Demographic Data Comparison

8/2/2019 Demographic Data Comparison

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Demographic Data Comparison

Of

Palm Beach County School District

And

St. Lucie County School District

By:

Maria Sumner


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Table of Contents

I. SWOT Analysis Grid Page 3

II. Findings Page 5

A. Palm Beach County School District Page 7

B. St. Lucie County School District Page 11

III. Recommendations for Palm Beach County School District Page 14

IV. Recommendations for St. Lucie County School District Page 17

V. Closure Page 20

VI. Appendices

Appendix A-Diversity in my personal life Page 21

Appendix B- Strategies and how these strategies strengthen diversity Page 22

Appendix C- Engagement Page 24

Appendix D- Diversity Practice: Strengths and Weaknesses Page 27

Appendix E- Somerset High Case Study Page 29

VII. References Page 35


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I. SWOT Analysis Grid

Palm Beach County

Strengths

St. Lucie County

Strengths

Offers the

choice school

program to

accommodate

the needs of all

students. A

large amount

of choices areavailable

Data driven

school district

where tracking

demographics

is simple and

accessible.

Affluent county

Large

population

Large amountof federal and

state funding

Focus calendar

on curriculum

for the whole

district

Diverse

county

A lot of

brand new

schools with

state of the

art

technology

Skyward for

parents and

students to

monitor their

grades and

easy

communicati

on between

teachers and

parents

Low dropoutrate

Choiceschool

program

K-8 Schools

Consistent

leader

Palm Beach County

Weaknesses

St. Lucie County

Weaknesses

Alternative

education/

Dropout

Prevention

Not enough

communication

with parents

(EDLINE) Technology for

new schools

and old schools

ESE technology

In need of a

superintendent

Too large of a

school district

Data

warehouse

is on its

infancy

stages.

High rate of

poverty

Transientcounty

Offers

choice

school

program

but has

limited

programs to

offer


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Palm Beach County

Opportunities

St. Lucie County

Opportunities

Pre Kprograms

Engage

parents with

edline, ITV

Culturaldiversity as a

competency

model

Model

classrooms

that are so

diverse and

meets the

needs of all

students

Population isslowly growing

Affordable

housing

Cost of living islow

Palm Beach County

Threats

St. Lucie County

Threats

Hurricaneshelters are

our schools

Cost of living is

high

New teacherevaluation

Proposition

103

Hurricaneshelters are

our schools

New teacher

evaluation

Proposition103


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II. Findings

Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County are both located in the East Coast of South Florida.

Both counties are known for their beautiful beaches and family friendly communities. Both

Counties are pretty close in driving distance. A 40 minute drive would take one from North

Palm Beach County to South St. Lucie County. Even though these two counties are close in

distance, they are so different in many ways. The most obvious difference between these two

counties is their size. Palm Beach County takes up 1,971 square miles of land and that does not

include Lake Okeechobee which is 488,000 acres. Palm Beach County is larger than 2 other

states which are Rhode Island and Delaware. St. Lucie County takes up 512 square miles.

1,249,966 people call Palm Beach County their home. 252,428 people call St. Lucie County their

home. The average household size in Palm Beach County is 2.46 and 2.55 in St. Lucie County.

The average family size is pretty similar as well. The average family size in Palm Beach County is

3.08 and 3.05 in St. Lucie County.

Diversity is very familiar to both counties. Both counties experience socioeconomic diversity,

language diversity, racial diversity, and diversity with individuals with disabilities. The median

household income in Palm Beach County is $53,538 and the median household income in St.

Lucie County is $46,646. Even though this median income seems about normal compared to

the nations, both counties still experience a lot of poverty. The socioeconomic diversity in both

counties is evident. The poverty levels in both counties are also comparable. The family below

poverty level in Palm Beach County is 8.0% and 8.3% in St. Lucie County. Individuals in Palm

Beach County who are living below poverty level are 11%. Individuals in St. Lucie County who


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are living below poverty level make up 12% of the population. The number of free and reduced

lunch in our schools show that there is an issue with poverty. In Palm Beach County, 46.9% of

the students receive free or reduced lunch. In St. Lucie County, 59.7% of the students receive

free or reduced lunch. St. Lucie County has a much higher number of students receiving this

service. Language diversity is very evident as well. According to the 2010 census, 21% of Palm

Beach County residents were born in a foreign country and so 25.8% of the population speaks

another language aside from English. In St. Lucie County, 15.5% of the residents were born in a

foreign country and 19.4% of the population speaks another language aside from English. In the

schools in Palm Beach County, 10.5 % of the students are English Language Learners. St. Lucie

County has 7.1% of English Language Learners. Racial diversity is apparent in both counties.

The percentage of minority students in Palm Beach County is 60%. 37.2% represent the Whites,

28.5 represent the Blacks/African American, 27.8% represent the Hispanics, 3.1% represent the

Asians and .7% represents the American Indians. In St. Lucie County, 52.3% of the students in

the schools are considered minorities. 42% are Whites, 29.8% are Blacks/African American,

20.2% are Hispanics, 1.8% is Asians, and .5% is American Indians. The percentages of students

with disabilities in both counties show that in Palm Beach County, 15.2% of students are in the

Exceptional Education Program and 12.6% in St. Lucie County. Diversity is definitely not

common among these two counties. These two counties handle diversity in different ways.

