Identify a low performing student to specifically focus your student achievement discussion around.
1. Whom would you need to collaborate with to develop a profile of this student and his/her family?
2. What demographic subgroup(s) does this student belong to and what inequities are associated with the subgroup?
209 comments:
1 – 200 of 209 Newer› Newest»You would need to talk to many people but the key people would be the students teacher and the students parents. other people would be the specialist teachers that the student goes to if they go at all. rppamigo
in my first blog i forgot to identify my low performing student. so i will do so with the response to the second question. his name is billy and he is a white male growing up in a middle class household. both parents work. they are very invovled with billy's schooling, but becuase both parents work they can not always be there when billy needs them or wants them there. there are not to many inequities associated with this subgroup. How do you help this low performing student?
A Hispanic female student of mine that is reading on a second grade level and has scored a 38 on the 1st LOA & earned an F in reading class for the 1st quarter. I would first have to collaborate with the ELL resource teacher to get her WIDA Standard Report information; this report contains the student’s proficiency level in all academic domains. By collecting this data 1st I can better understand were this student is right now with her English Language abilities. Next, I would contact Luis Ciliselli, a migrant education coordinator for Pender County. He is extremely knowledgeable about the Hispanic/migrant students and their families in the area.
She belongs to the Hispanic demographic subgroup. The most obvious inequity is that English is her second language. She does not have the same experiences with the English language or American culture for that matter, as her native English language classmates. Grade level standardized tests are another inequity because they are designed and contain information that is based on having previous knowledge, to some degree, associated with that grade. ELL students simply do not have the same amount of exposure to the language to be as successful on these assessments.
Child is a 2nd grader, labeled ELL but born in US and has attended school in U.S. since Kindergarten.
Student has difficulty staying on task, processing information and with language. One would need to collaborate with mainstream teachers, specialists and EC teachers in order to see if student
may need instruction differentiation or early interventions.
My low performing student is an ELL 1st grader who is a repeater. He was never exposed to academics in his native country and spoke only Mixteco upon arrival to U.S.
He has no help at home because parents do not speak or read English nor Spanish. Having taught ESL for 10 yrs. I know that the student should have acquired more language and academics than he shows. We'll have to wait until the end of the school year to see if further testing is required.
My student is a fifth grade white female, low performing in PE. The people I have used to talk to about her have been her classroom teacher, the other specialists, her sister (younger)and her mother. I got some really good insights from the classroom teacher about her behavior ("This child is not a self starter, she needs to be shown exactly what it is you want her to do). Her mother also gave me some insight (she really enjoys riding horses). I also saw on my run that she had a basketball hoop up in her yard, so talked to her about that. Probably my biggest insight, besides the classroom teacher, came from just taking to this kid one on one. I was able to illicit answers from her on her interests, likes and dislikes.
Response to amigo from mr. chris - it is amazing the insight you get from the specialists, I have talked often to the art and music teachers here and have been really surprised to learn that some of the kids that I would never have imagined having great talents in these subject areas.
Collaboration with student's mainstream and specialist teachers as well as parents is needed to find out if student has difficulties in other area. Other Mixteco speaking students in the past have successfully made some progress by now. As I said in my earlier comment, time will tell.
There is a 1st grade male who is a low performer in music. I have collaborated with his classroom teachers from last year and this current school year. I have also spoken with the other specialists - art, p.e., and media to gauge consistency - as well as our guidance counselor, his mother and third grade brother. This child is a white male from a lower income, sometimes single parent/ sometimes unstable two parent household. As a result he lacks security, discipline, self esteem, and social skills. The opinion is that his ability is above average, but that negative behaviors hinder his current performance. We are working on a positive behavior strategy.
