Classroom Contextual Factors

Demographics
I am teaching at a Title I school in a second grade Dual Language Immersion Spanish
class. A Title I school has programs that provide Utah with Federal funds each year to help
higher poverty schools offer supplemental educational services to meet the needs of
educationally disadvantaged students. The class consists of 25 studentsmore than half of the
class are boys (56%), while the girls account for less than half (44%). Totals for each gender are
14 boys and 11 girls, as seen in Table 1.1. The students are seven and eight years old. The
school secretary and my mentor teacher provided the information presented in the classroom
contextual factors. For the purpose of privacy, students are not identified by name, but by a
randomly assigned number.

Table 1.1

The students in the class represent various ethnic backgrounds: Caucasian, Latin, and
Native American (see Table 1.2). The Latin students are from diverse South American countries,
but for privacy reasons, I was unable to obtain details and additional information. The
overwhelming majority of the students are of Latin decent (64%), with the Caucasian students
just under a third of the class (28%), and the Native American students being the smallest ethnic
group (8%). The number of students in each ethnicity group mentioned is as follows: Latin 16,
Caucasian 7, and Native American 2 (see Table 1.2).

Table 1.2
Language Proficiency
The students in the class come from homes with a native language of either Spanish or
English: 17 Spanish (68%) and 8 English (32%). (See Table 1.3)

Table 1.3
The 17 Spanish speakers, or English Language Learners (ELLs), are the large majority
of the class. All but three of those students have a World-Class Instructional Design and
Assessment (WIDA) level (see Table 1.4). Students who do not have a WIDA level were not
tested or came from another state or school (indicated by N/A on table below). WIDA designs
and implements proficiency standards and assessment for grade K-12 students who are learning
English as a second language. (See Table 1.4)

Student #

WIDA level

#4

3.4

#5

3.1

#6

3.3

#7

3.7

#8

4.1

#10

N/A

#11

3.5

#12

3.4

#15

3.2

#16

N/A

#17

2.8

#18

3.3

#19

3.8

#20

4.2

#21

#22

N/A

#23

3.9

Table 1.4

All students in the class participate in a computer program called Imagine Learning on a
weekly basis. Imagine Learning is an innovative language and literacy software program for
ELLs, struggling readers, early childhood education, and special education students. The
mission of Imagine Learning to give a fair chance to all students and eliminate the achievement
gap. The program is highly interactive and addresses multiple learning modalities, making
students active participants in their learning. Many ELLs participate in the program on a daily
basis, either before or after school for 30 minutes. The students who participate and schedule
they follow were unavailable to me.

Socioeconomic status
The school is located in an area of high poverty. I was unable to obtain specific
information about the education levels of students parents or income. I was, however, able to
acquire class statistics on who qualifies for lunch financial assistance. Almost the entire class is

eligible for and receives free or reduced lunch. Most of the students receive free lunch (20
students, or 80%), one receives reduced lunch (4%), and a handful are not eligible for assistance
and pay in full (4 students, or 16%).

Table 1.5

Sub Groups: Learning Levels

Students in the class are grouped into four learning levels in relation to being on grade
level for the purpose of analyzing data: below, approaching, on grade level, or above. The
below grade level students are also referred to as low-level learners. The above grade level
students are referred to as high-level learners. There are no students who are identified as Gifted
and Talented (GATE), although a few of the high-level learners in process of being tested. The
levels are for the current time, mid-year: 7 below grade level (28%), 2 approaching (8%), 12 on
grade level (48%), and 4 above (16%). (See Table 1.6)

Table 1.6
Out of the 7 below grade level students, 4 are in the paperwork process of being tested for
Special Education and possible learning disabilities. These are students who have been tutored,
in Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) groups, and have received multiple interventions, yet
show little or no growth in academics over a long period of time.