Both counties are aware of the diversity and how both counties create a very diverse

environment that works best for their county. Each district keeps these data in mind when

creating strategies and programs that help the community.


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Palm Beach County School District

Palm Beach County has a lot of strengths as a school district. The location is in an affluent

county. The large population allows for a large amount of federal and state funding. This

means that the schools current expenditure per student is 9,296. Another Strength that Palm

Beach County possesses is the EDW that is available for all schools to easily access and monitor

all 172,897 students in the county. This Data Warehouse goes back 10 years in a students

academic and disciplinary records. Tracking students and their growth and development is so

crucial especially when dealing with the 11th

largest school district in the nation. Offering the

Choice School Program is a great way for the district to accommodate to the needs of all their

students. The district offers numerous choices for families depending on their preference and

needs. The district offers a dual language, gifted, Montessori, IB program, music, STEM, visual,

performing and communication arts, leadership academy, pre med sciences, and so much other

programs that help enrich the students and their interests. The district has a focus calendar that

allows for all teachers to be on the same concepts, curriculum and the same content

throughout the whole district. This is a big strength for the district because this allows for the

students who are transient, who move from one school to the other within the district to not

lose any instruction during the movement.

Even though there are so many programs to meet the needs of our diverse learners, one of the

biggest problems that Palm Beach County faces is the Alternative Education/Dropout Program.

Palm Beach Countys dropout rate is 5%. The National average of dropout rate is 4.4%. There

has to be some way for the students in this program to succeed and the number needs to go


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down. A downfall for having such a huge district is the parent/school communication. The

district cannot monitor programs for each school to maintain the communications between

parents and the school so the district leaves it up to the school to monitor their own EDLINE

sites. The schools then leave the site to be updated by the individual teachers. An EDLINE site

allows for parents to go into the schools site and look at the assignments, the grades and the

upcoming events for the classroom. Even though this site is available, it is not kept up by all

schools. Some schools keep up with the site without fidelity from all the teachers. Technology

is also an issue in the schools. Technology is such an important part of education. This allows

for diverse learners to meet their specific needs but for a big district, the costs of having state

of the art technology in each classroom could be very costly. From my experience, I have seen

on average 2-3 computers for each classroom. The time allotted for each student in a week to

learn through technology is not long enough to gain enough knowledge. Aside from computers

in the classrooms, there are some ESE technologies that would help all the students with a

disability as well. These Assistive Technologies range from talking computers to closed caption

televisions, to listening devices , curriculum and textbook adaptation in Braille and so much

more. The biggest weakness right now that the school district is facing is the fact that there has

not been a permanent superintendent. A district without a superintendent is like a country

without a president. The district needs a leader to keep the staff, parents and communities feel

a sense of organization. The district is set up in such a productive way and delegated so well

that the district is running smoothly without a superintendent but ultimately, the leader carries

out the vision of the whole district.


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The weaknesses in Palm Beach County School District open up a lot of room for improvement.

There are a lot of opportunities for the county to build on. The development of the cultural

diversity as a competency model is a step into creating a more unified district. The model

classrooms throughout the districts are also an opportunity to expand the different programs to

other parts of the county. The business partners that the district deals with are important in

order for the district to keep growing.

Being a very large school district and a district that continuously shows growth in student

achievement, the pressure is on for the district to do better and better every single year. The

district is onboard with these challenges since this is the goal of the district but there are some

issues that could threaten the districts well being. First and foremost, Palm Beach County

School District is located in a hurricane threatened area. The schools in Palm Beach County act

as shelters during these times. The severity of the storm and the damages determine the

length of time these schools are used as shelters. The cost of living is high in Palm Beach

County and so homes for rent and for sale are normally higher than in St. Lucie County. A big

number of families are slowly moving out of Palm Beach County due to the recession and is

starting to move up to its neighboring counties such as Martin County and St. Lucie County.

The commute is feasible so the parents live in St. Lucie or Martin County and continue to work

in Palm Beach County where the wages start higher than the other counties. The new teacher

evaluation and the merit pay is also a threat to the county since teachers are either leaving the

profession or moving to the private schools. The instability of the teachers does not allow for

consistency in the schools and in the classrooms. The last threat that Palm Beach County faces


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is Proposition 103. Proposition 103 states that the tax dollars are to be raised. From there, the

dollars are sent to state where it is decided where the money goes. The money will be

disbursed to the K-12 school but how the money is divided up is still unclear. Some districts will

receive more than others but there is still no certain way of determining the way to do it.


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St. Lucie County School District

For a small school district, St. Lucie County School District has a lot to offer its teachers,

students, and the community. St. Lucie County services 38,839 students every day. The district

spends $8,659 for expenditure per student. In the economic boom, many families from all parts

of the world were attracted to St. Lucie County because of the low unemployment rate and the

affordable brand new, large housings. Due to this, St. Lucie County has become a very diverse

area especially in language and ethnic diversity. Since the district was one of the fastest

growing districts in the country in 2005, there was a demand for new public schools to be built

in order to meet the demands of the new families coming into the county. There are a big

number of brand new public schools with state of the art technology. The classrooms are well

equipped with the CAVS systems; the teachers in the newer schools have access to the

laptops/smart boards where the other schools have separate computers and separate smart

boards. Most of the brand new schools that were built are K-8 Schools. Economically, these

schools are more inexpensive to operate. They are also energy efficient schools. The district of

St. Lucie County offers The Choice School Program just like Palm Beach County School District.