A white male living in a single parent home. His father is in prison, and all grandparents are far away. The inequities are that his family is broken, there isn't enough time in the day for mom to meet all of his basic needs, and that he has very little support from outside family members. To find out about this child, previous teachers were consulted, as well as counselors. Meetings with the mom gave a little more insight, she is doing the best she can with what she has to work with.
a) Speak with the teacher and the parents. Might even get a better grasp of the child with last year's teacher and specialists.
b) demographics: hisp. male. Somewhat comfortable with the English language, but appears difficulty with great number of words. One parent working. Have only had one occasion to see a parent thus far. Child is very capable, but needs a greater support system for academics.
PNixon, RPP
I would begin by speaking with the child's former teacher(s) to see what concerns he/she had about the child when the child was in his/her class and to gain more knowledge about the child's family life. I would then conference with the child's parent(s) in order to form a better understanding of the child's background. I would also speak with the specialists teachers to see if this child maybe possessed a special talent.
My chosen student is a low performing black male who's main problems are with decoding and fluency. He comes from a two parent home(both parents also work) but has many brothers and sisters and does not receive the one on one attention he needs to be successful. His basic hygeine needs and I believe he also lacks the necessary tools to carry out his assignments at home (e.g. books & school supplies).
My low performing student is a Hispanic male. He has several siblings younger than him. Mom is concerned about his performance but her lack of physical resources (low ec. level) and lack of understanding the language limit the amout of help she can give him. I need to collaborate with his mother and the ELL teacher and any school personell he comes in contact with. Student has been in Pender Co. Preschool at another site and finding out if he displayed the same lack of understanding and memory skill level may help in the overall picture.
Janet Ensign RPPS
There are two posts from "Heather." Though I registered as Heather Padgett only my first name will appear. I've tried repeatedly to fix this but have been unsuccessful. So, if you read a post from "Heather," you are reading a post from Heather Padgett @ RPP.
Heather Padgett
My low performing student is a 3rd grade male. He is in the EC program, and he receives services in all academic areas. While he is making growth, he continues to be low-performing according to data such as AIMSweb and LOAs.
1. Collaboration with regular education teachers and parents is essential for developing a profile of any student. Parents, who are completely honest and forthcoming, are tremendously valuable for understanding what other variables may contribute to why a student continues to struggle. The reg.ed. teachers and I have spoken with the family of my particular student on many occasions to assist them with academic and behavioral concerns they have been having within the home. They have also provided us with medical and behavioral background that we use to work with him in the classroom.
2. My student is in the low-socioeconomic subgroup. His mother cannot read and needs her oldest daughter to read most of the notes that we send home to her, and she can't help him with his homework. Both parents are unemployed due to health reasons. Although, they have many things working against them, they are a very supportive family and would do anything to help their son's education.
Question #1-You would need to talk with the entire school community beginning with last years teacher.
I would also set up a meeting with the parents to gather background information.
Last comment came from Linda Eakins @ Rpp.
Linda Eakins RPP
Question #2
My students is a white male who live with his mom and her boyfriend. He moved here form Texas and has repeated K. He is still working on a Kindergarten level in Second Grade. He is reading 13 words per minute and has a hard time comprending what he has read. Right now he is in the process of being tested by the school psychologist.
J. Philips Rpp
Question 1:
I would contact the teachers from previous years and the parents/guardian. By talking with them, I would gather information about the child's past academic strenghts and weaknesses
J.Philips Rpp
Question 2-
My student is a black male who lives with his mom. She is in school and he stays mostly at his grandparents. He is performing below grade level in all areas. His oral reading is slow and labored. He read 13 wpm when tested on fluency. He missed 62/120 sight words at the end of the first nine weeks. He writes in short choppy and incomplete sentences. He scored a 5/20 on the writing assessment at the end of the first nine weeks. His addition and subtraction fluency is limited. He lacks strategies and skills necessary to work math problems. I work with him in a small group daily on sequential phonics. He is currently in the Start process.
