Academic Performance Index (API), among these, 55 students were English Learners which makes EL to be a numerically significant population within the school. The school wide API had augmented from the previous year, across the different subgroups of students excluding Filipino, White and Students with Disabilities (Education Data Partnership, 2014). EL students at Superior Street Elementary School however were successful in meeting the growth target from 2012 to 2013.The 2012 base API for ELs was 822, and the 2013 score was 826. Since the school has scored well above the standard Statewide Performance Target of 800, it has no growth target. Based on this data, it can be affirmed that the performance of the school has been highly stable and academically proficient in English. Comparing Superior Street Elementary School with other schools in Los Angeles, the school ranked 5 on the scale of 1-10 while 1 representing the lowest and 10 being the highest. At the same time, when compared to other similar schools in California, Superior Street Elementary School stands in a quite high position on the scale of 1-10, with 10 representing the highest and 1 being the lowest. Correspondingly, Superior Street Elementary School ranks 9 on the scale (Education Data Partnership, 2014). It is quite hard to evaluate the performance of the school by merely taking this report into account. Nonetheless, certain imperative factors can be recognized to have contributed towards such performance of the school which may entail minimum staff turnover, effective allocation resources or funding or any other potential reason may have resulted in such performance of the school (Education Data Partnership, 2014). Superior Street Elementary School is designated as an elementary school for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reporting purpose. The school has been successfully able to meet all the requirements determined under 2013 AYP as recognized by the California Department of Education. The school has successfully met the AYP proficient rate requirements for both English and Math with minimum divergence from the target proficient rate. Evidently, the target proficient rate for English was 88.9 per cent for the year 2013 and the school scored 80.3 per cent which can be considered as a considerable achievement. Likewise, the sub-group in the school was also able to meet the target for AYP criteria for 2013. Besides, there was no target per cent proficient rate for Math, however 84.0 per cent of English Learners at Superior Street Elementary School attained proficient rate on the testing. Comparing with other significant subgroups, ELs scored almost equivalent. The largest difference margin was 14.2. The percent proficient rates remained highly constant within the overall significant subgroups at Superior Street Elementary School. This high performance levels can be attributed to factors such as minimum number of staffing changes, proper and effective preparation for testing, high attendance rate, or appropriate funding and resources for teaching or after school programs (Education Data Partnership, 2014). AMAO Report As per the 2012-2013 AMAO Report for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the number of students taking the CELDT was ascertained to be 145,066. Among these students, a large proportion i.e. 56.1 per cent was able to meet the annual growth target stated by California Department of Education. The AMAO 1 target for 2012-2013 was that 56.0 percent of students would meet the annual growth target, thus, it can be affirmed that LAUSD has been successful to meet the target for AMAO 1. With respect to the students who have been ELs for the period of less than five years in LAUSD, they were also seen to meet their target in 2012-2013. Responding to this, out of 109,263 students, 20.1% were targeted to attain the English Proficient Level on the CELDT. Notably, this target was surpassed when 24.8% attained this proficiency. On the other hand, students who have been ELs for the period of more than five years they however, were not able meet their target for the 2012-2013 school year. Evidently, among 61,902 pupils within this designation in LAUSD, it was observed that only 36.1 percent were able to attain the English Proficient Level while the target to attain this level was determined as 45 per cent. Taking all English Learners into consideration, LAUSD can be identified to be unable to meet the target prescribed in AMAO 2. It is apparent that ELs in LAUSD were able to meet the AYP participation rates for both English-Language Arts and Mathematics during the school year 2012-2013. However, it can be affirmed that ELs in LAUSD were not able to meet the percent proficient or above levels that were targeted, thus EL students failed to meet the target for AMAO 3. Finally, it can be stated that Superior Street Elementary School’s scores for ELs are slightly higher yet consistent than those testified in the district wide AMAO report (California Department of Education, 2013; Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, 2010). Conclusion To recapitulate, it can be expressed that English Learners at Superior Street Elementary School are progressing at a steady rate. This progress is rested on the evidences reflected by several pieces of information on the API and AYP reports. In this regard, the API for ELs has successfully surpassed the standard Statewide Performance Target of 800. At the same time, all targets determined by California Department of Education were duly met by the school. Thus, it can be concluded that students have been able to attain a level of proficiency and improve the same at a steady rate. References California Department of Education. (2013). 2011-12 Title III accountability reports. Retrieved from http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/t3/t3r.aspx?cds=19647330000000&yr=2011-12&submit1=Submit Education Data Partnership. (2014). Ed data classic. Retrieved from http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/App_Resx/EdDataClassic/fsTwoPanel.aspx?#!bottom=/_layouts/EdDataClassic/searchresults.asp?secret=name&findstring=superior Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. (2010). Implementation year one progress report. Retrieved from http://cdn.laedc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/2010AnnualProgressReport_web1.pdf Los Angeles Unified School District. (2012).Superior street elementary school: affiliated charter petition. Retrieved from http://laschoolboard.org/sites/default/files/Petition-Superior-05-01-12.pdf Superior Street School. (2014). About superior. Retrieved from http://www.superiorstreetschool.com/Mission_Statement.html Read More