The programs that students can choose from range from environmental studies schools to fine

arts, to marine and oceanographic academy, Embry Riddle aerospace academy and other

magnet schools. The Skyward program that St. Lucie County started using the last couple of

years is a great start to creating great communication between the parents and the schools.

The parents have an online access to their childrens grades, absences, assignments, etc. There


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is also a way for the parents to message the teachers all in one link. There are some classrooms

where 100% of the parents have online access and so progress reports are not sent out in paper

form anymore. All of the students progress within that school year is in this program. The

reasoning behind the success of this small district is the consistency of the staff and the leader.

The superintendent, Michael Lannon has been in his position since 2003. He has been named

Superintendent of the year for all of Florida for several years.

A small school district with a lot of positive things going for it is a promising picture for St. Lucie

County School District. Just like any small company that tries to keep up with the larger

companies, this school district has a lot of weaknesses that they need to focus on in order to

compete with the bigger districts. The districts data warehouse is on its infancy stage. The

data in this program is not enough to show progress and growth of the students. The data only

goes back 2 years. This will take some time to build and the only way for this to become

comparable to Palm Beach County is time. As I had mentioned earlier, St. Lucie County offers

the Choice School Program which is wonderful for students with diverse interests. Due to the

fact that the county is smaller and the funds that they receive from the state and federal is not

as much as Palm Beach Countys funds, the Choice School Programs are not enough to reach all

students. There are waiting lists for these schools and the chances of getting into the programs

are slim to none. The high poverty rate of the district is also a weakness that the district faces

on an everyday basis. The challenges of having a district that has a high poverty rate needs to

be dealt with in order to reach the students in the low socioeconomic status. Since St. Lucie

County had an influx of families moving into the area during the economic boom, many of the


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families are not originally from here so there are families who leave the area just as quickly as

they moved into the area. This is a problem for the district because the families are very

transient. The movement of students from one school to the other is very common and the

movement of students out of the county is common as well.

St. Lucie County School District has some opportunities that if taken advantage would show

even more growth than what they are presently seeing. The population has come to a halt due

to the recession that the county experienced. The county is experiencing a lot of foreclosures

which is gradually brining families from the south to come up and live in this more affordable

county. The countys cost of living is low and this is appealing during the time where the

unemployment rate is high and there is instability of jobs.

St. Lucie County School District faces threats that might stunt the growth of the school district.

Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County are both located in the hurricane areas of the country

and so when hurricanes come and affect the area, some public schools are considered as

shelters. This does not allow for schools to operate for some time or depending on the severity

and the damages that the hurricane caused. The District is also faced with the new teacher

evaluation. When there is a change in the evaluation system, teachers are unsure, and there is

confusion among the educators; resistance is present which does not allow for effective

teaching in the classrooms. Another threat that the district faces which is also a threat to all

school districts in Florida is the Proposition 103. The increase in taxes affects everyone.

Families who are living in or below the poverty level are affected the most. A big part of the St.

Lucie County population is in this socioeconomic level.


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Recommendation for Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County School District will be able to overcome a lot of the barriers that the district

experiences through careful planning and decision making. In order to lower the dropout rate

in the district, there are five recommendations that the district could take into consideration.

First of all, the students who are coming into high school are assigned with guidance counselors

to help them with the decisions that the students have to make throughout their whole high

school career. If a relationship is already created in the beginning of the students freshmen

year, the guidance counselors should be able to pinpoint the students that might lose track of

their career and turn the other way. A contract between the students and the guidance

counselors should be done on a regular basis. This contract will keep the students in check and

focused while allowing the guidance counselors to intervene when deemed necessary. A solid

relationship between the work force programs and the schools are important as well. Right

now, students have the opportunity to earn money while attending school. This on the job

training is a great way for students to become prepared for the workforce. If the students have

more of accountability on the job and given more responsibilities, the students would see the

correlation between good academics and good workforce. The fast foods and supermarket

positions are wonderful jobs but it does not give the students a perspective of what they could

accomplish in other parts of the workforce. Rather than fast food or supermarket jobs, working

at a law office or a school or a police department would encourage students to go into college

and work to be a part of these departments. The third recommendation that relates to the

dropout program would be a dropout preparedness plan for the teachers and parents.


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Teachers and parents need to be ready to help these students. Teachers and parents could be

given the opportunity to go to trainings that show them how to create a safe, predictable

environment at school and at home for students who are at risk of dropping out. The only way

for parents and students to know this information is through the open communication that the

students have with their guidance counselors. Virtual school is another solution that could be

considered for the alternative/dropout program. Many families who are not aware of these

types of programs think that there is no other alternative for their children. When parents

know that there are other options, one less child will not be dropping out. Education of parents

in this matter is an effective way. The education would have to be offered constantly and in

convenient times and locations. The last recommendation for the dropout program would be a

counseling of the parents with the truancy officers. When parents are involved in the decision

making of the truancy officers, the parents will understand that these individuals are here to

help and not to hurt them. Truancy officers and parents should work hand in hand to have the

same common goal which is to get the students into the classrooms whether virtual or

traditional classrooms.

