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Contextual Factors Analysis

Mya Daniels

Department of Special Education, University of Maine at Farmington

SED 460: Student Teaching and Seminar in Special Education

Dr. Elizabeth Yeaton-Evans

January 9, 2023
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Contextual Factors: Mount Blue Middle School

Mount Blue Middle School is located in Farmington, Maine and is a part of the RSU 9

school district. The school enrolls sixth grade to eighth grade. This is the only middle school in

the district, so students are primarily from the Farmington area. There are, however, surrounding

towns attending. Mount Blue Middle School is divided into six different learning communities,

each of which have four general education teachers, a special education teacher and educational

technicians. There are two communities per grade level. This school provides a multitude of

services such as special education services, related services, adaptive skills, gifted and talented

programs, and English Language Learners services (ELLs) (Mount Blue RSD About, n.d.).

Community, District, and School Factors

Community Factors

Farmington, Maine has multiple schools from the Mount Blue Regional School District

and the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF). UMF offers educational programs for

pre-service teachers, in which they can complete their infield experiences, such as practicum or

student teaching in the Mount Blue Regional School District. There are approximately 8,000

people that live in Farmington, Maine (Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington, ME, n.d.).

Throughout personal observations, there are multiple socioeconomic status’ across this town.

Residents can range from living in trailers, apartments, single family homes, and some even

experiencing homelessness. The median cost of rent is $779, while the median home value is

$164,800 (Farmington, ME, n.d.). Approximately 45% of the residents rent, while 55% own

property (Farmington, ME, n.d.). Due to Farmington being home to the University of Maine at

Farmington, the statistics do not reflect the amount of students enrolled there.
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The median household income is $45,789 (Farmington, ME, n.d.). Due to the

geographical location and surrounding areas, traveling can be difficult. There are limited public

forms of transportation, the only one provided for the community is Western Maine

Transportation Services (Transportation, n.d.). Unless you have a vehicle or know someone who

is willing to drive, transportation can be difficult in this rural area. Almost 23.5% of the

population is in poverty (Farmington, ME, n.d.). The largest demographic group living in

poverty is young men and women 18-24 and older women 75 years or older (Farmington, ME,

n.d.). 29.9% of people in Farmington are either on Medicare or Medicaid (Farmington, ME,

n.d.). Most of the population in this area is white, at 94.1%, while 3.95% is multiracial, 1.3% is

African American, 0.146% Asian, and 0.543% Hispanic (Farmington, ME, n.d.).

District Factors

Farmington is in rural Western Maine, located in the mountains of Franklin County.

Mount Blue Regional School District, RSU 9, is the largest school district in Franklin County. It

spans across three counties: Franklin, Somerset, and Kennebec. This school district comprises

eight schools spanning from grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. There are five

elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, an adult education program, and a foster

career and technical education center school (Mount Blue RSD About, n.d.). The district serves

the following towns, Farmington, Wilton, Chesterville, Starks, Industry, New Sharon, New

Vineyard, Temple, Vienna, and Weld. There is a strong sense of community in the district. The

school district serves 2,206 students with a 11 to 1 student to teacher ratio (Regional School

District 09 - U.S. News Education, n.d.).

The student population of RSU 9 is limited in terms of diversity in regards to racially and

ethnically. As shown in the chart below, out of all of the students shown below, 94.9% are white,
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1.8% are Hispanic, 1% are Asian, 1% are African American, 0.2% are Native American and

Native Hawaiian, and 1.2% are two or more races (Regional School District 09 - U.S. News

Education, n.d.). Another important note is that 36% of students are economically disadvantaged

(Regional School District 09 - U.S. News Education, n.d.). This was a major factor with free and

reduced lunches. In the 2020-2021, school year 64% of students received free or reduced school

lunch (N. Greenlaw, personal communication, January 31, 2023). However, Governor Janet

Mills passed a bill July 1, 2022, allowing all Maine students in public schools to receive free

breakfast and lunches at school (Duggan, 2022). This bill was created and passed to reduce the

amount of food insecurity in Maine. The data shows a portion of students are affected by being

economically disadvantaged, but also facing food insecurities outside of school hours.

