Laurie Slatkin

January 22, 2015

MIAA 330
Lincoln Unified School District
Demographic Data and Analysis
Lincoln Unified School District is a small district in the Central Valley of California. Approximately
9000 students attend one of 13 schools. They include a traditional high school, two alternative high schools, an
alternative learning center for grades 9-12, one middle school, two elementary schools serving K-6, and six
elementary schools serving K-8.
Our school, Don Riggio Elementary, is a Title One school with 62% of our students receiving free and
reduced-price lunch. 28% of our population are English Learners. 11% of the students have identified
disabilities. Non-Caucasian students make up 74% of the population with 50% of the population being
Hispanic. This diverse population leads to a need of diverse lessons ripe with differentiation.
I have had many of the students in my class for two years. I taught 4th grade last year and my team and I
looped with our classes to 5th this year. We found the need last year to have a language arts class dedicated to
helping a large portion of our classes become better readers. As a result, one of my partners and I incorporated
several students from my third partners class that were on nearly on level, on level, or above level readers. Our
struggling readers went to the third teachers room for language arts.
When the decision was made to roll up to 5th grade, my partner teaching the struggling readers requested
that they become his homeroom and we place his other students in our homerooms. This shift in students led to
a very different demographic than Ive typically had in the past. Our school has regularly clustered but never
to this extent. It became very evident with the evidence gathered in this study.
Comparatively to the district and my school, my 5th grade class at Don Riggio has 38% of my students
receiving free or reduced lunch. This is much lower than both the district average and schools average. As
stated earlier, 28% of Don Riggios population are considered English Learners. Our school hosts the
Newcomers Class for students in our country less than a year. Often these students graduate from the class
but remain at Don Riggio. This accounts for our higher than district average of English Learners. My classs

EL population falls at 16%, below both that of my school and district. At this time, I have no students with
identified disabilities.
District
English Learners
Socioeconomic
Students with
Disabilities
GATE
Total
*2013-2014 Data

15% *
59% *
7%
9277 = 100%

Don Riggio
School
28%
62%
11%

5th grade class

7%

22%
32 = 100%

16%
38%
0%

My classs EL population consists of one early intermediate student, two early advanced students, and
two advanced students. I also have two students that have been reclassified, one as a RFEP and the other IFEP.
CELDT

District

Beginning
Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced
Advanced
Total

= 100%

Don Riggio
School
13%
20%
26%
30%
11%

5th grade class

176 = 100%

5 = 100%

0%
20%
0%
40%
40%

My class does have a varied ethnicity make-up: one that is similar to both the district and school. I have
a less than average African American and Asian population but my Hispanic population falls between the
district and school population. My other category includes Filipino, Indian, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
Ethnicity
African American
Asian
Hispanic
White
Other
Total

5th grade class

12%
14%
44%
25%
4%

Don Riggio
School
9%
9%
50%
26%
6%

9277 = 100%

724 = 100%

32 = 100%

District

6%
3%
47%
34%
10%

My parents education levels differ from both the district and school. 82% of my students parents have
at least some college education. This is well above both the district and schools reported data. My classs high
GATE population may be a reflection upon the same data.

Parent Education
Levels
Post Graduate
College Graduate
Some College
High School
Graduate
Non High School
Graduate
Declined to state
Total
*2013-2014 Data

5th grade class

11%
23%
31%
20%

Don Riggio
School *
12%
21%
25%
22%

9%

12%

0%

5%
9277 = 100%

8%
724 = 100%

9%
32 = 100%

District

22%
41%
19%
9%

Similarly, my students have a high reading level average. Most fall in the average to high range on their
MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing for reading. This normed test places my classs mean reading
score at 207 while the district mean is 204. The national norm for beginning of 5th grade is 207.
Map Reading
Scores
Low
Low Average
Average
High Average
High
Total
Mean score

District

5th grade class

6 = 19%
3 = 10%
5 = 16%
14 = 45%
3 = 10%

204 (5th grade)

**31 = 100%
207

Upon reflection of this data, I find the need to create diverse and engaging lessons for my students.
While my English Learner population is not great, they still need support. My reclassified learners need the
same support. Much of the support my ELs need benefit all my students. Vocabulary is important. This year,
in particular, is heavy on the vocabulary and new terms we are learning by using the EngageNY curriculum.
While new now, it may be less of a necessary learning curve as students come up through the grade levels with
the EngageNY terms. To support new vocabulary and terms, we use journals and anchor charts among other
things. Students are allowed to use both as needed, in both lessons and quizzes.
I have found that the EngageNY curriculum is supportive of both my low and high students. I see
success in students that have had little success in math prior to this curriculum. They are finding that they
understand what they are doing and why it works. Its not just a trick memorize a formula and it will work

