Contextual Factors Analysis 

Ms. Brown’s 7th Grade Class 

Ellsworth Elementary Middle School 

Ellsworth, Maine 

Chelsea Wallace 
January 16, 2018 
 

 
Introduction 

This Contextual Factors Analysis (CFA) is of Melanie Brown’s seventh grade classroom
at Ellsworth Elementary Middle School (EEMS) in Ellsworth, Maine. I am very familiar with
this community as I grew up in Ellsworth and attended this school when I was much younger.
Though it is much different looking at the factors that affect this school through a teacher’s eyes,
I do feel confident that I am already familiar with them and can use my knowledge of them to
my advantage.

This CFA will focus on community, district, and school factors, classroom factors, and,
most importantly, student characteristics. I will give facts and information about my students and
then give an explanation of how I can use this knowledge to my advantage while student
teaching.

Community, district, and school factors 

Ellsworth Elementary Middle School is located in Ellsworth, Maine. Ellsworth is the

county seat of Hancock County. According to the US Census, Ellsworth has a total land area of
93.92 square miles with 79.28 square miles of land and 14.64 square miles of water. The directly
adjacent towns and cities are Dedham, Orland, Penobscot, Otis, Surry, Mariaville, Hancock, and
Trenton. Route 3 goes through Ellsworth and Trenton and leads to Mount Desert Island, (MDI, a
popular tourist destination due to the location of Acadia
National Park) so during the summer months Ellsworth is a
popular summer tourist spot. A major river that runs through
the city is the Union River which drains into the ocean
(​Wikimedia Foundation​;​ City of Ellsworth, Maine​).

The city also has quite a few companies— 1,149 to be

exact. The Ellsworth YMCA has a strong presence in the town:
many students go there for their after-school care. There are
currently three after-school Y locations with the Bryant E.
Moore Center (formally the Bryant E. Moore School) being
the largest one. They also provide summer care for children
ages birth through eighth grade. Parents/guardians do need to

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pay for this child care though some receive discounts due to their economic standing (​Ellsworth
Area Chamber of Commerce). ​Students who attend the Y aftercare leave school 20 minutes
earlier than the rest of the school.

According to the 2010 Census report, Ellsworth has a population of 7,741 individuals.
The racial makeup of the city is 96.7% White, 0.7% African American, 0.4% Native American,
1.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 0.3% from other races. As you can see the town is
predominantly White, typical for the state of Maine. The median age of the city is 44.2 years.
21.5% of the population is below the age of 18, 7.1% is between the ages 18 and 24, and 25.3%
25 through 44, and 29.9% 45 through 64, and 16.1% are 65 and older.

94.5% of the population has a high school education or higher, and the median household
income is $51,250. 12.6% of the population is below the poverty level. In the state of Maine, the
median income is $50,826, and the median income in the USA is $55,322. We can compare
those numbers to
the richest and
poorest states based
on median income
with Mississippi's
average at $40,593
and Maryland at
$75,847 (Frohlich,
Thomas C., et al.).
This means that the

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median income is comparable to the average median of the United States and with the rest of the
state of Maine and is a little less in between the lowest and highest median states. I assume
according to the data that many students live comfortably with their parents though they may still
deal with poverty.

Classroom factors 

EEMS is a K-8 school, recently built and finished in 2010. Before the construction of
EEMS Ellsworth had two elementary schools and a middle school, but they were consolidated
due to health factors at all three campuses. They were very old buildings riddled with asbestos
and other toxins. The new EEMS campus is at the site of the old middle school location. This
new location has a LEED Silver Certification and is a sustainable building. It features
daylighting optimization (specialized windows and special lighting which adapts to the natural
sunlight to reduce energy intake), geothermal heating and air-conditioning, and storm water
treatment including porous pavement, a green roof system, and a bioretention system. The school
was also built using many recycled materials (​Oak Point Associates).