School Factors

Mount Blue Middle School has approximately 532 students enrolled and is a Title 1

school (Public Schools in Franklin County, Maine, n.d. & Search for Public Schools - Mt Blue
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Middle School (231480900550), n.d.) . During the 2021-2022 school year, there were 494

students in attendance. 154 students in sixth grade, 167 students in seventh grade, and 173

students in eighth grade (Search for Public Schools - Mt Blue Middle School (231480900550),

n.d.). This school is not racially diverse, 2 students are Asian, 5 students are African American, 5

students are Hispanic, 1 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 8 are two or more races, and 473

students are White (Search for Public Schools - Mt Blue Middle School (231480900550), n.d.).

In 2020, there were 229 female students and 279 male students (Search for Public Schools - Mt

Blue Middle School (231480900550), n.d.). 198 students are eligible for free or reduced lunch

(Search for Public Schools - Mt Blue Middle School (231480900550), n.d.). However, since

2022, there is no data reported in regards to the amount of students receiving free or reduced

lunch because all students in public schools receive lunch for free. There is a higher rate of

absenteeism compared to the state average. Out of all students, 20% miss 15 days or more of

school per year. Students with disabilities miss at least 15 days of school 32% of the time per

year. (Mt Blue Middle School - Farmington, Maine - ME, 2022) Compared to the state average,

the rate of absenteeism is significantly higher at Mount Blue Middle School (Mt Blue Middle

School - Farmington, Maine - ME, 2022). Academically, students are 51% proficient in reading,

while only being 26% proficient in math (Mt Blue Middle School - Farmington, Maine - ME,

2022). While mathematics continues to be a point of emphasis in the educational system, the

proficiency marks aren’t being consistently met at this time.

Classroom Factors

Classroom Characteristics

Mrs. Greenlaw’s classroom is located in the sixth grade wing. Her classroom is one of the

first classrooms visitors see in the building. The room is located in the hallway, both of the
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principal's offices are across the hallway, the nurses office right next to the classroom, boys and

girls bathroom, and a unisex bathroom. This can be an important factor for some of our students

who need to utilize the nurses services frequently, or if student’s need to be sent to the office for

behavioral needs. Mrs. Greenlaw’s classroom has 12 desks, one large table, and a full kitchen.

The full kitchen is located in the back of the room. Students can store their food in the cabinets

or refrigerator if they need to. Staff throughout the building will occasionally come into the

classroom throughout the day to use the sink, stove, or fridge as needed. Students have adapted

over time to ignore the additional people coming into the classroom and to focus on what is in

front of them. Occasionally, students will earn rewards and will be given the option to cook in

the kitchen. Usually, rice krispy treats, brownies, or whatever is in the cabinets. The classroom

has five desks raised to allow for flexible seating options to meet all student’s needs. Two of the

desks can be adjusted to accommodate standing desk height or seated height. One of the standing

desks has the option of using foot petals for more of a flexible option. Six of the desks are left at

a standard seated height, while the last desk is left at a slightly shorter height to accommodate

one of the student’s needs. During learning lab, LAC, MAC, or even core classes, the larger table

will be utilized to maximize student learning on missing assignments. For example, if multiple

students owe missing work on one assignment, then they will be moved to the large table, so

they can complete the assignment together with the help of an adult in the room. Below is a
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diagram of the hallway in relation to Mrs. Greenlaw’s classroom.

