Teaching History with Big Ideas by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Education
Published: 2011-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The School Environment

The Depew Union Free School District is located in a small, suburban village near Buffalo, New York. There are fewer than 2,500 students in the entire district, 96 percent of which are white. Only a few students are of African American or Asian American background. Despite the lack of racial diversity in the village, the socioeconomic levels of the families are quite varied. For example, about 20 percent of the students in the district are eligible for a free lunch. There is no class tension visible in the school, but the mix of blue-collar and white-collar community members becomes quite clear as students begin to talk about what their parents do for a living and what supplies they can afford for the school year. From my experiences, I have gladly noticed that there is no correlation between socioeconomic class and academic success. With the help of the caring teachers in this district, students who want to work hard and are willing to learn will do so under any circumstance.

As far as academics are concerned, the school performs at a comparable level within the range of similar schools in the area. Most students receive proficient scores, though reading and writing tasks sometimes prove difficult for students at the grade 8 level. Nevertheless, the district has the financial resources to invest in programs to continue improving upon these scores. Also, there is great administrative encouragement for purchasing new technology, including the Classroom Performance System student response pads, Smart Boards, laptop carts, and various Internet programs that allow for the creation of wikis and blogs. Furthermore, since the average class size is about twenty students, children have an opportunity to work closely with their peers and teachers. There is no concern about having too many students in one class or about individual students being neglected because of large class sizes. Finally, as the teachers in Depew are relatively young, with an average level of experience at twelve years, the staff welcomes and encourages the use of current teaching practices.

Most importantly, the district is extremely supportive of the academic freedom of its teachers. There is even a clause in the union contract that protects each teacher’s right to make final decisions on grading policies, formative and summative assessments, and implementation of a variety of pedagogical methods. Our teachers are treated as professionals and are allowed to make informed decisions based on student interests and needs. Curriculum maps and guides have been developed and are utilized, but teachers are free to structure unit and lesson plans as they desire. And while the middle school and district administrators place an emphasis on improving state test scores in the intermediate-level core subject areas, they are not driven by these numbers alone. The social development of students is considered equally as important as their academic development. According to the school mission statement, the school “will stress the development of the whole child by instilling in students a sense of positive self-worth, self-respect, and self-confidence and a belief that each can succeed.

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