every time. I incorporate the question why? quite a bit in my class. Students are becoming used to explaining
their answer. I regularly allow students that get it to move on from the semi-abstract phase to abstract as they
see fit. Exit tickets and check-ins keep track of their progress.
I regularly use the end of lesson exit tickets to assess student understanding. I use these to drive small
group lessons as needed. We may go over a particular skill or review a lesson. I will divide the groups into as
like a group as I can, based on need. If a handful of students have a strong fact base but lack the understanding
of area models, for instance, I will work with them separately from those that do not know facts.
To help support learning, I also incorporate Making Math Real strategies. We used this last year to
support student learning and my students are comfortable with the strategies.
My teaching partners on the 5th grade team and I regularly discuss progress. Our collaboration usually
consists of comparing what issues our students are having, where we are in the curriculum, what is working and
what is not, and any problems we find in the curriculum itself. These regular discussions help our lessons in the
class.
As there is a high GATE population in my class, I must be sure to have challenging extensions. Research
states that GATE students dont need more of the same type of work, they need work that makes them think. I
typically have more than one extension available. When appropriate, we use Accelerated Math to reinforce
skills learned in class. This allows students to move along at their own pace, they essentially extend
themselves. (All of my students are expected to use this program.) I also use open-ended challenge problems
and tasks. One of my students favorite tasks are logic problems. Depending on the circumstance, they may
work individually or in groups to solve them.
I allow my students to have lots of discourse. I ask them to talk and solve problems together. Because
of the amount of discussion among students, I do use both flexible seating and strategic seating. While I dont
expect students to tutor each other, I do deliberately pair seats. I may have a high, fluent math student with a
less proficient student. A student that struggles with vocabulary and language may be paired with a student that
can support them.

As with any shift in education, I have found that my students are much more flexible than their parents,
regardless of their education level. I have found that if I place a video of the days lesson and/or homework on
my website helps to alleviate my students parents discomfort. My hope is that parents give this a chance.
Their students are bound to be better mathematicians because of it.
Don Riggio School Math Plan
Debbie Hernandez, John Green, and I collaborated to research and develop a math plan for Don Riggio.
Our school plan for math follows basic operations in the Common Core State Standards in Operations and
Algebraic Thinking (K-5) and Expressions and Equations (6-Algebra). We choose these strands to follow
because they are current and valuable as life long strategies for students. It begins with the basics of counting in
Kindergarten and flows easily through Algebra. Fluency in computation leads to higher success in the other
domains.
As our school follows the Lincoln Unified School Districts current adoption of EngageNY for Math, we
based our plan upon this curriculum with supplemental material as well.
Common Core State Standard, Lesson link, and Assessment link for each grade level
Kindergarten:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking K.OA.1 through K.OA.5
Kindergarten students learn addition as putting together and adding, and understand subtraction as taking apart
and taking from. The resources we suggest using is Module 4 from EngageNY:
https://www.engageny.org/resource/kindergarten-mathematics-module-4-topic-h-lesson-41
1st Grade:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking 1.OA.1 through 1.OA.6
1st grade students learn to represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction, to understand and
apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction, to add and subtract within
20, and to work with addition and subtractions equations. The resources we suggest using are the EngageNY
modules 1, 2, and 4. Supplemental materials may include Making Math Real strategies.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-1-mathematics

2nd Grade:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking 2.OA.1 through 2.OA.4
2nd grade students learn to represent and solve problems involving additional and subtraction, add and subtract
within 20, use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two- step word problems, and work with
equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication. The resources we suggest using are the
EngageNY modules 1, 4, and 6. Supplemental materials may include Making Math Real strategies and begin
using Accelerated Math and Math facts in a flash.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-2-mathematics
3rd Grade:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking 3.OA.1 through 3.OA.9
3rd grade students learn to represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division, they understand
the properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division, students multiply and
divide within 100, solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
The identified modules to use are EngageNY modules 1 and 3 along with supplemental materials such as
Making Math Real strategies, Accelerated Math, Xtra Math, and Math Facts in a Flash.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-3-mathematics
4th Grade:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking 4.OA.1 through 4.OA.5
4th grade students learn to use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems, gain familiarity with
factor and multiples, and to generate and analyze patterns. The resources we suggest using are the EngageNY
modules 1, 3, and 5. Supplemental materials may include Making Math Real strategies and begin using
Accelerated Math and Math facts in a flash.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-4-mathematics
5th Grade:
CCSS Operations and Algebraic Thinking 5.OA.1 through 5.OA.3

5th grade students learn to write and interpret numerical expressions and to analyze patterns and relationships,
and to apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to fractions and decimals. The
identified modules to use are EngageNY modules 2, 4, and 6 along with supplemental materials such as Making
Math Real strategies, Accelerated Math, Xtra Math, and Math Facts in a Flash.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-5-mathematics
6th Grade:
CCSS Expression and Equations 6.EE.1 through 6.EE.9
6th grade students learn to apply and extend previous understandings of arithmetic to algebraic expressions, to
reason about and solve one variable equations and equalities, and to represent and analyze quantitative
relationships between dependent and independent variables. The identified modules to use are EngageNY
modules 4 and 5. Supplemental materials may include Making Math Real strategies and Accelerated Math.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-6-mathematics
7th Grade:
CCSS Expression and Equations 7.EE.1, 7.EE.2, and 7.EE.4
7th grade students learn to use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions and solve real-life and
mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations. The identified modules to use
are EngageNY modules 2 and 3. Supplemental materials may include Making Math Real strategies and
Accelerated Math.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-7-mathematics
Algebra:
CCSS Expression and Equations 8.EE.1 through 8.EE.8
8th grade students learn to work with radicals and integer exponents, understand the connections between
proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations, and analyze and solve linear equations and pairs of
simultaneous linear equations. The identified modules to use are EngageNY modules 1 and 4. Supplemental
materials may include Making Math Real strategies and Accelerated Math.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-8-mathematics