Scheduling

Every morning, students will come into the classroom and begin completing work. This

time is called AD/AD, or also known as homeroom, and learning lab. The work they are

completing can either be missing or is due soon. During this time, students are expected to check

their google classroom, emails, and power school. If there is missing work or upcoming

assignments due, they need to complete an assignment sheet. The assignment sheet is broken

down by subject, where the assignment is located (if it is on google classroom or on paper), then

if they have all of the materials required to complete the assignment. Most of the students in the

room do have missing assignments, usually in science or social studies. For our students, most

need additional adult help to complete the assignments, so they do not bring homework home to

complete outside of school. However, students are more than welcome to and are encouraged to

bring their computers home to complete their missing assignments. During learning lab time,
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students prioritize completing science, social studies, then our classroom work. Outside of

learning lab time, students do not have time to complete missing assignments in the regular

school day. If they do not have any missing work to complete, then they are expected to launch

either of the softwares: MAP Accelerator, System 44, or Read 180. Each of these software

programs the district pays for as forms of tiered interventions for individualized math or literacy

support. After learning lab, students transition to core one. Our students can be in either science

or inclusion English Language Arts. If they are in inclusion English Language Arts, they are with

their able-bodied peers completing content standards at their expected grade level with

accommodations and modifications to the curriculum so the material is accessible to them. In

each of the general education classrooms, science or social studies, there is an educational

technician in the room for additional support. While in the English Language Arts classroom,

there is a special education teacher in the room to provide additional support for students with

IEPs. The two graphs below show the movement of the educational technician and the special

education teacher in order to provide support and services to students with disabilities in the

general education classroom or in our classroom.

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In both core two and three, students are taught individualized mathematics instruction.

Students in both of these math classes can be at a third grade level to a fifth grade level. So,

mathematically, students are at various grade levels, which can be difficult developing

curriculum based on their individual needs. Then there are LAC and MAC classes. For the LAC

and MAC classes, there are various students either inside or outside of our caseload in our

classroom. These classes are designed to help students with their various literacy and
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mathematical intervention needs. Each of these classes occur two to three times per week,

depending on blue or gold days. MAC class occurs on a gold day, while LAC class occurs on a

blue day. For a LAC class, students will use System 44 or read books from the System 44

program. The middle school has physical copies of the books the program uses. For the

beginning of MAC class, students complete math fact fluency work. Most of the students in our

caseload struggle with remembering multiplication facts. Students will be paired and will

verbally read and answer multiplication facts for three minutes. Both students are expected to

take turns verbally stating the math facts. After, students transition to complete a one minute

timed quiz on the multiplication facts. By using both verbal and written practice, student’s are

increasing their comprehension of multiplication facts. The quizzes are then collected and

corrected. The data from the set determines whether the student can move onto the next set,

which is more challenging compared to the last set the student completed. Students need to

receive an 85% or higher before moving onto the next set. If it is below an 85%, then they

remain on that set until an 85% or higher is achieved. Once the activity is completed, students

will log onto MAP Accelerator. MAP Accelerator is a program created by Khan Academy, where

student’s individual math skills are being taught to bridge the gap between their needs and

grade-level mathematics content. The data is taken based on the student’s NWEA’s score and is

entirely individualized based on their needs.

Finally, there is core 4, which is an specially designed instruction in English Language

Arts. In this class, students range from a third grade reading level to a fifth grade reading level.

For this class, when they are reading or are expected to read together, text is typically at a fourth

grade level to meet all of the student’s needs.

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There are a variety of needs in Mrs. Greenlaw’s classroom. Some students require

additional services such as social work, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and

scheduled nurse’s visits. Every two weeks, the social worker comes to our classroom for social

and emotional learning. Most of our students require social work services, however, the social

worker at the school does not have enough time in their schedule to meet with all of our students,

so a group lesson is implemented to meet the students IEP requirements. If students are being

pulled out for additional services and supports, they are being pulled from MAC/LAC time.

Student’s are being pulled during this class period to prevent missed instructional time in their

general educational classes.

Technology Availability

All students in Mount Blue Middle School are assigned a Macbook Air for the school

year. Students use the computers to access their curriculum through google classroom. Inside of

the classroom, there are three iPads and one desktop computer. One of the iPads is used to take

attendance and to project additional information on the board. By having these many devices in

the room, it can be easier to break students apart and move them around the classroom. All

students have speech to text programmed onto their computers as a part of their IEP

accommodations. All of the staff members in the classroom have their own assigned laptop and

google classroom information to access the student’s materials.

