I.

Contextual Information and Learning Environment Factors

A. Narrative General Contextual Information for Community, District, and School (limited to 1 page)
With a population of 139,609 people, Olathe KS is the third largest town in the Kansas City metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census, the
median income for a household is $61,111, and about 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of
those under age 18. The ethnic makeup of the city is 83.1% White, 10.2% Hispanic or Latino, 5.3% African American, 4.1% Asian, and 4.6%
from other races.

Olathe school district is the second largest school district in Kansas, with a population of 29,405 students. It has 50 schools, including 35
elementary schools, 10 middle schools and 5 high schools. The majority of the students live in Olathe, with around 17% of students coming from
neighboring towns. 27.58% of students in the district are economically disadvantaged.

Olathe South High School was the second high school in the district. It has a student population of 2090. The ethnic makeup of the school is
similar to the town, with 74.50% White, 9.71% Hispanic or Latino, 6.22% African American, and 9.57% other. The SES breakdown of the school
is similar to that of the district, with 18.76% economically disadvantaged. Academically, Olathe South has 14.68% of students performing at Level
1, 25.15% at Level 2, 33.8% at Level 3, and 26.35 at Level 4 according to the KSDE Building Report Card. This is better than the state, which
only has 9.14% at Level 1.

Olathe South has a few programs specific to the district and school, including a program called Falcon 50 (Power 50 in the district), in which
students have a 50-minute lunch period during which they can go to any teacher to receive help, make up a test, etc. South also has partial block
scheduling, with two block days a week, Wednesday and Thursday. Olathe School district also has what they call 21st century academies, specific
4-year programs that students enter as a freshman. These academies include Engineering, Future Educators, Computer Science, etc.

B. Characteristics of Class (Use the following two tables to record information for the Whole Class)

Table 1.1 Class Contextual Information (limited to 1 page)

Grade level ___11/12____ Content area ____Mathematics_________ Topic __Algebra 3___
Age range of students _____16-18__________ Number of male students ___14________
Total number of students _____20_______ Number of female students ______6____
Percentage of students receiving reduced lunch ___18.76%_____ Percentage of students not receiving reduced lunch___81.24%_____
[if free/reduced lunch information not available for class, provide school percentages]
Area in which students live (check all that apply): Urban _____ Suburban __X____ Rural ______
Ethnicity of students (give numbers) ___2___ African American or Black ___4___ Hispanic or Latino
______ Native American/Alaskan Native ___14___ White
______ Asian or Pacific Islander ______ Other (specify) __________
 Language proficiency of students (give ___18___ Fluent English Proficient ____2__ English Language Learners
numbers)

Identified special needs categories
represented (give numbers)
___2____ Specific Learning Disability
_______ Hard of Hearing
_______ Deaf
_______ Deaf-Blind
___1____ Other Health Impaired
_______ Multiple Disabilities
_______ Brain Injury
_______ Established Medical Disability (0-5 yrs)
_______ At risk for developmental disabilities
_______ Speech/Language Impaired
_______ Visually Impaired
_______ Orthopedically Impaired
_______ Emotionally Disturbed
_______ Autism
_______ Mental Retardation
_______Gifted
_______ Developmentally Delayed
_______ Other (Specify)_______________

Provide appropriate charts/graphs to display demographic data for district, school, and classroom in Appendix A.

Table 1.2 Student Characteristics for Whole Class (limited to 1 page)

Student Characteristics
Intellectual Characteristics
- Including readiness,
cognitive abilities, learning
needs, developmental levels,
etc.
Specific Descriptions
The students who take this class take it because they did not do very well in Algebra 2 and are not ready for College
Algebra or Pre-Calculus. These are students who struggle with math and are not motivated in math. However, they
are juniors and seniors, so they have a higher maturity level than the other lower level math classes. This class is also
mainly reviewing material from Algebra 2, so for most of the material, this is the second time the students have seen
it.
There are two students in this class with IEPs, Student #8 and Student #13. There is also a paraeducator in the class
who mainly helps student #8 in a resource room.

Previously demonstrated
academic performance/
ability:
% Above standard _10.53%_
% Meets standard _52.63%_
% Below standard _36.84%
Social Characteristics
- Including emotional,
attitudinal, motivational, etc.
The data I used for this is from the students’ Kansas State Math Assessment scores. The all took this test their
sophomore year, so for about half of the class it is one year old, and the other half it is two years old. Only 2 students
in this class qualified as above standard. The majority of the students fall into the meet standard category, which is
normal for this type of class.
For the previous unit in this class, the class average on the test was an 85%, and only 2 students have lower than 59%
as a grade.
This class is not very talkative at all. Whenever they have time to work on homework, about half the class starts to
work and the other class gets on their phone. They also do not ask questions very easily, and they rarely respond to
open-ended questions. From a behavioral standpoint, they are a very easy class. However, I would like them to be
 more willing to be involved in class discussion. This class is also the first hour of the day, so they may play a role in
their attitudes.

