It is important for teachers to know what the community, school, and statistics are before deciding to apply at a school. Knowing these facts, can help teachers decide whether or not the school is the best place for them to work at knowing their abilities. A teacher can use these facts to help benefit them in the interview and in the classroom. Creating a game plan to attack the educational areas in need will help make the teaching experience easier. Let’s say the teacher is applying to Hillcrest Elementary School part of the Revere School District.
Exploring the community around Revere is also essential in understanding what the populations of people who go to Revere are. A teacher will need to research the facts about Revere to understand their school system’s achievements and improvement areas. Lastly, with all this information a teacher needs to know what to do with it, what it means for them, and how it will impact their teaching. Community Hillcrest is placed in Richfield Ohio. Students who go to Hillcrest are from the districts of Bath and Richfield.
The community of “RICHfield” is a wealthy one as suggested by its name. According to City-Data Richfield’s median household income is $76,858 compared to Ohio’s median household income of $48,081. (CITE). Richfield residents make about $28,777 more than their Ohioan neighbors. About 96. 2% of people living in Richfield are white, 1. 4% are Asian, and . 7% are Black. CITE There is not much diversity in the community of Richfield. In 2013 the crime rate was 39. 7 with a U. S. average of 261. 8. The higher the number the more crime that has happened.
Of what has been reported, Richfield has had no murders, rapes, or robberies since 2010 to 2013. The data only goes to 2013 so it might have changed since then. With all of this data what does this mean for a teacher? Community Analysis As we know Richfield is a wealthy community. Yet, what does that mean for teachers? It could suggest that levees for school funds are passed more often since the people here have more money. However, this is not always the case. About five years ago, the school had a levy that did not pass.
Yet, a levy was recently passed this fall to start the journey to building a new elementary and high school. Richfield may have more money, but that doesn’t always mean the levees will be passed. It just depends on the issues. A higher income rate could suggest that the students are coming into school better prepared. There is a correlation with education and income. The higher the income the better the education. CITE. With Revere being in a wealthy area they can acquire more resources. In November 2016 I had the chance to go to a Revere Board of Education meeting.
There the board members were talking about how in grades 7-12 those students will be receiving a Macbook Air laptop. This suggests that the school has some money to spend on their students to help their education. This can also suggest that the schools academics are good and improving. As a teacher going into their elementary school, I will not be seeing laptops in classrooms. In being in such a wealthy school district, as a teacher I should suspect that there is nothing wrong with the school. In saying that statement, I would be very wrong.
Hillcrest is failing in K-3 literacy. (CITE) School As mentioned before, K-3 literacy is not a strong point in Revere’s education. The students who are not on track for literacy are not getting on track. Those students will go to 4th grade being behind, and no school wants that. To further look at the school’s statistics I found that 65% of funds are spent on classroom instruction (CITE). This is better for the education of their students. The attendance rate for all Revere schools is above 90% (CITE). This means that students are going to school almost every day.
School Analysis Since Revere is failing in K-3 literacy teachers need to make a strong push to help the struggling students to get back on track. I consulted with my mother and she said that I struggled with reading when I was in Hillcrest. Revere did have a plan of improvement for me. Every day I was taken out of class for about 30 minutes to an hour for help in reading. I also had to do a couple of weeks in summer school to improve my reading. My mother did say by 4th grade I was the reader in the family. I improved greatly.
However, that was about 12 years ago. Revere could have a different strategy for helping struggling students. As we can see that is not working anymore. Teachers should expect to be doing more reading and writing in different subjects like math, science, and the arts. Doing more word problems in all these subjects can help with reading. Teachers who are working with struggling students should spend more time working on reading and writing. A great way to promote reading in schools is to make a club that anybody at any reading level can join.
In this club students can read books that interest them and talk to other students if they need help. Understanding the books is essential to literacy as well so collaborating with other students on the meanings of books will improve that too. It would be like a book club. Teachers could send home school backpacks with all the materials students need to do a lesson. It would include a book, instructions, and any other materials to finish the assignment. It is a great idea to implement with students who are not on track. The parents can help the student at home and without any pressure from their peers.
Regular communication with the parents would be needed to make sure that the assignments are getting done. These are just ideas to help improve their K-3 literacy scores. 65% of schools funds are spent in the classroom. CITE) Knowing this as a teacher can help reduce the amount of money teachers have to take out of their pockets to spend on the classroom. This can be used for updating school technology, buying more school supplies, and updating school textbooks. However, I find that the amount of funds spent in school classroom vary on the schools.
Leggett school in Akron spends 73. % of funds in their classroom, but are failing in almost every category. (CITE) One would assume that spending more funds in the classroom would raise scores. Seeing this as a teacher would make this information not as important as others. This information has many factors that play into it like the community that surrounds the school. Depending on the school, I can use community resources like the library to borrow books for my classroom. This will help my classroom if the school that I am in is not getting the resources that I need to provide a good education for my students.
The attendance rate for all Revere schools is above 90%. (CITE). This would be great for a teacher to know. This would suggest that the grades are higher because students come to school almost every day of the year. Attendance does have correlation with grades. The more times students come to school throughout the year, the better their grades are. This would be very important to know as a teacher. Planning lessons in a school that the attendance rate is lower could have an impact for how teachers plan their lessons.
Students could fall behind if they do not come to school often. To help from students falling behind, teachers could send the lessons and homework via email to the parents and or students. This could help if, and only if, the students decide to do the work. As of right now, Revere does not have a problem with attendance so the teachers do not need to worry about students falling behind due to absences. As a teacher in Revere, I would be communicating regularly with the parents of the students who are not coming to class every day.
I could be sending information on our lessons and homework to hopefully get the students on track with the other students. Conclusion Teaching is not just dealing with the school matters. Teachers need to analyze the community and the problems that may arise in their classrooms. At Revere, their main focus point would be their K-3 literacy. Being a teacher in Hillcrest my area of concern will be helping students who are not on track in K-3 literacy get on track. The job of a teacher is to work with their school, community, and parents to offer the best education for their students.