In the new EEMS campus, one side of the school houses the lower/upper elementary
students (K-5), while the other side houses the middle school students (6-8). The seventh grade
wing of this school is located on the second floor of the middle school half of the building. There
are currently five seventh grade teachers on the team due to the amount of seventh graders in the
school. These teachers are: Ms. Janet Higgins, Mr. Doug Libby, Ms. Melanie Brown, Mrs. Jane
Stackpole, and Ms. Laura Johns. Most of these teachers are veteran teachers (they have been
working in the same or similar positions for over ten years— Ms. Higgins was in fact my sixth
grade teacher). Ms. Brown and Ms. Johns are new to the seventh grade team; Ms. Brown taught
sixth grade last school year and previously was a fourth grade teacher for many years at EEMS
while Ms. Johns is a new long term sub previously working in the Surry Elementary School in
Surry, Maine. The previous teacher decided to leave her job in November. Ms. Johns started
teaching around the same time I began my student teaching (​Ellsworth Elementary Middle
School).

Students in seventh and eighth grade are given a MacBook Air for their technology
thanks to the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). They may sign out their laptops to
take home but they need to give a reason for it (i.e. homework, projects, etc.). The teachers/staff

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are given a MacBook, and each classroom has a document camera, a SmartBoard, and an Apple
TV. Students are allowed to go to the school library at almost anytime during the day which
allows for textual resources.

The classroom is arranged into table groups, with a maximum of four children per table.
Some students have their backs to the front of the room, but they are instructed to turn around
and face the speaker.

This classroom is very nature-friendly, with a hydroponics garden tower, a classroom fish
tank fitted with a hydroponics planter, a tank for salmon (for a future science unit), tons of
plants, and two giant windows that allow sunlight to shine into the room. There is a small
classroom library that students may choose books from, and the walls are covered in
inspirational posters, rules and regulations posters, string lights, and maps. The shelves are
covered with educational materials, animal bones, dried flowers, and the teacher’s belongings
that aid in adding ambience to the classroom.

Students follow an eleven period day, which is as follows:

*Note: this is a teacher’s schedule. Most of the homeroom students are taking math during the
ELA 2 sessions.*

Time  Mon  Tues  Wed  Thurs  Fri 

7:45-8:25  Band  Chorus  Homeroom  Chorus  Homeroom 

7:40-8  Homeroom  Homeroom  Homeroom  Homeroom  Homeroom 

8-8:30  RTI  RTI  SS  RTI  SS 

8:30-9:10  PE  SS  RTI  SS  RTI 

9:10-9:50  SS  Sci  ELA 1  Sci  ELA 1 

9:50-10:30  Sci  ELA 1  ELA 1  Sci  ELA 1 

10:30-11:10  Lunch/  Lunch/  Lunch/  Lunch/  Lunch/ 

Recess  Recess  Recess  Recess  Recess 

11:10-11:50  ELA 1  ELA 1  Health  ELA 1  ELA 2 

11:50- 12:30  ELA 1  ELA 2  ELA 2  ELA 1  ELA 2 

12:30-1:10  ELA 2  ELA2  ELA 2  ELA 2  Study 

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 1:10-1:50  ELA 2  Music  PE  ELA 2  Reward  

1:50-2:30  Art  Band/Study  Sci  Band/Study  1:30 Dismissal 

The students always have a shortened Friday, and the first row has an overlapping time
because band/chorus overlaps homeroom and RTI time on certain days. Not all students take
band and/or chorus as it is not a requirement. RTI is used as a study hall/homeroom time for
students. They may work on homework, reading, or extra assignments or tasks the teacher may
give them. Students seem to transition well between each period, and the day flows quickly. This
could be a problem for me once I start teaching lessons because the day may fly by before I can
finish what I want to finish.

As indicated above, Ms. Brown teaches two sessions of ELA. One session is to her
homeroom students combined with a few of another teacher’s (Mrs. Stackpole’s) students. Her
second session is taught to Mr. Libby’s homeroom with a handful of her students added in. The
reasoning for these mixed sessions is because Mrs. Stackpole teaches an advanced math class
and about four of Ms. Brown’s students are in that advanced class. They return for ELA during
the second session, but are replaced in the first session with some of Mrs. Stackpole’s students
who are not in the advanced class. While Ms. Brown teaches her second session of ELA her
homeroom attends a math class with Mr. Libby.

This school follows a PBIS Behavioral system, where students have certain
responsibilities based upon four categories: kindness, respect, trustworthiness/honesty and
responsibility. They are assessed on these and the results are placed in their report card under the
Habits of Work section.

