Contextual Factors Analysis

Of

South Portland High School

By: Nicole Brewer

Community, District and School Factors:

South Portland is the 4th largest city in Maine, it is made up of 18 different

neighborhoods and is part of Cumberland County. It is home to Southern Maine Community

College, two lighthouses, the Maine Mall, beaches, several ports, and business of all sizes. South

Portland High School, home of the Red Riots, is the only high school in its district which serves

the community of South Portland. In the district there are two middle schools and five

elementary schools. There are 890 students at South Portland High School (SPHS) and the

student to teacher ratio is 15:1 (​District Snapshot)​ . The high school was recently renovated and

the new section was available for use in 2015. The high school’s mission statement is,​ “​The

South Portland High School community believes that all students are able to obtain the

knowledge and skills necessary for post-secondary education, career, and citizenship. Toward

that goal, every student will graduate as a capable learner who is able to think critically and

produce quality work.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017 the population of South Portland was

25,483 with 18.3% of the population was of school age. It is estimated that 12.4% of the

population lives in poverty(​U.S. Census Bureau​). At South Portland High School 43% of

students are receiving free or reduced lunches. There are two middle schools and five elementary

schools in the district and it is interesting to see that there is a divide drawn by geography. One

of the middle schools has 28% and the other has 50% of students receiving free and reduced

lunches. Some of the elementary schools are as low as 17% and others are more than double

that(​Nutrition Reports)​ . There is a clear difference laid out based on geography in South
Portland, you can drive down one street and see high end houses with beach views and the next

street up is apartment buildings.

There is also noticeable

racial/ethnic diversity at SPHS.

While 20% may not seem like a

large amount it is quite the

difference from schools in

Northern and Western Maine

(​South Portland)​ . There does

not seem to be a big divide

created by race or ethnicity. The community is more welcoming and so the students mirror that

behavior. There are students for whom English is their second language but the school has a

system in place to provide them with the support that they need to be successful. One way that

they do this is having classes specifically targeted for ELL students and testing to help identify

students.

SPHS was one of the leaders in implementation of Proficiency Based Education and the

use of a 1-4 scale. Recently there has been controversy around the implementation and reporting

of grades with the current system. Students and parents have been going to the school board

looking for a change. The students don’t like Jumprope which is used to display their grades and

the tracking system which shows their progress. This is something that the students have taken a

stand on and aren’t afraid to discuss. They made their voices heard and it lead to the
administration saying that there would be a change. It has caused confusion for parents, students

and teachers though, because no one knows right now what the system is going to look like. For

the most part teachers are just trying to reassure students that they will look out for them and that

their grades will reflect their learning and effort throughout the school year. For me this means

that I have to be aware of the changes and make sure I know how to reassure students. The

Honors classes are especially worried about their grades so it is important that I make sure that

given the system they are being graded fairly.

The school day starts at 8:10am and gets out at 2:25pm with five minutes between classes

for transition. SPHS uses a block schedule with 4 Blocks every day. There is also ten minutes of

Home Base every day after Block 1 where students go to their Home Base and get

announcements and maybe have an activity to do. There are four sections of lunch every day that

break up Block 3, each lunch is twenty minutes long. The days alternate between Red and White

and in the event of a snow day the schedule is pushed back, so if there was a snow day on a

White day, the next day back to school would be a White day.

Students who wish to take technical classes have the opportunity to go to Portland Arts

and Technology High School. They can start this program in their Junior or Senior year because

there are both one and two year course options. Students also have a unique opportunity to take

classes online through Virtual High School. Virtual High School offers many courses that

students all over the world can take. Students can use these classes for electives or to get a core

class that they might have missed. Mr. Lamarre (my mentor) teaches AP Statistics for Virtual

High School and is the site coordinator for SPHS. This opportunity is available for 25 students

every semester and for most of them it is a successful experience. There is no mandatory time
during school that they have to be working on these classes so it is best for a student choosing to

take an online class to be a self directed learner and to be willing to prioritize.

Classroom Factors:

Mr. Lamarre has two sections of Math II and Honors Math III which are along the lines

of Geometry and Algebra II, as well as an online course in Statistics that he teaches through

Virtual High School. The classes range in size from 17 to 28 students, which means organization

and maximizing space is essential. The classroom layout is individual desks set up in rows. This

allows students to work independently or move their desks when collaborating. There is enough

room to walk through all the desks so that the teacher can be circulating and easily get to

students who have questions. There is a word wall with vocab words from the year at the back of

the class to remind students of key vocab words and posters to remind them of important facts

and shapes. There are no clocks in any of the classrooms, this was a decision that the school

made when building based on the cost and the fact that everyone has devices.

Both Math II classes have an Ed Tech that is there to assist a couple of students. It makes

the parts of class when they have independent work easier because there is another person there

to answer questions and keep kids on track. For most students all it takes to get them back to

work is proximity. Some of them don’t like to ask for help but if you ask them if they are all set

they will ask questions. For the Math II class the biggest thing is to give them lots of practice and

reassurance that they are doing it right.