Communication between parents and the school is very important. Palm Beach County being

such a huge school district struggles in this area. If Palm Beach County School District leaves

the EDLINE up to the individual schools and teachers, the EDLINE will not be an effective

communication tool. If EDLINE is set up more like St. Lucie County School Districts Skyward

program, then the parents are notified immediately since skyward is linked to the students


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grades, attendance, and behavior status. Teachers enter all their grades, attendance and

referrals and accommodations in Skyward.

Technology is another concern that the district needs to address. The grants available for

schools to take advantage in are easily accessible. Since the addition of computers in the

classrooms is not in the budget, each school should be mandated to apply for so many grants a

year in order to try to get at least 5-6 computers in each classrooms. If the school is not able to

receive the grants or not enough grants, another alternative would be to have portable

computer stations which allows for teachers to move the computer stations and share it within

each grade level. Each computer station is equipped with 24 laptops each. A rotation schedule

for these computers would be necessary in order to manage the usage time of the computers.

Grants would also help with the assistive technology. Contacting the companies that produce

these assistive technologies would help find cost effective ways to have these interventions

into the classrooms. Having listening devices for the students with hearing impairment would

be beneficial for accommodations. Computers that speak to the students are costly but with

donations and grants, it could be possible. A partnership with some businesses could also help

provide the schools with textbooks and curriculum materials in Braille and other resources for

the students with disabilities. Raising money through fundraisers will also help get these

resources into the classrooms.


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Recommendations for St. Lucie County School District

According to the SWOT analysis, St. Lucie County has three major obstacles that they encounter

on a daily basis. These are limited programs, a focused curriculum and poverty. In order for St.

Lucie County to offer more programs within the Choice School Programs, the district would

have to work with community leaders to get some idea as to which companies are interested in

coming into the districts, what companies are interested in community outreach and so on.

Tropicana is a large company located in St. Lucie County. The company would probably have

the funds and the resources necessary to build an agriculture program. The Digital Domain

movie effects company is currently building offices in Port St. Lucie and students who are

interested in technology, graphic designs, and movie productions would benefit from these

types of companies reaching out to the schools. Getting teachers highly qualified to teach is

another important step in this approach. If there are more certified gifted teachers, the schools

could open more schools to accommodate the gifted students. So far, there is only one gifted

school in the elementary level in St. Lucie County and the waiting list is very long. A dual

language program would be another recommendation. Majority of the teachers are ESOL

endorsed due to the diversity in the county. According to the data, there are a big number of

people in St. Lucie County that speak a second language. Offering a Dual Language program

would not be costly at all. The resources are already there, it just needs to be in place.

Being a transient county, the curriculum needs to be focused and implemented similarly

throughout the district. Even though the district does have its scope and sequence, each


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teacher still has the requirement of creating a timeline as to when to teach the content. In

Palm Beach County, this is figured out for the teachers by the curriculum department in a site

the district calls Learning Village. In Learning Village, the teachers are given the resources

and options and accommodations necessary to effectively teach the content. As a result, when

a student moves from one school to another, the student does not lose much instruction.

Another recommendation would be to have the curriculum department already take apart the

common core standards which is where the state is heading to after the 2014, and create a very

concise curriculum to help the teachers understand the curriculum that they will be teaching in

the next couple of years. The department should be already doing this with the Kindergarten

and 1st

Grade scope and sequence.

The last major issue that the district deals with on an everyday basis is poverty. Poverty is the

responsibility of the community. Education on poverty is important. In the past, it was

mandatory for teachers to go to the Ruby Payne Trainings and become educated on the

framework of poverty. Once the teachers have attended training, no necessary steps are

necessary afterwards. Using the strategies or reflecting on the training was not necessary. This

is an important step in becoming educated in the topic. Presently, the training is not

mandatory but having this training and updates once a year is important. The numbers change

every year and since there are so many children in the schools that live in poverty, the teachers

should be updated. New strategies should be shared during these booster trainings as well.

There are schools in Palm Beach County that are located in the low socioeconomic areas but

show learning gains according to the No Child Left behind Act. Visiting these schools and


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learning about the processes that these school uses is an effective tool to learn how to reach

these students. Counselors are an integral part of this recommendation. Counselors need to

have strong relationships with the students so the students can openly say that their family has

a need and intervention is necessary. Lately, counselors are in charge of a lot of paperwork

that involves testing that the time they have for the students is inexistence. Some of these

children are left to deal with the issues with themselves and the only time they are seen by the

counselors is when something drastic happens. The last recommendation in the lines of

poverty would be for the district to offer Bridges out of Poverty workshops for the

community members. In this workshop, community members are educated on how to learn

the hidden rules of living in poverty. This workshop will help everyone understand and help

families living in poverty to become self sufficient.


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Closure

All school districts have their strengths, their weaknesses, opportunities and threats. How each

district approaches and deals with each differs depending on the needs of their community. It

is important not to lose sight of what the realistic goals and how the district can grow and serve

their community especially the ones who need it the most, which are the students. A

successful school district is not afraid to ask for help and seek help from those districts that are

effectively implementing their weakness. A successful school district is also willing to share

with other districts when the other districts ask for help. As a nation, we share our students

with each other. We need to work together as one to make all our children in the United States

become successful.