Student Characteristics 

There are 23 students in this homeroom; there are 12 boys and 11 girls. There is one
African American student in the
class (OR), and he is an ELL
student from Jamaica. He is at a
3rd grade level for vocabulary
and comprehension of
informational texts and at a 5th
grade level for comprehension

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of literature, though socially he fits in well. There is one student (SK) which requires Ed. Tech
services. In the past he had behavioral problems and was pulled from the general education
classroom for almost every subject. This year he is only pulled out of certain specials and during
major testing days; his behavioral issues are practically non-existent at this point in time. He
loves tinkering with electronics, especially clocks.

On the other end of the spectrum I have three high achieving students: CC, Ja.W, and
El.F. El.F is an identified Gifted and Talented student (also according to iReady scores she is at a
grade 10 level), but all three students attend the enrichment sessions once a week. All three are in
the highest level math class as
well, and their test scores in all
subjects are significantly higher
than their peers. Behaviorally
they are all great students; ⅔ are
involved in band and all three
are involved in some form of
sports so I imagine these
extracurriculars have helped
them develop their discipline.

For this section of the

CFA I chose to use a self made student interest inventory which was shared with my students via
a Google Form (I figured the students would be more engaged if they were allowed to use their
laptops.) The survey consists of 15 questions about the students families, interests,
extracurriculars, dislikes, and thoughts about school. I am hoping to use their answers to help me
create better lesson plans that will engage them; also their answers will help me to get to know
the homeroom students better.

One question I asked was “how many adults live with you?” expecting students to give a
number but instead they openly gave names and relationships to me. The results are in the pie
chart titled “Adults in the Household”. Households seem consistent for my students, and none
have moved within the last year.

The results of my survey were very interesting. Not only did I learn a little about the
interests of my students but I also could read some of their writing and I learned a bit about their
life. I could then piece together what I learned from my mentor, what I observed in class, and the

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data from this survey to really get to know each of my students from an academic standpoint.

Strength/needs Analysis 

As mentioned in the last section, I could use the results of my survey to see the writing
levels of my students. I noticed that I have one particularly good writer and a few poor writers in
the room. When creating ELA lessons I will have to take into consideration both those extremes
and create an extension for the higher levels and maybe make some significant accomodations
for my lower level students. Here are some examples from both ends of the writing spectrum:

When asked “If you were the principal of this school how would you try to make school
better?” a poor writing student (CW) responded with:

“i have no idea because dispitre all the effart i would put towered helping no one will lisean”.

As we can see, there are numerous spelling and grammar mistakes. I noticed while
observing her that she tends to draw, reorganize, or make plans when she should be either
reading or writing. She doesn’t like investing time into working on her reading skills; currently
the students in ELA are working on literature circles and CW rarely reads or does not read her
required amount. CW also is extremely religious, and because of her beliefs in creationism she
chooses to opt out of certain social studies and science lessons. Sometimes her parents choose to
pull her out of school for these reasons, other times she is pulled out due to her severe diabetes.
She also has a bit of a “mean streak” where she will talk back and be rude to her elders once in a
while. It is not obvious why she acts in this way as it occurs randomly. All these factors affect
how much effort she puts into schoolwork, and it is evident that she is behind her peers.
According to her iReady, she is at grade 3 level for comprehension of informational texts, and at
grade 5 level for both vocabulary and comprehension of literature.

On the other end of the spectrum, when asked “What are your hobbies?” LH answered:

“I'm a fan of art and writing, and I sometimes read, but that's extremely rare. I also like
live-action roleplaying, but I only ever get to do that with my best friend”.

LH is a very interesting student. She is “dark”, and will sometimes say inappropriate
things about death, sex, drugs, etc. She has come up to me numerous times saying things like
“this classroom is radioactive”, “I hate all teachers”, “I am death incarnate”, etc. Like CW, she
also talks back to her elders and can complain quite a lot about her school work. When I asked

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my mentor about LH I was told not to worry as she does these things to get attention from adults.
According to her survey she explained that teachers are usually her only friends in school and
one time she was sent to in-school counseling. She will pretend to do her work but instead write
stories on her laptop. I rarely see her reading her free read or her literature circle books, but I
have discussed her writing with her and seen some of her drawings (both of which are borderline
inappropriate for her age group). According to her recent iReady scores she is at grade level for
vocabulary, at a grade 8 level for comprehension of informational texts, and at a grade 9 level for
comprehension of literature.