Both Honors Math III sections work hard and will do what is asked of them. The White

day group is 27 students and they can be a talkative group if you leave too much room for

transition. The upside to them being a more talkative group is that they are willing to help each
other and work together to figure out problems. I think that they would really enjoy the

occasional group exploration to discover new material instead of just notes. The Red day group

is smaller with only 1 students. They are also a much quieter group during instruction but they

will answer and ask questions if prompted. This class would benefit from exploration that would

get them talking and collaborating more in a positive manor.

Most days the routine in class is the same. They start with a warm-up and then a

formative that covers what they did the previous day. Then there is time for notes and instruction

followed by a chance for them to start working on the assignment for the day. For the most part

the behavior in class is good, most students listen and can be redirected. The biggest thing is that

students are constantly asking to go to the bathroom or get water. Some students do and come

right back while others will leave and be gone for 10-20 min. Those students who are gone for

extended periods of time are generally not engaged in class when they are there. It is essential to

be aware of who those students are so that you can catch up with them and check in to see if they

need additional support, such as after school help or resources to use on their own.

The technology in the school is all new and being put to use by the math department. All

the classrooms are lined with shelves and cupboards so there is more than enough storage in the

rooms. Along the tops of the shelves are several outlets which are used regularly by students to

charge their iPads which are essential during class. The projectors can be used traditionally or as

an Apple TV and there is a smart pen that allows them to control their screens from the white

bored and make notes that don’t have to be erased but will follow the slide as they move to the

next. The notes that they take with the pen can also be saved so they could give notes to students
who missed class that day. Many of the teachers have websites where they keep unit outlines and

resources for parents but they use Google Classroom for the students day to day work.

All students have school provided iPads that they use in class. In Math they use a smart

notebook to take notes so they have them with them at all times. The only drawback to notes on

the iPad that I’ve seen is that students are constantly zooming in and out on the screen to write

but still be able to see the visuals. A plus is that they can pull up their notes while they are doing

work on their iPads to refresh their memory. They use IXL for some of the work in class and

homework. The students have an app on their iPads for IXL and it allows the teacher to get real

time data on how the students are doing and what problems they may be getting wrong. You can

set a limit on what score the students have to get on each problem set and it will keep giving

them problems until their score reaches the desired level. The only downside is that it takes

points away for problems that you get wrong, but the teacher can see the highest amount of

points that you earned and Mr. Lamarre uses that as students scores if they can’t reach the

requirement. He always tells the students that they shouldn’t spend all night doing it so they

should come in and see him if they can’t get to the set score for some reason. It is essential for

the teacher when using this tool to consider the level at which students can achieve and not give

them unattainable goals so they don’t get frustrated and stop working. This is something that I

will take into consideration when assigning work in and out of class. I will use the level of

understanding I see in class to help me decide how much work the students need to do

individually.
Strength/Needs Analysis and Student Characteristics:

I have chosen to look at Red Block 3 Honors Math III, this is one of our smaller groups at

19 students and I have been working with them since the first day. I had the students fill out a

survey so that I could get to know a little bit more about them and take a Multiple Intelligences

(MI) survey to learn more about their learning styles. The first question on the survey was, why

do you believe you are in an honors class? I asked this question because in a Math Department

meeting the conversation turned to, how do students end up in honors classes. I thought it would

be interesting to see their responses because the group includes Freshman, Sophomores and

Juniors. The Juniors listed that they wanted to be challenged. Sophomores mostly said that they

are smart and that CP classes would have been too easy for them. The Freshman all listed a

reason that had to do with testing in elementary and middle school. I was surprised that none of

them said anything about their parents wanting them to be in the class. I wasn’t surprised that for

most of them the reason was an extrinsic source. Many students don’t have faith in their math

abilities and that is something that I want to help them develop through giving them constructive

and direct feedback. Many of these students are used to being told that they are smart but I want

to tell them why I think they are smart and good students.

As a group the most common teaching styles that they identified as best were lecture and

hands on learning. To me this means that I will keep doing notes in a lecture style but I will try

and make the homework and practice a little bit more interactive for the students so they can get

to work with what they are learning. Many of them identified the area that they wanted to work

on in math as retention of knowledge. This is something that I have noticed students struggle

with everywhere. It is easy to remember a concept when you are using it every other day but
when you haven’t seen it or used it in months it can be challenging to recall. One way that I

could help students get better at retention is to throw in a question in the daily warm-up that

covers something they learned earlier in the year. Even if the students can’t do the problem,

when we go over it and they see it done again there may be a spark of recollection from many of

them.

This table shows an overview of each student and the information gathered in the survey.

It was interesting to look at where they all fell academically in the class. For the most part the

Freshman are highly motivated and do all the work and that shows in their performance in the

class. One of the Juniors, LM, seems to have an ease with math and always does well, they are

also willing to help other students who may be confused. JC is also a Junior and seems to be

doing well but has taken this class before at another school. They couldn’t be placed in a

Pre-Calculus class as it was too late in the year. LD and AB have been struggling with the

content even though she is doing the work. MB missed many days of class so they will need to

do some catch up in order to recover those units. The Juniors are a mixed group as far as their

work ethic and math knowledge. As for the Sophomores, most of them do the work and

understand enough to be successful in the class. KR and GT stand out, this is because they want

to do well and put in the work to maintain their grades.