Strengths/Needs Analysis and Students Characteristics

Strengths and Needs Analysis

The student’s are all very different and unique in a multitude of ways. Many students'

strengths are utilizing visuals, accessing their resources, verbal reading fluency, and

determination. When students are given a set of directions and complete the first problem
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together, students are able to then complete the rest of the assignment on their own. Students are

able to use visuals throughout the school day. They have a visual of their schedule, so they are

able to come to each class period on time and prepared. Students also have a multiplication chart

and various fraction posters to serve as a guide when completing their work. They also have

shown more initiative and self-advocacy skills. Students will advocate their needs when needing

help with assignments, their feelings or experiences, or other executive functioning skills.

When reviewing student’s files and accessing their academic needs, most of the students

have similar accommodations and goals in mathematics and language arts in their Individualized

Education Program (IEP). In mathematics, most students are struggling with skills in the

following areas: computation in multi digit problems with multiplication and division, computing

decimals or fractions, integers, retaining math facts, and multistep word problems. This includes

word problems involving fractions or various orders of operations. Majority of the students have

IEP goals in multi digit multiplication and division problems. After observing students, they

often need verbal confirmation of the steps they need to take in order to complete the problem.

This can be seen when completing long division or multiplication. A majority of the students

have goals regarding computation of fractions. A fraction unit has been designed for students in

order to address their need in this area.

In the area of language arts, students are struggling in the following areas: reading

comprehension, fluency, using context clues, inferencing, producing clear and coherent writing,

and proper punctuation. When reading unfamiliar words, students will often skip over the words,

wait for another person to read the word, or use the text for context clues to determine the

meaning of words. Most of the students are academically at a fourth or fifth grade reading level.

When writing, students struggle with writing a five sentence paragraph, regardless of the topic.
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Even with a free choice writing assignment, students struggle to create a topic and write

something based on the topic. By coming up with sentence starters, students can continue with

their writing prompt. Lastly, students are doing well when they are given a warm-up to correct a

small passage. Students recognize spelling or grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes.

In order to help all students with their science and social studies classes all students have

a set of accommodations that must be given in order for them to succeed in the general education

setting. When given a set of directions in single steps, directions must be read aloud for verbal

comprehension, and students are asked to repeat the directions for confirmation. Preferential

seating is guaranteed in most classes in order to provide students with the most learning

engagement and understanding. Frequent check ins for understanding are implemented to ensure

students are comprehending the material and preventing larger misunderstandings. Students are

also given use of a written scribe or oral response if possible. All students are given either

shortened assignments or extended time to complete assignments, in order to accommodate their

processing needs. Students have the use of visuals in all class periods. Visuals that can be utilized

by students are multiplication charts, proof-reading marks, visual schedules, paper copies of

posters, and more. These accommodations are useful to ensure students are successful in the

general education setting, whereas these accommodations are standard and frequently used in

special education settings.

Student Characteristics

A student interests and learning survey was given at the beginning of January in order to

deepen my understanding of their interests, learning styles, seating preferences, and more. After

students completed this survey, it is my belief that most students enjoy playing video games,

spending time with friends, art, or farming. All of this information is extremely important and
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helpful for me when it comes to planning lessons because this can determine how content is

presented to students and how students can demonstrate their knowledge. Students were

specifically asked their preferred learning style. Students were also asked how they preferred to

work in individual, small, or large group projects. Most of the students did not know what their

learning style was or they were visual learners. Upon observation, most students are visual or

kinesthetic learners. Over thirty-five percent of students did not know their preferred learning

style. While thirty-five percent of students are visual learners. Upon reading this survey, this

makes sense for the student’s processing and their most recent psychological evaluations.