In finding more background on my student I would review his cum folder and see what trends i can recognize. By 5th grade I am luckier than techers of earlier years because patterns can be identified. This allows me to contact previous teachers (ESL especially), the guidance counselor, specialists, the school nurse, administration, even the school secretaries. Every one that has come in contact may may be able to help me profile this student.
rrpamigo,
I think you are right, specialists can enlighten a classroom teacher to a side of a student we would not necessarily see in the classroom. My student is an hispanic male who is very quiet in the class, but can relax more in PE, for instance, because he knows there will be no judging, no test, no measurement of what he has to learn. Less threatening. Reading is the barrier that has held him back, common block for his demographic, with little fluency modeled at home. I do have a mtg with his family thursday, will provide mcuch insight.
I would collaborate with former teachers, specialists and family. My student is a white male from a low economic income family with a limited education. The parents have difficulty helping the child with reading because of deficiencies within their own education.
CFE Sikes
1. In order to develp a profile of the student that I have chosen and his/her family there are many people I would need to colaborate with. First of all the child himself and his family. Input from previous teachers and guidance counselors would also be helpful. He is not identified at EC or ELL. He made a 32 on the reading LOA and a 38 on the math. He also received an F in both math and spelling.
2. This student is a white male on free or reduced lunch. As for inequities, his mother knows that he is struggling, but may not have means for outside tutoring. She is also a single parent which makes it difficult for her to work with her son as she would like to.
To T. Moore RPP,
It seems like our students are in a similar situation. I have met with the parent on several occassions and she is trying her best to help her child, but it is difficult with her being a single parent. My student's father is not in the picture, but his mother has been bringing him to spend time with her father in hopes that the presence of a male figure in his life with help the situation. I have given the mom some suggestions as to how to help at home. Especially with reading since that is the area I teach. Do you have any suggestions I could offer her for motivation?
To Nixon RPP: I agree that there needs to be a better support system in place for all children, not just Hispanic. Like Wynn said it takes a community making a committment to get positive results, "no blame game." In the words of Nike: "Just Do It!"
Bender CFE
Judith is J. Weiss RPP
To Janet RPP: Getting information from previous teachers is an excellent way to not only get academic performance but personal/home life information.
The student is a Hispanic female that struggles in reading (more specifically reading comprehension), yet she excels in and enjoys math.
Inequities include a lack of prior knowledge/life experiences that would help to strengthen her comprehension, and English being her second language. There is also the frustration factor that holds her back.
Collaboration with the student's current and prior classroom teachers were helpful. Discussions with family, the counselor/SST (checking for referrals), and any other teachers involved with this student (ESL, EC, etc.) is important.
Mr. Amigo and Mr. Chris...
Good points about checking with the specialists. The student may have interests that only the specialists would be aware of, and I could use those interests when it comes to furthering that student's reading. Thanks!
Hey folks!
Just wanted to say that you guys are doing great work here and are off to a great start!
What a good use of blogging!
-Lucas
To CFE Sikes: I like that you mention confering with the student himself. I think many times we forget to include them in the strategic planning process and often times they have really great insight.
To Holly, I totally agree with collaboration from current/prior teachers. They sometimes can save us time and give positive strategies that have worked and ones that haven't.
My low performing student is a male in the 4th grade. He is not in the EC program but I am very concerned about him and his education. He is very smart when dealing with him one-on-one. He has medical issues (ADD/ADHD) that prevent him from being successful.
1. Collaboration with the regular education teachers present and past would provide some information. Parents play a very important role in the profile. I would also like to talk with his doctor with parents permission. Specialist teachers (music, art, pe, media, computers) would also help to broden the profile of this student- help find an interest outside of academics.
2. This student falls into two subgroups - hispanic and low-socioeconomic. He does not require or qualify for any services with the ELL program. The low-socioeconoomic subgroup is where he is impacted the most. Not having all of the advantages of those who have what they need and want. His medical attention and medications may be a financial burden on the family. Parents education may also be a factor Parents job or jobs and the amount of time spent with the student is another factor to be considered.
