Running head: COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Katie Seckinger
Comprehensive School Assessment
PPE 310
Professor Dean
February 7, 2016

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Assess Your School

Assessment Results

Overall Grade: F
During School: 60%
Keep going! You're already well on your way to an Active & Healthy Schools environment. Get
teachers and staff involved, perhaps introduce some additional activities, and you'll be looking great!

Curriculum: 20%
Let's get to work. The Active & Healthy Schools Program is committed to creating programs that
schools can successfully implement and maintain. Let's look at some possibilities for your PE
program.

Recess / Lunch: 100%

Terrific! With a solid nutritional program and sufficient physical activity, students acquire the habits of
the Active & Healthy Program and can provide a positive example to others.

After School: 20%

Let's get to work. Take a look at a few simple changes your school can make to help create an Active
& Healthy environment, both at school and at home.

Based on the results of the School Assessment Tool, as well as my own observations from
being on the campus daily, one strength is the push for healthy snacks and lunches. This strength
is reflected by the score of 100% for Recess/Lunch on the School Assessment Tool. From my
observations at school, I know that many teachers send a newsletter home at the beginning of the
year to set the expectation for healthy snacks in the classroom. In the lunch room, students see
posters on the walls reminding them to make healthy choices. During lunch, there are items from

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

each of the five food groups offered: fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. The students
have to choose at least three food items from three different food groups, one of which must be a
fruit or vegetable (Gilbert Public Schools Nutrition Services, 2015).
Another strength of the school is events/clubs that promote physical activity as well as
students means of transportation to school. Highland Park holds a Running Club after school
every Tuesday. There are also intramural sports offered at lunch time a few days a week. The
school also puts on events such as a Fun Run and Jump Rope for Heart. Since the school is
surrounded by many neighborhoods, no students, with the exception of those with special needs,
ride a bus to school. Although many children are dropped off by their parents, a large amount of
students walk, ride their bike, or scooter to school. Many of the families with children at the
school live in close proximity to Highland Park, which helps promotes physical activity when
going to and from school.
One weakness of the school is the lack of curriculum that is teaching about healthy food
choices. I dont believe that the school curriculum contains any units of study that are solely
focused on making healthy choices. However, when learning how to make good choices when
eating, students can use a variety of skills. Students could read nutrition labels, calculate the
different amounts of each food label, and study how our bodies process and digest food. By
incorporating this into the curriculum, teachers could make it a part of language arts, math, and
science.
Another weakness of the school is the lack of three to five minute breaks in between
subjects or during transitions. I do know that some of the younger grades such as 1st and 2nd grade
occasionally use brain breaks. However, these breaks need to be a part of the daily schedule to
allow students to recharge and reset their minds and bodies. I experienced my students doing

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

brain breaks last semester and saw the positive effects of movement breaks throughout the day
on my students.
One way to improve the policies at Highland Park is to not only teach about healthy food
choices and being active, but to model these behaviors by getting teachers and staff involved. I
think teachers could work together to either adopt or create a curriculum that fits the needs of
their school culture. Teachers could model healthy behaviors through their everyday actions and
choices, such as wearing a pedometer to count steps or choosing to eat a nutritious snack. It
could even be as simple as doing silly or fun activities, such as dancing during brain breaks, to
get the students engaged and moving.
Another way to improve the policies at Highland Park is to allow more time for physical
education. Students currently have it once a week, and I think it should be at least twice a week.
However, it is understandable that students need other elective classes such as art, music, library,
and computer lab. Even if physical education class has to remain being held only once a week,
there should be other ways that teachers are promoting physical activity throughout the school
day. This could be through brain breaks, incorporating movement as part of the lesson, or
modeling activities for students to do at recess.
One way to engage stakeholders, such as the parents of students, is to create more
opportunities for families to be physically active together. Schools could put on more events that
encourage family participation or teachers could simply provide families with ideas on activities
to do at home. Teachers could also make sure families are informed on the alarming obesity rates
among children. By creating a healthy and active school environment, you will be providing a
model for parents to use at home.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Another way to engage stakeholders is to encourage community and friendly competition

among staff members. An example of a competition could be to see which grade level takes the
most steps each day. All teachers would wear pedometers and then record their number of steps
at the end of the school day. There would be some sort of incentive in place for the winning
grade level.
The information I was able to gather for this Comprehensive School Assessment can be
used to support my topic for my signature assignment. The topics of healthy curriculum
development and increased physical education align with my topic of integrating academic
concepts and physical activity in the classroom. However, I will be looking more at how these
things affect student academic performance and attention in the classroom.
Information
I am currently in my last semester of student teaching at Highland Park Elementary
School, which is a public school that is part of the Gilbert School District. As of 2015, 922
students were enrolled at Highland Park. Highland Park enrolls students in Pre-K 6th grade.
According to Zillow, the ethnic makeup of students at Highland Park Elementary is as follows:
79% White, 10% Hispanic, 7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2% Multiple ethnicities, and 2% African
American. The percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch is 0.6% of the population.
About 3% of students at Highland Park are limited English proficient. The student to teacher
ratio at the school is 18:1, and there are four to five teachers per grade level. Highland Park is
primarily suburban as it is surrounded by many neighborhoods and is located in the town of
Gilbert.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Highland Park Elementary is not a Title I school. In 2014, Highland Park was labeled an
A school and the AYP status was met. In 2014, 90% of students at Highland Park met or
exceeded on the AIMS math. In the same year, 96% of students met or exceeded on the AIMS
reading.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

References
Gilbert Public Schools Nutrition Services. (2015). Power of choice: Offer versus serve.
Retrieved from http://www.gilbertschools.net//site/Default.aspx?PageID=25215
Highland Park Elementary School. (2014). Retrieved January 30, 2016 from
http://www.zillow.com/gilbert-az/schools/highland-park-elementary-school-7064/

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

Criteri
a

Exemplary: Points (5)

Assess
ment

SCOR
E:

School
Contex
t

SCOR
E:

Proficient: Points (3)

A minimum of 2
strengths and 2
weaknesses were
described
Assessment was
completed online and
posted to your EPortfolio
Suggestions to improve
school policies were
clearly stated
At least 2 suggestions to
engage stakeholders
were provided

School context contained

detailed information
on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
All of the following are
listed in the file
document name
submitted
Lastname.firstname.assig
nment#.course#
This rubric was added to
the last page of the
document submitted

Unsatisfactory: Points (1)

A minimum of 1 strength
and 1 weakness was
described
Suggestions to improve
school policies were
stated but lacked
sufficient detail
At least 1 suggestion to
engage stakeholders was
provided
Assessment was
completed online and not
in your EPortfolio

School context contained

some detailed
information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
Most of the following
are listed in the file
document name
submitted
Lastname.firstname.assig
nment#.course#
This rubric was added
but not at the end of the
document submitted

Assessment was not

completed online or in
your EPortfolio
Strengths and
weaknesses were not, or
poorly described
Suggestions to improve
school policies were not
stated
No suggestions to
engage stakeholders
were provided

School context contained

little detailed
information on
grade levels
% free/reduced lunch
enrollment,
proportion ELLs
average class size
urban/rural/suburban,
ethnic makeup
state test scores
AYP status
Few of the following are
listed in the file
document name
submitted
Lastname.firstname.assig
nment#.course#
This rubric was not
added to the document
submitted

Link to E-Portfolio: http://kseckingerportfolio.weebly.com/healthy-leadership.html

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL ASSESSMENT