Grade MI Class Wants to Other/ Extracurriculars

Student Level work on

9 E Retention Has a twin.

JB Musical Jazz, Math Team, Band

9 E Retention Mom works at school.

Soccer, Track, Skiing,
ET Musical Flute, Sopo Unite

KM 10 Kinesthetic M Factoring Swimming, Softball and

 Spanish Club

11 DM Concentration Field Hockey, Lax, Sopo

LD Kinesthetic Unite, Skiing

10 M Graphing Dad involved in grade

movement. Soccer,
IS Musical Tennis

10 M Memorization Involved in the drama

LB Kinesthetic program.

9 E Checking for Works fast, makes

small simple mistakes.
mistakes. Band, Boy Scouts,
LL Logical Track, X-C

RO 10 Logical M Graphing Soccer, Basketball

11 E Organization Hockey, Ultimate

LM Kinesthetic of work

10 M Doing more Doesn’t like to waste

homework. time.
Drama, Speech and
SR Verbal/Visual Debate

11 M Retention Gets frustrated.

RB Logical Basketball, Job

10 E Paying Soccer, Hockey,

attention for Ultimate
Kinesthetic/Inte the whole
KR rpersonal class.

11 PM Not giving up. Swim, Spanish Club,

AB Visual Job

10 E Speed Chorus, Band, X-C,

GT Musical Ultimate

10 M Factoring Short attention span.

Baseball, Football, Rec
CD Kinesthetic Ball

10 M Practical Bee Club, Earth Club,

CL Logical Application Field Hockey, Lax

JC 10 Didn’t take M x Just moved back.

 11 Didn’t take DM x Anxiety around the
MB classroom.

ED 11 Didn’t take M x Concussion

This bar graph shows the number of students who checked off five or more, out of the

ten, of the descriptors of the listed MI trait. This shows me that many of my students like to be

physically engaged while they are learning. This is something that I will try and keep in mind

especially with 80 minute blocks. I’m not surprised that many of the them are logical thinkers

because that is a strength that helps them in math class. Several of the students even listed being

a logical thinker as a

strength that they have

that helps them in

math class. The one

that shocked me the

most was musical, I

didn’t realize that the

music program at

SPHS was so good.

The marching, jazz and pep bands are very good and many of my students are involved in those.

I also think this fact is impacted by the power that music plays in our lives. Many students use

music to help them concentrate when doing work and see music as something they can relate to.
In our classroom students are allowed to listen to music when doing independent work because

we know that for many of them it is a great way to stay focused.

The pie chart

shows the

breakdown of

the MI that each

student had as

their highest. I

was shocked that

Musical and

Kinesthetic

learning styles

were such a high top MI in my class. Traditionally we think of learning as being visual or verbal

but that gives us only a narrow view of how our students engage with learning. I really want to

find ways to engage these learning styles in my students. Getting them up and moving and letting

them listen to music is a start but I feel like there has to be richer ways to engage them.

Since these are honors students it is important to find a balance between challenging them

and making sure they aren’t overwhelmed. There are different paces at which students learn in

this class. Some identify themselves as being quick learners and needing only to see an example,

then being able to do it. Others are in honors because they are willing to work hard and not give

up which just means that they might need to see more examples or have more time to ask

questions. This group is usually good about asking questions when they have them but there are
some that don’t like to ask even if they are confused. Now that I know what students have this

tendency I make it a priority to check in with them and make sure they are on the right track

during class.

With the layout of the

classroom I have become

aware of some blind spots

that I have as a teacher. The

students in the front row and

on my left hand side when I

am taking notes are often

ones that I forget to check in with. I find that I have a tendency to look to the ones in the back

and middle of the room more often. This means that I need to remind myself, when I am doing

notes and after, to check in with those students to see if they have any questions. Most of the

students are very responsive but some need to be prompted to share their questions. I could also

assign new seats at some point to get the students mixed up and put the ones that are more vocal

in my blind spots so that they draw my attention.

When planning my lessons for this group of students it will be essential to keep in mind

that they don’t like busy work. I will need to find a way to give them the information and

practice, but make it meaningful or fun. Being able to engage their other modes of learning is

also something that I am going to work on so that they get the chance to engage those Musical

and Kinesthetic tendencies. All of the information I have gathered will help me to better teach
and support my students in the classroom. My knowledge of the community and the individual

learner is something that I will take into consideration as I am planning my lessons over the

course of my time at South Portland High School.

Citation:
“City Maps.” ​City of South Portland :: Police Department,​
www.southportland.org/departments/city-clerk/city-maps/.

“District Snapshot.” ​South Portland School Department,​

www.spsd.org/district/district-overview/district-snapshot​.

Nutrition Reports​,
neo.maine.gov/DOE/neo/Nutrition/Reports/NutritionReports.aspx?reportPath=ED534by
District.

“South Portland, Maine Population 2019.” ​Total Population by Country 2018,​

worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/south-portland-me-population/.

“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: South Portland City, Maine.” ​Census Bureau QuickFacts,​
United States Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/southportlandcitymaine.