Essential and important resouces for a student performing below grade level would include teachers from past years from the classroom, specialists and any educator that has provided special services, such as speech, ELL, or EC. Of course those current teachers can note signifigant changes from years past if there are any that need to be addressed. The additional resources can help identify both strengths and weaknesses. Our CUM folders are important especially if the student has transferred from another school. Family needs to included in the strategies implemented at school . Co-teaching also allows for greater insight as academic and esteem issues may play an integral part in performance.
to amigo
I agree with you about the specialist. Some students go through school based around not academics but art, pe or music. The positive reinforcement that students get from playing a sport, being a great singer or musician or artist or having great computer abilities, keeps these kids in school.
Essential and important resouces for a student performing below grade level would include teachers from past years from the classroom, specialists and any educator that has provided special services, such as speech, ELL, or EC. Of course those current teachers can note signifigant changes from years past if there are any that need to be addressed. The additional resources can help identify both strengths and weaknesses. Our CUM folders are important especially if the student has transferred from another school. Family needs to included in the strategies implemented at school . Co-teaching also allows for greater insight as academic and esteem issues may play an integral part in performance.
Terri Collins
Terri Collins
My student is a second grade ELL student. No one in his family speaks or reads English. He is eager to learn and while processing takes longer for directions to be followed he is beginning to thrive with extra work at school. He struggles some with understanding English words, but has an intelligence that has and will allow him to continue to move forward successfully. No one can read to him at home, but he enjoys reading at school.
I certainly agree with Mr. Chris about finding what your students are good at or enjoy. Self esteem often plays an important part in the student's perfomance.
My student is a 2nd grader who is very shy. He does not communicate with his teacher and other adults. He is academicaly low, he is in the process of being evulated. My student has many siblings and,lives with both parents. My teacher has conferenced with his past teacher and specialist.
Catherine Witherspoon RPP
Mr. ChrisCFE I agree with your views.
Catherine Witherspoon RPP
The student I chose is a hispanic male, fourth grade student, who has the artistic development of a kindergarten student. He has been retained so I have him in class for the third year now, and the only changes I have seen are in his behavior (not for the better).
1. I would discuss this student with his homeroom teacher and partner teacher, any teachers who had him in the past, the student's parents, other specialists, doctors(with permission from the parents of course), the Student Support Team, and the student himself.
2. The student is a male hispanic. I am not sure if he falls in the EC category right now but that would be discovered in talking with his other teachers and parents. The student appears to speak English very well, but I am not sure how well he reads which could greatly hinder any success.
Terri Collins,
Looking over a child's CUMMULATIVE folder completely slipped my mind. That is a great place to start.
Christy CFE
It sounds like we have the same type of student. It was a good idea to speak with the student for more info.
Judith RPP
Havens_CFE
It seems like we have chosen students with similar problems. My student is also making progress, but slowly.
My low performing student is a multi-racial male who has a bi-lingual dad. He is also a twin, who didn't begin speaking until he was 2. He has issues speaking, talking, replying, and answering orally, but also has trouble producing work in a timely manner. Not knowing if lang. was an issue or if there were speech issues, I met with his parents, ELL teacher, past teacher/asst., and his twin's current teacher to create a profile of this student. I also looked at previous data and my current data on his academic performances.
His sub-group would be a multi-racial male twin. His inequities could be that he is a twin (and twins can have "their own lang. or communication tools". Also, he has two languages being spoken in the home, which could have caused problems in his early stages of lang. development. Either way, we are working to develop his communication (oral and written).
RPPChristy :)
The low performing student in my hoemroom class is a hispanic, female. She scored an 11 percentile on the reading LOA and a 36 perctile on the math. Her family speaks minimal English and can not read English. They are considered to migrant, so money is tight in this family.
The people with whom I will collaborate with are the following: the student, parents, teachers, counselors, principals, and ELL support through the migrant office.
Sorry I forgot to put CFES.
PNIxonRPP
I have a student that seems very close to yours. It is so sad when you have a student who is hard worker but not achieving at the same level as their peers.