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Appendix A

Diversity in my personal life

Diversity is perceived as many different things to many different people. We are living in such a diverse

area that obviously, youre bound to have a different opinion from the person next to you. Being different

is not necessarily a bad thing. Again, its how we perceive things. I have been dealing with diversity sincemy whole teenage life until now. I really dont see it as a negative impact in my life. I feel that because of

diversity, I am who I am right now in my life. When I was 14, my family moved from Manila, Philippines to

West Palm Beach, Florida. Prior to our big move, I felt that West Palm Beach was going to pretty much be

a continuation of my life in the Philippines. Well, I was in for a surprise. It definitely was a rude awakening

since I had to adjust to what the norms are in my new school, new neighborhood, and new church in

order to fit in. Even though English is spoken in the Philippines, it isnt my first language. I had to adjust to

how I spoke and how I expressed myself. Its hard to say what you want to say with such limited

vocabulary. Many times, I would say words thinking that that is the appropriate way of saying it and I

become ridiculed because of my accent. If it was different so it was funny is how high school students

perceived things. School was a big change. In the Philippines, the curriculum was different. It was much

more rigorous and I did struggle with the content. When I started going to school in Florida, it wasassumed that I was this genius since I was Asian. I didnt really understand the reasoning behind it since I

didnt know better. Even though this stereotype could be terrible, it actually helped me gain confidence in

myself. I worked harder than I did in the Philippines, I was motivated and I created goals for myself. I

ended up having fairly good grades because of the expectations that other students had for me. Diversity

definitely helped me out in this situation. From then on, thats how I approached life. I work harder than I

think I can and I create goals that I cant easily attain. This motivates me to go abo ve and beyond. This is

just one way that I have experienced cultural diversity. Socioeconomic diversity is something that I have

experienced as well. When we moved to Florida, my family was struggling financially. My mom, who was

a single mom, raised my brother and I and we had to ask assistance from family members to help us start

our new life in this country. The school I went to was a very affluent school. Children my age were getting

things that I didnt think was possible. These kids were getting cars at the age of 15 and 16. There were

kids in our school who would have parties in cruise ships and expect others to do the same thing. It didnthelp that I also had cousins who lived 2 hours away who were children of a neurologist and they got

everything that they asked for. Clothes, shoes, accessories were overflowing from their closets and food

and valuables were not appreciated. Obviously, this did not make me feel great but then again, I dont just

observe things and reflect on them, I do something about it. So when I turned 15, I got a job at an indoor

play space for kids where I earned my own money and was able to buy some things that my mom would

not be able to provide for me and my brother. I am even proud to say that through this, I was able to help

my mom purchase our first family car. I have diversity to thank for that.

Diversity was a common thing in my childhood but growing up; I am still dealing with diversity in my

professional life but so are many people around me. Being a woman, Im constantly proving myself to

males that I am capable of becoming a leader. Its not such a hard thing to deal with now since a lot of

leaders are women. I am also constantly proving to others that even though I am a minority, I can make a

difference in this country. Again, its not such a hard thing since so many minorities around me are

making a difference as well.


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Appendix B- Strategies and how these strategies strengthen diversity

Promising Strategy Description How it strengthensdiversity

Including all students in

American High School

social events.By providing explanations

in home language and/or

spending a few minutes

in class explaining what

will happen during home

coming week and the

reason why allows for all

the students to feel that

they belong to the school

This builds a cohesive

student body. This

strategy helps identify

which groups are being

excluded from social

events

Good Morning all around

the world Every morning, a firstgrade class works on theircalendar math and then

sings a song about good

citizenship. The class

would then end this

morning routine with a

good morning to the

other students with ahandshake while they say

good morning in a

different language. Every

week, the words good

morning in said in a

certain language.

This morning routine

helps the students

become aware that no

matter what the language

they speak, they have the

same intention which is

to welcome and wish

each other a good

morning. The studentsshow value to the new

language learned.

Celebrating Hispanic

Heritage Month and Black

History MonthEvery year, a school

celebrates these 2 special

months. During theHispanic Heritage Month,

a parade of Hispanic

countries is showcased all

throughout the

campus. During the Black

These two events show

the community the

importance of thesecultures. Hispanic and

blacks are the minority

but through these events,

they are valued as an

integral part of the


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History Month, the

students create products

that show knowledge of

different influential

African Americans. Bothcelebrations are

concluded through an

evening program full of

singing, dancing,

performances that

represents these

countries and

individuals.

school.


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Appendix C

Engagement

One of the issues that are currently boggling the minds of our staff is how to

make our students engaged in what they are learning. The students are verycompliant. They are all well behaved for the most part but they are not engaged

in what they are doing academically which shows little improvement in their

learning. Being aware that this is an issue that needs to be resolved and being

aware that this might be the reason why our lowest 25 percentile students are not

making the gains, we have created a short term goal and a long term goal. As a

short term action, we decided that the teachers would have to create formative

assessments as checkups to make sure that the students understand the

lessons. A long term goal is also necessary in addressing this concern. A long

term action that we came up with was consistently monitoring the level of

engagement of the students.

The short term action would be done fairly quickly. Each grade level team

would just have to create a common assessment for the whole grade level and

check once a week for mastery. This common assessment would be given by the

subject area teacher in every subject and it would take place in the

classroom. This common assessment will be a quick tool that could be

implemented immediately just to see if the students are receiving information

from lessons and actually understanding the content.

