Part A: Teaching Context

Renee Carney 01/14/2011 CASEL program

1. Definition of student population used with Teacher Work Sample A. Number of students enrolled in class: There are three students in this group. B. Daily instructional minutes available to teach all students in this class: All three students are in my room for 40 minutes Monday through Thursday, from 10:15- 10:55. Jo stays on for an extra 40 minutes, and works in the next group as well. C. Classroom Diversity/Individual Student Differences:  All three students are Hispanic/Latino, and they all live in the neighborhood of the school, Ana Marie Academia Sandoval, which is on Wyandot and 36th in the Sunnyside area of Denver. Also, all three students have been attending this dual-language Montessori school since ECE, so they are quite independent and they know each other very well.  One of the females, K, needs to develop confidence in her abilities. She has been brainwashed into thinking that she is terrible at everything. She is very outgoing and talkative, and she often has rude comments to share about others. She is not on an IEP, currently, but there will be an initial SIT meeting for her in March. She is reading more than a year below grade level, and she needs assistance in math and spelling. Her mother is always in the building, helping out. She has two brothers in the school, and one of them has an IEP. Her family speaks Spanish at home, as K’s first language is Spanish and neither of her parents speak English. However, she prefers to speak English at school, and she often forgets common vocabulary in Spanish. K and Jo are best friends, and love being in the same group.  The boy in the group, J, has ADHD. When he was in kindergarten, he would often hide under the desks. Now he is in the sixth grade, and his behavior has improved significantly. However, in our group, he has frequent outbursts, it seems his mind and attention are all over the room, and he rushes through his work, making errors that could have been avoided. In particular, he needs help with organization, and his writing suffers from poor planning and off topic, rushed, and sloppy responses. He does not usually follow directions or read directions in tests and he suffers from test anxiety. He also does not deal well with transition. He had a difficult time adjusting to me as his new teacher at first, but now we get along very well. Still, though, he will sometimes ask me if I hate him, for no reason. He does not have consistent strategies to deal with stress and insecurity, yet he is doing very well academically. He is reading at grade level, according to the DIBELS assessment and he is only about a year behind according to the DRA2. Like K, J often makes rude comments. Oftentimes, he directs them at K, and then explains his behavior to me as, “that’s just the way we talk here at Sandoval,” which is not true from my experiences so far. He is the only student in the group who speaks English as a first language.  The third student, Jo, is timid and conscientious, and ignores the other two students when they are being rude or callous. She has a severe language disability, which makes it difficult for her to comprehend, and it is especially difficult for her to understand abstract concepts. Her first language is Spanish, and her father and mother do not speak English. She is a hard worker and when she understands something makes a success, she becomes joyful. She needs a lot of assistance in writing, comprehension, and math, but she has made great progress in reading fluency. D. Describe the setting (service delivery) for which this Teacher Work Sample is planned: Mild/Moderate resource room E. Number of ELL (English Language Learner) students in this class: Two of the three students are ELL. F. Number of students in class with IEP’s; describe specific disabilities: There are two students with IEP’s. One student has a Speech/Language disability and Specific Learning Disability. The other student has a Physical Disability (ADHD). G. Number of students on ILP’s: All three students are on an ILP. H. Number of males/number of females: There are two females and one male in the group. I. Age range of students: The students are all in sixth grade and their ages range from eleven to twelve years old. J. Number of students in resource or supplementary programs: One student has additional Speech/Language services. The other two students do not receive any additional services. K. Number of students on medication that could impact learning: There are no students in the group on medication.

2. Patterns of achievement…CPBS/GEN (3)(E) Number of students typically at each of these levels: Two of the students are below average in reading and math according to the CSAP. All three students are below grade level according to the DRA2. One of the students is proficient in reading and partially proficient in math according to the CSAP.

3. Other classroom conditions… CPBS/GEN (5)(A) Describe other class or classroom conditions/data that would drive and influence the development of your instructional plan. This may include information on program requirements, interruptions or the physical environment.  Students will be taking CSAP exams soon, so they have been grouped together to accommodate classroom teacher. Therefore, this group would not typically be together. For now, they are grouped by grade level and not ability level … until after CSAP exams.  On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, the Speech/Language Pathologist works in the same classroom.  According to the dual-language Montessori schedule, students will not be allowed to read text in English in their classrooms this semester. It is an all-Spanish environment. Therefore, I cannot ask them to read outside of my class unless I assign it for homework. This may delay the culmination of the novel we will be reading together. 4. Adaptations… CPBS/GEN (4)(B), (4)(C), (6)(C), (6)(E), (6)(G), CEC 3 In general, describe possible adjustments that could be made to accommodate differences in such things as giftedness, educational disabilities, learning modalities, motivation and/or skill level. Also, determine possible effects medical conditions/medications have on student learning and behavior. Verbal cues, handouts, ask student to repeat directions and information to teacher, increase wait time for oral responses, provide extended practice, manipulatives, oral responses, frequent breaks.

5. School and Community Description… CPBS/GEN (8)(B) There are 382 students at Ana Marie Academia Sandoval. It is located in the Sunnyside area of Denver. The school serves students from ECE-6. The school is dual-language, Montessori, and everyone in the school is learning a second language. The language is either Spanish or English. The school spends $9,000 on each pupil, while the state average is $8,094. In 2010, 77% of 3rd grade Sandoval students were proficient or advanced on CSAP reading; 59% were at or above in writing; 50% were at or above in math. The school offers extracurricular activities and specials in the areas of band, chorus, art, library, computers, and student council. Parents are heavily involved in the school, and a group of parents fundraise for the school each year, helping to supplement the school’s spending.

J CSAP scores>> 2010 CSAP Math GR 05 Result: PP 2010 CSAP Reading GR 05 Result: P 2010 CSAP Science GR 05 Result: PP CSAP Writing GR 05 Result: PP Fall 2010 DRA2: 50 Independent

K CSAP scores>>> 2010 CSAP Math GR 05 Result: PP 2010 CSAP Reading GR 05 Result: PP 2010 CSAP Science GR 05 Result: U 2010 CSAP Writing GR 05 Result: PP Spring 2010 DRA2: 34 Independent

Jo CSAP scores>>> 2010 CSAP Math GR 05 Result: PP 2010 CSAP Reading GR 05 Result: U 2010 CSAP Science GR 05 Result: U 2010 CSAP Writing GR 05 Result: PP Fall 2010 DRA2: 40 Independent

6. Resource Assistance… CPBS/GEN (4)(D), (5)(F), CEC 10 Select all that apply and describe how they were used: There is a paraprofessional that usually works in the resource classroom, but she is helping in another classroom until they hire someone else.