CFES
hey chris
the truth is that specialist teacher see every kid in the school where a regular classroom teacher only see's her class. i hace also talked to other specialist and have found that they do the same thing in my class as the do in thier classes. you can learn alot about a student from talking with these specialist.
amigorpp
To Allison Bender:
I agree with your comment about the WIDA Standard Report information: "By collecting this data 1st I can better understand where this student is right now with her English Language abilities"
We found that with my multi-racial (cau./hisp.) student, when comparing his scores to that of a hispanic child who was exposed to and spoke only spanish and had been in an english speaking school for one year, my student performed lower than they did.
RPP Christy :)
We need to talk to the student, the parents and teachers. My student is a white female. She is low performing in all areas. She comes from a low wealth household. The family has a history of learning disabilities. Her parents have said they both struggled in school. Carolyn RPP
I believe that in order to collaborate one must first have a relationship with the child. How can you discuss a child when you don't really know the child? Once you know the child, it is important to talk to other teachers (specialists)about the child and their siblings (older and younger when you can!) to get a grasp on the family. The family will be the key in finding out about learning patterns, support, past experiences, family changes. I am going to focus my study on a white, female child. She is low-performing child not living with parents. There is open communication between home and school and after school care.
In response to Ms. House at CFE, don't forget about sending the items home in Spanish, or even finding a friend who lives nearby who may be able to translate. Many migrant parents are more then happy to come to the school and talk with a translator.
I agree with Mr. Chris and Mr. Amigo about talking to specialist teachers. Just talking to teachers in general can give you better insight into a situation. Carolyn RPP
My student is a 3rd grader named Michael. Michael belongs to the white, male subgroup. I chose Michael because of his low LOA performance along with his low performance in school. He was retained in 1st grade but still struggles to keep up with his work at school. If I were to collaborate and develop a profile for him I would need to speak with my team partner. She sees him for Reading and Social Studies and would have equal opportunity to observe him. I would also talk with his parents and find out about their home life. See if they noticed any struggles or concerns that I might need to know about. From there I would speak with Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Lee because they both do pull-out interventions with him. Any person, whether at home or at school, who has contact with this person, would only help create a more in-depth profile for the student.
Carolyn RPP
My student has the same family situation. Dad struggled in school and was also retained in 1st grade. He went on to tell us that the same thing happened in 3rd and then he was placed in a "special" school for "special" students...his words not mine...what do you do?
The student I am focusing on for the book study is a white male. He is in my 3rd grade class but performs on a first grade level in both reading and math. He has recently moved here from another state, and I have only met his family one time. In order to develop an accurate profile of this student I would need to be in touch with his teachers from previous schools (he's been to several others...5 I think). I also could get valuable information (if available) from our principal and guidance counselor regarding any circumstances that may attribute to his low performance. Generally, there are not many inequities associated with the white male subgroup, but I believe his family situation may contribute to his lack of performance. Older siblings are not in school as they should be and his parents are unable to offer much help at home, as they are working to provide basic needs for the family. Also, he has moved around through several schools, so I believe his struggles can be attributed to the fact that he has not been in one place long enough to get the help he needs. Hopefully he will find success here and we will be able to offer him what he needs!!
The child that comes to mind for me is a first grade white female. Her dad lost his job, and is job searching. Mom is working extra hours to try to support the family. Stress levels at home are HUGE! She has no older siblings, so if mom and dad dont have time, homework doesnt get done or checked.
I need to speak with all current teachers, (including specials)and past teachers to see if her low academics is an on going problem, or if her current situation at home may be the issue.
Bogan: I totally agree with you about having a relationship with the student. If the student doesn't feel safe with you or realize that you're putting their best interests first, they won't trust you. If the child doesn't trust you, there's no way their parents will and it's so difficult to make any kind of growth without support and practice at home!!
Response to Gordon and Maria Stanisic: I teach reading to several ELL students. None of them receive services or accommodations of any kind because they are considered "fluent" in language. However, it must be so difficult for them to be expected to reach the same expectations as students who have been speaking this language all their lives! I hate to even call them "low performing" when it's possible that the language barrier is the reason for them doing poorly on assessments!!