Our long term action would take a lot more planning, man power, and money

involved. The program is called Working on the Work or WOW for short,

through the Schlechty Center. The Schlecthy Center is a nonprofit organization

that helps transforms school into a school focused on compliance to schools that

are focused on engagement. A representative from our school would sign up for

the Working on the Work Framework. This is a $900 3 day conference that goes

over how a teacher becomes a leader, the teacher as a designer, a teacher as a

guide to instruction and designing powerful work that aligns to the

standards. The person chosen to go to the training would end up training the

rest of the staff. The teachers would have to participate in a training to learn

more about what engages the students and how to keep the students engaged.


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As the teachers become comfortable with the information, they would start

creating their engage o meters and start familiarizing their students on the

framework. An engage o meter is the product that teachers would have to create

after going to the training. The engage o meters will be anything that the teacher

would create to monitor the level of engagement in their classrooms. Teachers

could use 5 levels where level 1 is not engaged and level 5 is highly engaged. If

the teacher finds that the students are in the lower levels even after the lesson has

been taught, then that teacher would need to come up with some re teaching

strategies to make sure that the students absorb the lesson the next time around.

Teachers could even add a twist to their levels by giving each level a title. Level

1 could be I dont care for this. Level 2 could say its not so bad. Level 3

could say This is kind of interesting. Level 4 could say I like this lesson and

Level 5 could say I want to learn more about this lesson! This framework is

going to be beneficial for the students and the teachers because it gives them an

awareness of where the students are before learning about the lesson and whatlevel they are after the lesson has been taught. The engage o meters can be used

with any activity, any lesson or any video that the teacher decides to use it

on. The best resource we have for this plan is a highly motivated reading coach

who will represent our school in the training and who would lead the trainings

in our school.

Implementing the common assessments Framework will need the whole schools

support in order to be successful. We would need to assign each team leader to

access the common assessment through a test bank called CoreK12, collaborate

with the teachers to approve and then turn in to administrator for a final

approval. We would also need the help of the clerical staff to make copies of the

common assessments or run the test results if it is scantron based. Creating the

common assessments does not need the community resource but monitoring the

progress will be something that we would utilize the community. Our school

would get our volunteers to organize a data committee. The volunteers who

would be involved in this committee would be the individuals who have no

children in the school. This committee would track the learning gains of eachclassroom depending on their common assessment results. Data walls would be

created in order monitor this progress. This committee would be headed by a

retired teacher. The classroom teachers would turn in their results to the

committee and every month, a new graph would show growth. This committee


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would also have to conduct fundraisings and involve outside business partners

through donations to give prizes to the class that shows the most learning gains.

As far as the WOW Framework, we would need the assistance of our business

partners to help with the funding of the out of state training. Our business

partners committee who is made up of our teachers, staff and volunteers, would

set up numerous fundraisers to help make this training possible. A fundraising

from the local pizzeria would help raise money for the supplies and trainings

that the teachers would receive. The fundraiser would consist of our families

having dinner at the pizzeria and a percentage of the earnings would go towards

the WOW framework. This would give the pizzeria the business while we

benefit from it as well. The business partners committee would have to create a

letter to businesses stating what our goal is and what we strive to accomplish

and then go to the different businesses and ask for donations. In return,

depending on the amount of donation, we would use their donation as a

payment for an advertisement section in our monthly newsletter that is sent to

the parents. Once the teachers are trained, maintaining the WOW framework

will really need the help from everyone involved. Creating a relationship with

the Schlechty Center would be essential as well. This way, when the school

needs support, the teachers would have someone to turn to.

Bowen, E., Student engagement and its relation to quality work design: A review of the literature. Retrievedfrom:http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?12

72417199.

Schlechty Center on Engagement. Retrieved

from: http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?13

03397633.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?1303397633http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?1303397633http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?1303397633http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?1303397633http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/SC_on_Engagement.pdf?1303397633http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4048/original/bowen_pdf_litreview.pdf?1272417199


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Appendix D-

Diversity Practice: Strengths and Weaknesses

CHART #1

Diversity Practice: Strengths

Area Guiding Question Evidence

Educational

Practices

Are teachers

encouraged to

adjust teaching

strategies to take

into account

different ways of

thinking and

responding in

educational

settings? How are

teachers

accountable for this

practice?

Teachers are encouraged to adjust teaching

strategies through differentiatedinstructions/small group instructions.

Teachers need to indicate in their lesson plans

the differentiated skills they are using for thedifferent groups that they see. Lesson Plans

are checked by administration at least 3 timesevery trimester.

Teachers have been trained on the thinking

map strategy. Thinking maps allow thestudents to process the information learnedand organize them in a way that it assists

comprehension. The teachers are aware that

a display of student work in regards tothinking maps is suggested and visible for all

to see

The teachers of the gifted learners need toidentify in their lesson plans how they areenriching these learners and how they

challenge them. The ESE teachers work together to make sure

that the IEPs are met and up to date and that

accommodations are given to these students.

The dual language teachers and their Englishteacher partner work together and submit anewsletter to show the parents that both

classes work together and have the samegoals and expectations and this newsletter isgiven to the families once a month.

Operational

Practices

Do employment

practices reflect the

demographics of

the community and

student population?

The gifted classrooms have gifted endorsedteachers. 1 out of 7 is not yet gifted endorsed

but has signed an agreement that by the endof the school year, the gifted endorsement

would be complete.

All teachers with ELL students are ESOLendorsed. All our teachers are ESOL endorsed

even if they do not have ESOL students.