Behavior/Medical
There are no significant behavior problems in the class. There are 2 students who are
identified as behavior students, but the behavior is not severe in nature. One student (a male) can
be defiant and has trouble focusing and obeying rules. He was recently taken to the doctor by his
mother and put on medication for attention deficiency. I am unaware of a confirmed diagnosis.
This particular student is the only one in the class with an IEP for behavior. He is also one of the
students who will be tested for a learning disability. Another student (a male) has a hard time

sitting still and gets in trouble for saying bad words. A female student is not identified as a
behavior student, but she is medicated for attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Academic Knowledge
The students are tested quarterly on language arts and math benchmark exams. The
results from the benchmarks indicate if the student is one grade level. The literacy program
adopted by the school district is Treasures and the math program is called My Math. The
benchmarks from these programs are administered to students quarterly. Table 1.7 shows the
cumulative language arts benchmark scores to date or each student (the maximum possible score
being 36), and the cumulative math benchmark scores (maximum score of 15). The language
arts score is an average of 2 benchmark scores to date, with the math scores being an average of
3 benchmarks.

Elementary
Benchmark Scores
Student #

Language Arts

Math

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16

36
33
31
23
18
20
18
29
30
31
21
20
26
35
22
29

15
15
14
12
11
11
14
15
12
13
10
9
14
14
10
13

#17
#18
#19
#20
#21
#22
#23
#24
#25

15
20
23
27
16
17
24
36
32

9
11
13
12
9
9
12
15
14

Table 1.7

Exceptionalities
There are various types of exceptionalities represented and that have been discussed:
students with IEPs, a range of leveled learners, ELLs, GATE, Special Education, behavior
issues, and those with medical needs. With the exceptionalities and needs of the students,
accommodations and modifications are necessary. Lessons are planned using Sheltered
Instruction Observational Protocol (SIOP) to meet the needs of all students. Using SIOP is
especially important for a class such as this one where there is a high concentration of ELLs. It
is imperative to be culturally responsive and maintain a multicultural perspective in teaching,
being sensitive to the needs of the students. In the unit lesson plans I will build background with
students at the beginning of lessons in order for them to link new content with previous learning
and experiences. Making connections is important for learning to occur in the classroom.
In my unit I will keep a close eye on the behavior students, keeping them in close
proximity and checking to make sure they are on task. I will keep them engaged with hands-on
activities and special responsibilities with accountability. For the ELL students, I will provide
Spanish translations for key words and vocabulary, and preteach concepts prior to lessons. The
lessons will use a high amount of visuals, pictures, actions, and technology to help them make
connections and learn the content. For both ELL and low-level learners, questions will be read

aloud for assessments and they will be given the opportunity to be assessed orally if a written
assessment is not possible. I will also have them paired with peers who can assist them.
Examples of assessments will be provided and the use of think alouds and modeling will greatly
benefit these students. High-level learners will be presented with high-order questions and
lesson extensions.

Classroom Environment
The classroom is warm, inviting, and well organized. The teacher desk with computer
and Elmo are toward the front up against the sidewall, next to the storage closet. The
SmartBoard is in front of the room by the whiteboard and calendar, just above the rug. There is
ample furniture to meet classroom needs: 25 student desks are arranged in groups of 4 or 6, two
small group tables in the back of the room for reading groups and interventions, filling cabinets,
bookshelves, and movable closets along the back wall. There are 6 laptops on the side shelf used
for Imagine Learning during centers.
Additional classroom contents are as follows: 28 tablets stored in the back of the room,
speaker system, reading corner with class library organized by topic and levels, sink and drinking
fountain, and shelves/cabinets with supplies and manipulatives. There are two doorways into
the classroom: the door to the hallway that leads outside, and the entryway that leads into the
second grade hallway. Hooks used to hang backpacks and coats are located on the wall in the
hallway. The class has an appropriate amount of print with posters, pictures, schedules, word
wall, and other resources for student use. The environment is developmentally appropriate and
conducive to learning.