My current position in the schools is to work with the gifted and talented students so therefore I do not teach what we would call low performing students. Although, I can recall a low performing student I had several years ago. He is a 3rd grade boy from a broken home. He resides with mom, sister and mom's boyfriend. He was very talented in math, but struggled with most reading concepts such as comprehension. He was also diagnosed ADHD, ODD and BED.
To help this child on many different levels, we placed him in our C.A.R.E program at school, spoke to the mom when available, psychologist and specialist teachers. Needless to say, this child was constantly a challenge daily mainly with his behavior and is now supposedly living with his father out of state.
Katherine Kochakji
CFE
I would try to get to know the student, first. I would be in close communication with the parents, as well as the previous year's teacher. The guidance counselor and the specialist teachers would also be of help. If my student has a sibling at my school, I would also talk with their teacher to see what they're noticing with the sibling
My low performing student is a Hispanic male. He struggles in all academic areas. He has repeated kindergarten and has been an EC referral since then. There has always been some type of issue that hasn't allowed him to go through the EC process from beginning to end. I have spoken in length with all of his previous teachers to help me develop a profile of this student. This child has been in foster care several times but is now back with his father. The father does not support him (academically) as much as the child needs. The student's support primary come from school. I have met with 'dad' on several occations to discuss stratigies and goals for this low performing student. As of now, we've agreed to continue on in getting this student tested for EC. This student also has lots of modified work and classroom modifications which do help him feel more successful.
To Christy CFE
Our students are in similar situation. I am glad we both have follow the same steps to find out more about our student. We must do everything possible for these students.
T.Caison RPP
My student is a white male who is in the first grade. He also repeated kindergarten. At the end of the first nine weeks, his fluency test was 3 wds. per min. He has a lot of trouble blending as well as con-verb-con words. He has some trouble with math, but not as much as phonics and reading.
He lives with both parents and a brother who is in the 4th grade.There is not much parental involvement. His dad works out of town a lot and his mom never returns phone calls or responds to notes from the teacher.
My student is a white male from a large family with many siblings all having problems which effects them academically. He has been identified with severe learning disabilities. My teacher has talk with his former teacher, EC teacher, parents and specialists.
T.Caison RPP
One of my lowest performing students is an African America male. He repeated kindergarten and he is the youngest in his family. He is at risk in reading, writing, and math. In order to find out information, I have talked with his kindergarten teacher and looked at his work samples from Kindergarten. Unfortunately, mom is quite difficult to get information out of or contact. He consistently scores below proficient on classroom assessment, and AIMSWEB. He does not get assistance at home. He knows very few sight words, and is inconsistent with blending sounds into words. My assistant and I work to give him extra assistance on these skills as much as we can. We have several children, that literally need individual attention all day. Yet, we are not able to offer that all day.
One of the inequities I see, doesnt have to do with race or gender. The children that do not have help at home, truly suffer. They just need someone that will give them a few extra minutes each day. Some parents would love to help their child, however, they work long hours and cant. Some parents truly just dont care. They refuse to admit that their child is struggling.
My child is a 1st grader who lives in a nice home with two parents. Dad has just been laid off and mom is self employed. He is very low and barely made it out of Kindergarten. I had this student in both Kindergarten and now first and his parents are aware of his stronger subject areas and the areas he needs improvements on. Neither parent is well educated so help at home is limited. In order for your low performing students to do well at school you must communicate with the parents of the child and make sure that everyone that sees that child on a daily basis is aware and you are in touch with them. Meaning, specialists, office staff, cafeteria workers, etc. If you are in collaboration with all of these people you will create a blanket for this child and give him the best opportunity at school.
rppkbrown-
I agree with that idea of speaking with the siblings teachers as well. That's another outlet that you could use to get a grasp on what is happening in that home.