The ESE teachers are all ESE certified.

About of our staff members speak a secondlanguage to accommodate the huge Hispanic,

some Creole population.


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CHART #2

Diversity Practice: Areas in Need of Improvement

Area Guiding Question Suggested Improvements

Educational

Practices

How are students

and staff

representatives

from diverse groups

encouraged to be

active participants

in system and

school initiatives,

and in decision

making?

A student council committee could take parton some decision making process that relates

to school wide academic and social topics. An activity preview would be implemented

especially for science and math where family

members are encouraged to preview

upcoming lessons and produce a product thatthe family created to show the whole school.The students who bring the products give their

homeroom class a point. The class with the

most points gets a reward. Ex. If the topic ison weathering and erosion, families could

share how weathering and erosion looks like in

different parts of the world. Many perspectiveswill be seen and it will benefit all whoexperience it.

Before a lesson, students are encouraged to

help set the goals for the class. The teacherstill has the main goal in mind but the

students have the choices on how the goalsmight look and sound.

Operational

Practices

To what extent are

the physical and

social events of the

school

district/school

supportive of equal

access and success

for people with

diverse needs

The PTO members create activities and eventskeeping in mind that the school is united.

Even though this might be a wonderful way to

build a sense of community, a lot is lost intranslation.

Creating events specific to the needs of our

school could be beneficial. Thanksgiving

dinner could be Thanksgiving around theworld where foods from all over the world are

available for all to experience.

Parent events such as donuts for dad andmuffins for moms are parent universitieswhere the parents are informed about the

curriculum and what they can do to help.Even though this event is very successful, theevent could be broken up in English, Spanish

and Creole to really get the needs of the

families met.


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Appendix E- Somerset High Case Study

Case Study Analysis Framework

1. Review the Case Somerset High School is led by their principal

named Randy Barnes. Mr. Barnes has beenworking with his staff on trying their best to

accommodate inclusion. There has been a lot

of resistance coming from the teachers but this

is the law according to the IDEA law. This law

states that every child with a psychological

disorder that relates to writing, listening,

speaking, thinking, reading, spelling and

computing have the right to an education

mainstreamed with other children in thegeneral education classes. Marie Cooley, a

mother of a child with a hearing disability will

be bringing her son, Steven to Somerset for the

first time. Knowing that his teachers are not

equipped to teach a child with a hearing

disability, Mr. Barnes calls in to meet with

Mrs. Cooley, Wayne Santos the districts ESE

supervisor, Sandra Thomas, the counselor and

Kathy Watson, the schools ESE teacher. Theteam learns about the different needs and

concerns and tries to come up with a plan to

accommodate Steven and give him the

education that he deserves according to the

IDEA.

2. Statement of problems/issues Identify the problems.

Prioritize the problems.

Identify the major problem to be solved.

There are numerous problems in this case.

First and foremost, the teachers would need to

be well equipped to teach Steven. The attitudeof the faculty towards inclusion would need to

be changed. Even if the teachers do not have a

direct correlation to Steven, the culture that the

school is creating is not healthy for anyone.

Next, the IEP would have to be revised. Then


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will Mr. Barnes need to find out which

classrooms Steven would be assigned to.

Even though there is a possibility of a

translator, the teachers would need to have

some sort of background with his disability.

3. Analysis of case data (people, place,

policy, program) Why or how did this issue arise?

Determine cause and effect for the

problems identified.

Who will be affected by the decisions

made?

Due to the IDEA law, the school needs to deal

with this issue with a lot of thought. The

resistance of the teachers to change is a biggest

issue in this case. If the teachers attitude to

this situation is not going to change, not only

will Steven be affected but the whole school

will be affected because the school would be

violating the law.

4. Identify required school/school

district/ state/ federal data and/or

documentation

The school would need to update Stevens IEP

to make sure that all accommodations would

be met and that an action plan will be in place.

5. Identify relevant Florida Principal

Leadership Standard(s)

This is a case that involves ALL of the Florida

Principal Leadership Standards. In Domain 1

Standard 1, Mr. Barnes would have to make

sure that Stevens IEP goals are met. In

Standard 2, he would need to demonstrate thatStevens learning is his priority. Domain 2

Standard 3, Mr. Barnes would need to develop

and implement instructional planning based

on the state standards that are relevant to

Stevens IEP. Standard 4 would allow Mr.

Barnes to develop an effective and diverse

faculty. Standard 5 would be where Mr.

Barnes would be able to monitor the learning

of all types of students. In Domain 3, Standard6, Mr. Barnes would need to be aware of the

quality of the student learning and evaluate

the effectiveness of the decisions made and if

things need revisions, to make those revisions.

In Standard 7, Mr. Barnes would create a


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supportive relationship between the parents

and the community. In this case the

Community College personnel could

potentially help become a translator for

Steven. In Standard 8, Mr. Barnes would needto promote safe, efficient, legal, and effective

learning environment

(www.floridaschooleaders.org) for all

students. Standard 9 is where Mr. Barnes

would show that he listens to parents, staff,

and students and have an open

communication with them. Mr. Barnes would

also have an ongoing communication with the

teachers based on the updates and informationreleased through the IDEA requirements. In

Domain 4, Mr. Barnes would be able to check

on his actions and decisions and this is where

he would need to stay focused to the fact that

he is committed to the success of all students

and also improve on his performance based on

the areas that he and other sees are necessary

for his growth as a leader.