Students engage more with content when they are listening or watching someone how to do

something. Most of the students, if given a paper with directions on it, would not be able to

complete the assignment without verbal directions and reteaching strategies with the assignment.

The survey also indicated that most students preferred working in small groups versus individual

or large group projects. How students prefer to complete projects is a strong indication on how

class time is utilized. Especially in math class, students could rotate in small groups to centers,

where they can receive individualized support and instruction, partner work, and group work.
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My student’s needs all vary and can differ from one student to another. After completing

the survey, most students believe their best classes are either science or social studies. The most

common class students struggled in was mathematics. Upon file review, most students have

difficulty with multi-step word problems, two or three by one or two digit multiplication, multi

digit division, measurement, money, or fractions. Students often need multiple sessions of

reteaching, or multiple means of representation in order to understand content. This is very

important when planning and designing lessons. Students are at various levels academically, so it

can be difficult planning lessons to meet the needs of all students.

This is the first “normal” year since Covid-19 impacting the lives of all of our students.

Covid-19 has impacted the students' lives since they were in the fourth grade. Their

psychological evaluations helped me to gain a better understanding of the impact Covid-19 had

on them. However, I mostly relied on student information or classroom observations. Most of the

student social and emotional development was impacted by Covid-19. Any age can be crucial for

social and emotional development in children, and I witness the impacts Covid-19 on our

students. Students often are easily distracted, interrupt instructional time, moving around the

room at unnecessary times, or will have socially-inappropriate interactions with peers. Some
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students are socially at a fourth or fifth grade level, while others are at a middle school level. Due

to the amount of disruptions in class, I have to anticipate these disruptions in the lessons.

Oftentimes, students cannot complete work independently. They will sit at their desks and

interact with peers, instead of advocating for their needs. I believe that during the pandemic,

students missed out on critical developmental milestones, which is further delaying the typical

developmental milestones. Due to these concerns, it will be a factor in the pace at which the class

is learning at.
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References

Duggan, E. (2022, September 30). With free meals available for all students in Maine, officials

say there are still hurdles to offering better food. Morning Sentinel. Retrieved February 6,

2023, from

https://www.centralmaine.com/2022/09/30/with-free-meals-available-for-all-students-in-

maine-officials-say-there-are-still-hurdles-to-offering-better-food/

Farmington, ME. (n.d.). Data USA. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/farmington-me

N. Greenlaw, personal communication on January 31, 2023

Mount Blue RSD About. (n.d.). RSU 9 | Mt. Blue Regional School District. Retrieved February 6,

2023, from https://www.mtbluersd.org/about

Mt Blue Middle School - Farmington, Maine - ME. (2022, June 9). GreatSchools. Retrieved

February 6, 2023, from

https://www.greatschools.org/maine/farmington/470-Mt-Blue-Middle-School/#Students_

with_Disabilities*Discipline_and_attendance*Percentage_of_students_chronically_absen

t_(15+_days)

Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington, ME. (n.d.). Niche. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from

https://www.niche.com/k12/mt-blue-middle-school-farmington-me/

Public Schools in Franklin County, Maine. (n.d.). Browse Public School Districts in Franklin

County, Maine | SchoolMap.org. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from

https://www.schoolmap.org/County/ME-Franklin-County/
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Regional School District 09 - U.S. News Education. (n.d.). U.S. News & World Report.

Retrieved February 6, 2023, from

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/maine/districts/rsu-09-100250

RSU 9 Mt Blue Regional School District - Maine. (n.d.). DonorsChoose. Retrieved February 6,

2023, from

https://www.donorschoose.org/schools/maine/rsu-9-mt-blue-regional-school-district/1677

Search for Public Schools - Mt Blue Middle School (231480900550). (n.d.). National Center for

Education Statistics. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from

https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&Miles=10&Zip=04294

&ID=231480900550

Transportation. (n.d.). Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved February 6, 2023,

from https://www.franklincountymaine.org/live-and-work/transportation