My student is a 1st grader who repeated kindergarten and continues to struggle significantly in all areas in the classroom. He is the youngest of 4 siblings who are all medically/educationally challenged and his parents have recently gotten divorced. He lives with his siblings and mom. He comes from a very low socioeconomic background and receives little help/support at home. I would collaborate with his current and past teachers, all EC teachers including Speech and OT, his mom and siblings as well as counselors, psychologists and specialists.
CFE Roberta
Try to find anyone who is involved with this student and make contact with them to discuss any problems that may arise and how to help them.
response to CFE Epps - What a sad and difficult situation. I would say though you have to continue working with this child not only on academics but on building self-esteem. Teach him to "don't give up, don't ever give up"!
Allison Bender:
I agree with you so much about life experience and education. So many of our students come to us without prior knowledge of things we take for granted. The English language is so difficult for some of them to grasp.
Bogan RPP,
I totally agree with getting the child involved with collaboration. You have to know what is going on in their minds; what is difficult, what are their interests. With the student I profiled, we (his other teachers and parents) have included him in our discussions when appropriate.
My low performing student is a white female. She comes from a very good home, although her parents recently separated. Both of her parents are very supportive and want to do what is best for her. The subgroup she come from are the students that, by definition, should "do well." However, she is a reminder that a low perfomring student can come from any subgroup. Looking at her background, you would think that she should do very well in school. Her parents provide many opportunities for her, she is a very loving child, she is a very hard worker. However, she still struggles.
I have tried to contact everyone that she come in contact with, her parents, her previous teacher, the counselor and other adults that work with her. I have tried to gain as much information about her as I can. I feel that the more I know about her, the more I am able to help find strategies to help her.
I have a low performing African American male in 5th grade. While his subgroup may be associated with discipline infractions this student is not a discipline problem. He does have serious test performance concerns, and overall motivational issues. Hard work and education do not seem to be a priority for this student. I need to collaborate with every teacher he comes in contact with to find an area that he can develop passion for. Motivation for this student needs to come from interest. At this point the student is not mature enough to comprehend the magnitude that educational effort will have on his future.
To Epps
Ms. Bogan and I have talked about our situations and have come to the conclusion that prayer is a mighty resourse that we have. We realize that we can't change the past history but we can change the path the future takes. Carolyn
The student is white male and just moved to our school. He is very low but seems to be able to learn. I feel the main problems is the family has moved around alot and has not been able to give him the stable enviroment he needs to learn.
I have a very defiant, oppositional,argumentative, low achieving, black female in 5th grade.
#1. I would collaborate with past and present teachers, family members, specialists and our counselor.
#2. This student is a black female. She scored a level 2 on the 4th grade EOG and is working on an independent math level of 3.1. However, she scored a 61 on our 9 weeks LOA in math. She reads on a 3.7 grade reading level and was proficient on the LOA (50%)
Beth Rpp
I absolutly agree that everyone in the building that has contact with that child should know a little about them so we all can help in a positive way.
To RPP Adams That one is tough. I imagine stress levels are high.I imagine in first grade, it is tough to gain much from the cumulative records. What if you had the counselor pull her to play games-like boggle jr. or something-just to see what she may know??? That situation is tough.
My student is a white second grader who is catagorized as ID-mild. He is from a low socio-economic divorced family. His home life is verqy inconsistent and does not have that much support at home. He has a twin brother who performs at or near grade level. My friend, is way below grade level and is in the EC room for more then half day. He also recieves OT and speech. His IEP is for in reading, writing, math and social and adaptive behavior. goals and objectives.
In order to benefit the student to the fullest, I would first review his IEP. Then I would I go to his teacher from the previous year (if possible) and ask if there was anything I needed to know and what he/she thought his strength and weakiness were. I would also ask her if she had any suggestions to help better teach and work with this student. Then I would want to sit down and collabrate with the Regular ed teacher and review his IEP together and see if we could brainstorm ideas that would best work for our student. I would also want to sit down with all specialist including speech and OT to see if they had any suggestions or ideas to what could best help our student be successful in all areas.