6. Apply the New DEEL Framework

Overarching Goals

1. To have responsible participation for

the common good2. To implement social justice through

open dialogueright to voicecommunity

participationdistributive

leadership

3. To promote moral responsibility

democracy

Applying the New DEEL Framework to this

case will not be an easy task since the staff has

their preconceived notions and their strong

beliefs on the issue. It would be in the best

interest of all the ESE students, especially

Steven to come up with a plan that would help

him succeed. In order to hear the voice of all

participants, a team meeting would need to be

set up since the first meeting was just with a

very few individuals that really cant represent

the whole school. Mrs. Belle who seems to

have a big influence on the staff should be a

part of the team to meet with every grade level

and let them have an awareness of the
http://www.floridaschooleaders.org/http://www.floridaschooleaders.org/http://www.floridaschooleaders.org/http://www.floridaschooleaders.org/


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through

student voice

democracy

among teachers

and staffthrough

collaborative

groups

democracy

through

personalized

student

learning

situation. The law states that all children with

disabilities that fall under the IDEA law have

the right to an education alongside their peers

in the general education classrooms. The

decision could only help everyone and I dontsee it hurt anybody. This approach would not

be hard to defend to colleagues and even to

the public since it is the law and the only issue

here is how to enforce the law in an ethical

way while listening to all sides of the story.

7. Articulate the desired outcome

How would you make an ethical decision?

Considero Social Justiceo Equity

What is the ideal democratic outcome?

The desired outcome of this case would be for

Steven to enroll in Somerset High where

teachers are knowledgeable on the IDEA,

educated on strategies, have confidence that

they can educate ALL students and willing to

help every student succeed and specifically forSteven, be given a full time translator to help

clarify some things that the teachers cant. The

gradual release of the translator would be an

ideal goal where Steven could become

independent in his skills once he leaves high

school and goes on to college or the job force.

8. Recommendations Professional development for the

teachers and ESE paraprofessionals

Revise and update Stevens IEP Find classroom teachers who would

like to take the initiative to help Steven.

Find a translator through the college to

help assist Steven in the transition.

Create a mentoring program for Steven


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with a teacher.

Create a mentoring program for Steven

with a peer.

9.Action/Implementation Plan Time/Date Action Plan

1 day during

planning

Update the teachers on the

IDEA law through gradelevel/subject area team

meetings. Answer questions

and address concerns. Mr.

Santos would be advised to

be in the school for the team

meetings to help address the

major concerns that the

teachers have. Upon

completion, teachers would

need to indicate somewherein their lesson plans how

they are accommodating for

the students with

disabilities.

Weekly then

monthly

Lesson plan checks to make

sure that the teachers are

using the strategies that they

place in their plans to give

accommodations. If not

effective, have assistance forthese teachers.

1 day Meet with Mrs. Cooley and

the ESE teacher and

counselors to revise Stevens

IEP

1 week

(in honor of

ESE week in

Florida)

ESE expo. As a professional

development, each teacher

would have to develop a

poster on a certain disability

that they are interested in

learning more about. The

school would hire 2-3

substitutes all week so

teachers could walk around

in each others classrooms

and give kudos to the


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display boards that they

created. The teachers would

also come up with things

We can do to reach these

students with these specific

disabilities and share it forall teachers who

walkthrough to see. A

schedule would have to be

created to so every teacher

gets at least 2 hours to

educate themselves on

different disabilities and

different needs.

1 planning Talk to the teachers in the

different departments tocome up with a plan on

which classroom would be

best for Steven. Also, find a

teacher mentor who Steven

could come up to everyday

and just voice out his

thoughts and concerns. The

teacher would be given the

opportunity to take some

signing classes as well if theywant to unless they are

going to learn through

Steven which would also

help with the bonding. The

teachers would pick several

students to mentor Steven in

every class.

Ongoing A constant review of how

the plan is being

implemented would be

checked quite frequently

during the initial months

and then gradually checked

monthly.


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REFERENCES

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/bls/demographics.htm

GeoLytics. Retrieved from: http://www.geolytics.com/

Palm Beach County School District Website. Retrieved from: www.palmbeachschools.org.

School District Demographic System. Retrieved from: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.aspx

St. Lucie County School District Website. Retrieved from: www.stlucieschools.org

Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council: Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2007-2012.

Retrieved from: http://www.tcrpc.org/departments/CEDS%202007-2012.pdf.

US Census Bureau. Retrieved from: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
http://www.bls.gov/bls/demographics.htmhttp://www.bls.gov/bls/demographics.htmhttp://www.geolytics.com/http://www.geolytics.com/http://www.palmbeachschools.org/http://www.palmbeachschools.org/http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.aspxhttp://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.aspxhttp://www.stlucieschools.org/http://www.stlucieschools.org/http://www.tcrpc.org/departments/CEDS%202007-2012.pdfhttp://www.tcrpc.org/departments/CEDS%202007-2012.pdfhttp://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=enhttp://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=enhttp://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=enhttp://www.tcrpc.org/departments/CEDS%202007-2012.pdfhttp://www.stlucieschools.org/http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.aspxhttp://www.palmbeachschools.org/http://www.geolytics.com/http://www.bls.gov/bls/demographics.htm

Demographic Data Comparison

Documents