Personal Characteristics
- Including physical, social,
individual experiences,
talents, language, culture,
family and community
values, etc.
This class is difficult to get to know. They rarely participate in discussions and when they have free time, they are all
silent. There are more males in the class than females, so at first, I thought it would be a more difficult class, but it
my easiest behaviorally. This is somewhat of a diverse class, with the majority of the students being white males.
There are two students with IEPs and two of the students are ELL, with no overlap in those categories. I think the
biggest difficulty I will have with this class will be building relationships with the students and getting them
involved.

C. Narrative: Implications for Whole Class Instruction Based on Information from Table 1.2 (limited to 1 page)
The type of student that takes Algebra 3 is someone who was able to pass Algebra 2 but is not quite ready for College Algebra or Pre-calculus.
Because of this, there is a wide range of mathematic ability. Some of the students could have taken a higher-level class, and some of the students
were probably not ready to move on from the previous class. Because of this I will have to differentiate my instruction in order to keep the higher-
level students engaged, and make sure the lower-level students do not fall behind. This particular class is not very active during class. This may be
because it is the first hour of the day, or they are just not excited about math. It will be a challenge to keep them engaged. I plan on using resources
like technology and creating an energetic classroom. I believe the best way to learn math is through discussion, so I plan on having discussion-
heavy lessons. I do not think that classroom management will be a challenge in this class, other than reminding students to put away their phones
and to stay focused on the material. I look forward to working with each student, and hopefully making math a little bit better for them.
D. Sub- Groups/Students Information
Describe this
subgroup/student using
information from Table 1.1
My first subgroup will the
two students in the class with
IEPs, students #8 who is
male and #13 who is female
SUBGROUP
or
FOCUS
STUDENT
My second subgroup will be
the two ELL students,
Student #10 and Student #14,
Why was this
subgroup/student What was learned about this subgroup/student?
selected?
Intellectual
I chose this subgroup The unit 1 test scores for Student #8 and Student #13 are 88% and 81% respectively.
because many times The current grade in the class for Student #8 and Student #13 are 81% and 78% respectively.
it is believed that Both of these students are at a low B, high C grade range.
students will Social
learning disabilities Student #8 seems very outgoing and friendly. He seems to care about school and wants to
do not perform as work hard in class. He also works well with the para in the resource room and often comes to
well in school as my class during that hour for questions and to turn in homework.
Student #13 is not very t social in class. She asks questions only when I specifically ask her if
students without. I
she has any. She does seem to care about school, although she often does not turn in
wanted to see if the homework.
plans put in place for Personal
these students are Student #8 is often absent from class and late to school. He usually does a good job of getting
successful for them. caught up. I do not know what his home life is like, or what could be contributing to his
absences.
Student #13 is very reserved, so it will be harder to get to know her.
Intellectual
I chose this subgroup The unit 1 test scores for Student #10 and Student #14 are 68% and 73% respectively.
because I wanted to The current grade in the class for Student #10 and Student #14 are both 69%
see if the cultural Both of these students are at a low C, high D grade range.

SUBGROUP both of whom are males differences of these Social

or students have an Student #10 seems very motivated to improve his math skills and often asks for help. He is
effect on their good at turning in late work and getting caught up when he is absent.
FOCUS Student #14 is not very social in class and rarely talks or asks questions.
STUDENT learning and success
in the classroom. Personal
Since both of these students are ELL, I am not sure what their home life and culture is like.
Student #10 is very friendly and is warming up to the idea of asking for help. Student #14 will
be the student most difficult to get to know, I think.

E. Narrative Implications for Sub-Group’s/Focus Student’s Instruction (limited to 1 page)

Despite both having a learning disability, the students with an IEP (Student #8 and Student #13) have grades that are above the average of the
whole class. From what I can tell so far, it seems like their individualized learning plan is helping them to be more successful in the classroom.
There is always room for improvement, especially in math, so I look forward to helping both of these students continue to be successful in my
classroom.
Even though Student #10 and Student #14 are both classified as ELL, they both seem to be fluent in English, so I do not anticipate the language
barrier to be an issue in my classroom. However, if both students are struggling in this class, so there needs to be some sort of instructional
differentiation for them. I plan on discussing their current grades with the both of them individually and asking them what we can both do to
improve their performance. Something I plan on doing in my future classroom is to have quarterly meetings with each student to discuss their
progress. I think that is something I can try out during this semester.