Guided Observation #1 Contextual Factors

Name: Kellie Thornton

Date: April 28, 2017
Course: EDUC 2300 Introduction to Education
School: New Center School

Interview your mentoring teacher to obtain the demographics about the school. Write a
response for each question in a paragraph format.

1 Record the number of males, females, and ratio of ethnicity within the
classroom.
I completed my service learning in a kindergarten class at New Center School.
The class had 17 students. There were 9 girls and 8 boys. While other classes may
have been slightly more diverse, this class was mostly homogenous. Of the students,
only one was of Hispanic descent. I learned that English was the primary language at
home, so this definitely played a part in the way he reacted with his peers.

2 What are the development levels of the students within the classroom you are
observing?
Like every classroom, there were students who appeared to be very high
achieving or very low achieving. In kindergarten, students are expected to tie their
shoes, count to 100 in multiple ways, know their colors, be able to write, and have a
basic foundation of reading. The students either had the majority of that list
completed or very little of it completed. These students are in kindergarten, therefor it
is impossible to truly determine their development levels.

3 How is the instruction modified to meet the diverse needs of the students?
The instruction was not modified at all for the students. They were expected to
fend for themselves. Students who required more assistance than their peers were
left behind. Their work usually was not completed. It was very obvious to see the
spectrum of development levels, but the lower levels were ignored.

4 Research the school and the Tennessee State Government web site to obtain
information about the school community, school report card, and school
population.
New Center School is a public school that is located in the New Center
community of Sevierville, Tennessee. The school is located in the Sevier County
district. The mission statement of the school is For students to take responsibility for
learning and increase knowledge through the development of character and talent
with the expectation that all students will experience success. It is a Title I school.
This is due to the fact that 65% of the students qualify for the federally funded free
lunch program. To break that number down even further, 54% of students qualify for
free lunch and 11% qualify for reduced prices. Across the entire school, there are 761
students and 48 full-time teachers. This averages out to be about 15 to 16 students per
 teacher. There are 113 students with disabilities enrolled at New Center. This is about
14.8% of the entire student body. I was not able to locate specific data for English
Language Learners for the specific school, but the Sevier County School System has
experienced an increase in the enrollment numbers for ELLs. The Sevier County
School System had 14,609 students in the 2014-2015 school year with 760 of those
students designated as English Language Learners. That was an increase of 113
English Language Learners between the 2014 and 2015 reports. According to TCAP
results, 46.5% of students scored either proficient or advanced in math. The results
also stated that 40.6% of students scored either proficient or advanced in reading and
language arts. Impressively, the scores stated that 63.9% of students scored either
proficient or advanced in science.

5 What are the specialized programs/activities found within the school that would
assist special needs children, those who need enrichment activities, or
remediation? List the specific programs that are available.
New Center is a Title- 1 school in Sevierville, Tennessee. The school is average
sized, but has multiple specialized programs for the students. Class Act is a tutoring
program that the school offers. Many children go home to parents and guardians who
either cannot help their children or choose not to. This program is very beneficial to
the students who need it most. The school also offers a wide variety of extracurricular
activities. Those activities include boys and girls basketball, track and field, drama
club, and countless others as well. I have seen children who participate in these
programs and it certainly makes a difference in their lives.