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 II. Findings A. Palm Beach County School District B. St. Lucie County School District III. Recommendations for Palm Beach County School District IV. Recommendations for St. Lucie County School District V. Closure VI. Appendices Appendix A-Diversity in my personal life Appendix B- Strategies and how these strategies strengthen diversity
Appendix C- Engagement Appendix D- Diversity Practice: Strengths and Weaknesses

Page 3 Page 5 Page 7 Page 11 Page 14 Page 17 Page 20

Appendix E- Somerset High Case Study

Page 21 Page 22 Page 24 Page 27 Page 29 Page 35

VII. References

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I. SWOT Analysis Grid Palm Beach County Strengths Offers the choice school program to accommodate the needs of all students. A large amount of choices are available Data driven school district where tracking demographics is simple and accessible. Affluent county Large population Large amount of federal and state funding Focus calendar on curriculum for the whole district St. Lucie County Strengths 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 dropout rate Choice school program K-8 Schools Consistent leader Palm Beach 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 St. Lucie County Weaknesses Data warehouse is on its infancy stages. High rate of poverty Transient county Offers choice school program but has limited programs to offer

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Palm Beach County Opportunities Pre K programs Engage parents with edline, ITV Cultural diversity as a competency model Model classrooms that are so diverse and meets the needs of all students

St. Lucie County Opportunities Population is slowly growing Affordable housing Cost of living is low

Palm Beach County Threats Hurricane shelters are our schools Cost of living is high New teacher evaluation Proposition 103

St. Lucie County Threats Hurricane shelters are our schools New teacher evaluation Proposition 103

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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 since my 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 was assumed 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 above 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 didnt help 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

How it strengthens diversity Including all students in By providing explanations This builds a cohesive American High School in home language and/or student body. This social events. spending a few minutes strategy helps identify in class explaining what which groups are being will happen during home excluded from social coming week and the events reason why allows for all the students to feel that they belong to the school Good Morning all around Every morning, a first This morning routine the world grade class works on their helps the students calendar math and then become aware that no sings a song about good matter what the language citizenship. The class they speak, they have the would then end this same intention which is morning routine with a to welcome and wish good morning to the each other a good other students with a morning. The students handshake while they say show value to the new good morning in a language learned. different language. Every week, the words good morning in said in a certain language. Celebrating Hispanic Every year, a school These two events show Heritage Month and Black celebrates these 2 special the community the History Month months. During the importance of these Hispanic Heritage Month, cultures. Hispanic and a parade of Hispanic blacks are the minority countries is showcased all but through these events, throughout the they are valued as an campus. During the Black integral part of the
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Description

History Month, the students create products that show knowledge of different influential African Americans. Both celebrations 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 very compliant. 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 what level 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 each classroom 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. Retrieved from: 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.

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Appendix DDiversity Practice: Strengths and Weaknesses

CHART #1 Diversity Practice: Strengths Area Guiding Question 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? Evidence Teachers are encouraged to adjust teaching strategies through differentiated instructions/small group instructions. Teachers need to indicate in their lesson plans the differentiated skills they are using for the different groups that they see. Lesson Plans are checked by administration at least 3 times every trimester. Teachers have been trained on the thinking map strategy. Thinking maps allow the students to process the information learned and organize them in a way that it assists comprehension. The teachers are aware that a display of student work in regards to thinking maps is suggested and visible for all to see The teachers of the gifted learners need to identify in their lesson plans how they are enriching 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 English teacher partner work together and submit a newsletter to show the parents that both classes work together and have the same goals and expectations and this newsletter is given to the families once a month. The gifted classrooms have gifted endorsed teachers. 1 out of 7 is not yet gifted endorsed but has signed an agreement that by the end of the school year, the gifted endorsement would be complete. All teachers with ELL students are ESOL endorsed. 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 second language to accommodate the huge Hispanic, some Creole population.

Educational Practices

Operational Practices

Do employment practices reflect the demographics of the community and student population?

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CHART #2 Diversity Practice: Areas in Need of Improvement Area Guiding Question How are students and staff representatives from diverse groups encouraged to be active participants in system and school initiatives, and in decision making? Suggested Improvements A student council committee could take part on 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 that the 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 is on weathering and erosion, families could share how weathering and erosion looks like in different parts of the world. Many perspectives will be seen and it will benefit all who experience it. Before a lesson, students are encouraged to help set the goals for the class. The teacher still has the main goal in mind but the students have the choices on how the goals might look and sound. The PTO members create activities and events keeping 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 in translation. Creating events specific to the needs of our school could be beneficial. Thanksgiving dinner could be Thanksgiving around the world where foods from all over the world are available for all to experience. Parent events such as donuts for dad and muffins for moms are parent universities where the parents are informed about the curriculum and what they can do to help. Even though this event is very successful, the event could be broken up in English, Spanish and Creole to really get the needs of the families met.

Educational Practices

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

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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 been working 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 the general 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. The team 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 attitude of 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 5. Identify relevant Florida Principal Leadership Standard(s)

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. 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 that Stevens 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, Standard 6, 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 need to 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 information released 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 good 2. To implement social justice through open dialogue
right to voice community participation distributive leadership

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

3. To promote moral responsibility

democracy

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through student voice democracy among teachers and staff through 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 dont see 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? Consider o Social Justice o 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 for Steven, 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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9.Action/Implementation Plan

with a teacher. Create a mentoring program for Steven with a peer. Time/Date Action Plan 1 day during Update the teachers on the planning IDEA law through grade level/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 somewhere in their lesson plans how they are accommodating for the students with disabilities. Weekly then Lesson plan checks to make monthly sure that the teachers are using the strategies that they place in their plans to give accommodations. If not effective, have assistance for these teachers. 1 day Meet with Mrs. Cooley and the ESE teacher and counselors to revise Stevens IEP 1 week ESE expo. As a professional (in honor of development, each teacher ESE week in would have to develop a Florida) 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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1 planning

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 for all 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. Talk to the teachers in the different departments to come 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 they want 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. A constant review of how the plan is being implemented would be checked quite frequently during the initial months and then gradually checked monthly.

Ongoing

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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

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