According to the results of the survey I can see that many students dislike both science
and math. I have a feeling this is because the curriculum so far has not been engaging enough for
them. I will try to think of fun and engaging lessons for those subjects. My students enjoy ELA
and social studies, which is great because they are my preference as well. We should all have a
fun time during these classes.

Below is a table showing initials, gender (according to the school, I am unaware if any
students currently identify as another gender), ages, iReady scores, IEP/504/ELL, and interests of
my students. I also chose to specify medical conditions I know about that could possibly impact
learning.

Stud Gender Age iReady G/T IEP/ Interests/Hobbies Other

ent Reading ELL/ /Ex. Curr. (Medical)
504

JA M 12y 621 Video Games

Early 7
-37

JB F 13y 601 504 Horses, gaming, Seizures

Level 6 knitting
+6

KB M 13y 600 Football and

Level 6 Gaming
+16

HB M 13y 647 504 X-C, Track, Anxiety

Mid 7 Winter Running
+20 Club

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 CC F 13y 646 Attends Photography,
Mid 7 enrichment, Basketball,
not softball, soccer,
identified skiing
G/T

AC F 12y 607 Art Club,

Level 6 watching movies
+12

Ev.F M 13y 642 Yearbook, winter

Mid 7 running club
-5

El.F F 12y 709 Attends Band, X-C,

Level 10 enrichment, Track, Chess
identified Club
G/T

KF M 13y 627 Watching

Early 7 television
-4

MG F 12y 568 Drama, reading,

Level 5 writing
-32

IH M 12y 557 504 Video Games ADHD

Level 4
-53

LH F 13y 663 Writing,

Late 7 Drawing, Art
+2 Club

JJ M 13y 633 Football,

Mid 7 Geography,
+5 History

SK M 13y 601 IEP Fixing Aspergers

Level 6 electronics from
+45 the 1960s,
Robotics Club

ML F 12y 601 Soccer

Level 6
+9

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 TM M 13y 610 504 Biking, Anxiety
Early 7 dirt-biking,
-19 basketball
(varsity)

BM F 12y 611 CrossFit, Dance,

Early 7 Teaching dance
+8

OM M 13y 633 504 Band, Jazz Band Hemophilia

Mid 7
+9

OR M 12y 527 ELL Soccer

Level 3
-11

CW F 12y 558 504 Drawing, Drama, Diabetes

Level 4 Art Club, Chorus
-6

JuW M 13y 553 Sports, video Allergies

Level 4 games (horses,
+34 hay, cats,
dust)

JaW F 13y 641 Attends Basketball,

Mid 7 enrichment, soccer, softball,
not Art Club, Band
identified
G/T

AY F 12y 663 Band, X-C,

Late 7 Chess Club

On or Above Grade Level

<1 Level Below

>1 Level Below

*Students who have shown academic growth since taking the Fall iReady will have a plus (+)
underneath their projected academic level, those who have done worse since the Fall will have a
minus (-) under their academic level. The target growth for one year is 13 points, but these are
the results of the Winter iReady. There is still time for these students to show growth.

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Conclusion 

The results of the CFA were very interesting to me; I learned a lot about my students and their
strengths, weaknesses, and interests. I hope to use all this information in my lessons to make sure
that I am creating the best possible environment for them to learn in. I would like to thank my
mentor teacher as well as the educational technicians, other seventh grade teachers, and all the
other professionals that I work with for providing me with the information I requested and
helping me become fully acquainted with the school and the classroom.

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References 

City of Ellsworth. “City of Ellsworth - Community of Choice for Business, Leisure and Life.”
City of Ellsworth, Maine​, ​www.ellsworthmaine.gov/​.

“Ellsworth Area.” ​Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce​, 17 Aug. 2016,

www.ellsworthchamber.org/ellsworth-area/​.

“Ellsworth Elementary Middle School.” ​Ellsworth Elementary Middle School​,

ems.ellsworthschools.org/​.

“Ellsworth Elementary/Middle School.” ​Ellsworth Elementary/Middle School | Oak Point

Associates​, ​www.oakpoint.com/projects/ellsworth-elementarymiddle-school​.

“Ellsworth, Maine.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Jan. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth,_Maine​.

Frohlich, Thomas C., et al. “America’s Richest (and Poorest) States.” ​247wallst.Com​, 18 Oct.
2016, ​247wallst.com/special-report/2016/09/15/americas-richest-and-poorest-states-4/6/​.

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