Jason Zeller Clinical Context Eaton Rapids is a rural community bordered by Lansing, Jackson, Charlotte, Holt, and Mason.

The city itself is small, with a population around 5,000, but the school district covers roughly 120 square miles. The school district consists of 5 buildings; Greyhound Central which houses traditional kindergarten, a pre-school, and alternative education; Lockwood Elementary, where this clinical takes place, consisting of 3 1/2 day Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) sections, a Great Start program, a Montessori pre-school/Young 5s classroom, 2 Montessori K-1st grade classrooms, 2 Montessori 2nd-3rd grade classrooms, 4 traditional 1st grade classrooms, and 5 traditional 2nd grade classrooms; Greyhound Intermediate which houses traditional 3rd5th grade classes along with a Montessori 4th grade class; Middle School with grades 6-8; and a High School housing grades 9-12. According to the 2010 census the population was 5,214 people of whom 28% were under the age of 18 and 11% were over 65 with a median age of approximately 35. Eaton Rapids is not a very racially diverse area with 95% of its population being white. The median family income of $46,840 is well below the state average of $60,895 which leads to 64.3% of the Lockwood students receiving free and reduced lunch. The school district itself is much larger than the city of Eaton Rapids and covers many of the nearly 16,000 people living in the 48827 zip code. The table below shows a comparison of key demographics of the city of Eaton Rapids, the 48827 zip code, and the averages of the state.
Community Demographics % of Single-parent Households with Children % of Adults with at least a High School Diploma % of Adults with at least a Bachelors Degree Population over 65 % With a Household income < $34,999 Median Family Income Mean Family Income City of Eaton Rapids 14.6% 48827 Zip Code 9.3% State Average 9.7%

92.1% 15.7% 11.1% 37.3% $46,840 $50,978

92.3% 19.6% 12% 31.8% $61,592 $70,213

88.4% 25.3% 13.8% 26% $60,895 $76,467

Lockwood has 394 FTE students serviced by 18 classroom teachers, 3 exploratory teachers (that are shared with another building but spend most of their day at Lockwood), a Title I teacher, and 2 special education teachers giving them a teacher-

to-student ration of 16:4. This number does not represent our class sizes since the exploratory teachers do not have regular classes, 3 of those classrooms are ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education), one is a Great Start, and one is a Montessori preschool/young 5s that all have smaller class sizes. The rest of the classes actually have between 24 and 27 students. In addition there are 10 1/2 FTE Special Education, and Title I Para-pros and Healthcare Aides along with a secretary, a halftime secretary, 3 additional lunch aides that come for an hour a day, and a number of people from the ISD that spend anywhere from 1 to 4 days a week in the building. Lockwood has a variety of experiences when it comes to its teaching staff with 4 teachers with under 4 years of experience, a few pushing 25 years, and everything in between. Since Lockwood is a lower elementary building there are not suspensions and or expulsions to talk about, only a handful of students are retained each year (almost all of those in kindergarten and first grade - many because of their age and another year allows them to catch-up both socially and academically), and there are a handful of truancy issues that are referred to the county. On the 3rd grade MEAP over 95% of our students are proficient in reading (this number drops on later MEAP tests indicating possible issues with the accuracy of the test at the 3rd grade level) and we rate green on the school accountability scorecard. Like most schools Lockwood does have their issues that need to be worked out. During the second week in November the Principal took a Leave of Absence and was replaced with an interim principal. This caused a lot of rumors, gossip and confusion that had to be addressed as people (mostly parents) wondered what happened and if she was coming back. Dealing with those questions while trying to provide stability with both staff and parents in a way that was respectful to the previous administrator was not always easy. The standard line was that she took a leave of absence and that was all we discussed, but by not answering the questions it did lead to more uncertainty for some people. For the most part that stopped once staff was told she would not be returning. I did not know a lot about what was happening in the building previous to November, but several staff members and parents have mentioned that there has been a positive change in the building climate and the attitude of the staff so that is hopefully a good sign and will continue. I was told that previously there have been issues between our Montessori and traditional classroom teachers as one was seen to be favored by the administrator, but this has not been my experience. I am finding that there is a great group of teacher leaders in the building and a number of teachers that are willing to be involved and are beginning to step up. For example the teacher that organized the March is Reading Month committee came in very excited last week because in the past it has been a struggle getting help, but this year she had 8 teachers volunteer within a couple of hours and several others that said they would be willing to help with decorations or run activities. Being aware of the context of the building is extremely important. If one is not aware of these things then how is an administrator going to be able to not only address the issues the building is faced with, but take advantage of the many strengths available, especially when it comes to the teachers. Teachers are the best resource at most schools and at Lockwood there are some great teachers doing some amazing things. Finding ways to show off the great things being done in the building would be at the top of the agenda. To begin with, creating an environment where teachers are

comfortable going into each others classrooms, learning from each other, and being encouraged to share what they are doing with both each other and the community can be very beneficial to all. Another item that makes Lockwood unique is the variety of programs it offers, especially the fact it houses both traditional and Montessori programs. In the past these two programs were at odds with each other as one was seen to get preferential treatment from the administrator. As a result the two programs operated almost completely separate with little understanding of what each other was doing, leading to both programs having misconception of what was happening in the other classrooms. The most important item should be placing the students into the program that will best serve their needs, but in order for that to happen the experts, teachers, need to truly understand what is happening in both. In order for this to happen they need to sit down and look at not only the differences between the two programs but the similarities as well and what characteristics of children each one best serves. Once this is done that information needs to get out to parents so they can help find the best placement for their child to be successful. Whatever changes or improvements a building administrator wants to make it is essential they understand the context of the building/district. If they understand the underlying reasons for certain issues it is much easier to address them directly and head-on, increasing your chance of success. At the same time if an administrator does not understand the culture and climate of their building and community they could very easily make matters worse despite their best intentions.