My comments is from Havens_CFE
I agree 100 PERCENT about having to collaborate with the regular education teacher and the EC teacher and everyone who works with that student. As an EC teacher I cannot stress the importance of teachers collaborating and working together. We are all there for one purpose and that is to make sure that child gets equal opportunity to learn while he/she are at school.
My low-performing student is a Hispanic female who is also identified EC in reading comprehension. She did not pass the 4th grade reading EOG, reads on a 3rd grade level, scored 38% on her 1st LOA in fifth grade, and received a "D" in reading during the first nine week period.
1. I would need to collaborate with her fourth grade teachers, our counselor, principal, ELL teachers, her parents, EC teachers, as well as, look at any portfolios that were sent from previous grades and read through her cumulative records carefully.
2. This student belongs to the Hispanic subgroup which first lends itself to language barriers as a first identifiable inequity. Another identifiable inequity would include test performance because many standardized assessments are designed with not only language experience, but reading exposure within a wide range of topics that these students may not have experiences with. Furthermore, this student is extremely quiet and does not often ask for help when she doesn't understand. She usually does not like attention drawn to herself. However, she does work and try very hard to do her best at all times.
A fifth grade female Hispanic student. She is low performing in reading and classified as LEP. She did not pass her first quarter LOA assessment and did not receive a passing grade on her report card. To best develop a profile on this particular student I would first reference her cum. file and previous WIDA/ACCESS score reports. These will tell me the specific content areas that the student is struggling in, with specific reference to her language abilities. Secondly, I would consult her homeroom teacher to discuss any concerns and/or observations they have witnessed in their classroom. Finally, I would take advantage of the PCS Migrant Center to get any other information about the student's pervious academic history and home life. Also, get information and advice on how to best accommodate the educational needs of this student in the classroom and at home.
This student is Hispanic and an English Language Learner. A few of the specific inequities associated with this particular subgroup are language abilities and educational support at home.
As a second language learner, this student will have to overcome a wide variety of barriers in simply being able to understand, comprehend, and retain the specific content being taught in the classroom. These students, simply have not enough language exposer to academically compete with native English speakers. They will have to work extra hard to learn and practice the language, along with grade level content, to prepare them for EOG testing and life outside of the classroom.
Also, I have noticed a trend in second language learners having parents that are not academically equipped to assist them with homework and school activities in the home. Some of these parents have not had schooling, or exposer to the content, to be able to assist their students when they leave the classroom. Furthermore, many parents in the area do not speak fluent English. Therefore, there is a communication barrier between the school and the home as well.
To T. Moore, RPP...What a sad situation for a child this young to have to deal with. With no apparent male role model, I wonder if getting him into the Big Buddy Program that I have seen advertised on WECT would be an option for him? It sounds like he and his mom could use some help and that program sounds like something that would make him feel special and important outside of school when mom can't be there. I'm sure the staff at RPP already make him feel special while he's at school.
There is an old African proverb which states that it takes a village to raise a child. I chose a white female, in the 5th grade, who is from a broken home, to work with. She is low performing, but loves music. I truly believe it takes everyone who interacts with this child to play a hand in raising her up.
My little girl has really been lucky, because she has supportive grand parents, with whom she now lives. She comes from a low income single parent household.
I agree with Mr. Amigo and Mr. Chris, in that we Specialists see all the students and we can see the students outside of their classroom. I often collaborate with the other Specialists on behalf of our students.
My student is a 3rd grade ELL boy. He was born in Mexico and is migrant. He attended K-2 out of state in a bilingual school. This student has been struggling with reading and spelling. I initially assumed it was due to his lack of English. To find out more about his background I spoke with his ESL teacher from last year along with the reading specialist. They both informed me that this student struggled with the same concerns in 2nd grade and was retained. After collaborating with his classroom teachers, his previous teachers, his mother, and reviewing his cumulative file, I’ve decided that further investigation is needed to determine if this student is having difficulty with the language or if there is another problem.
T. Podolinsky -CFE
My student is a white male who has been diagnosed with ADHD. His parents are divorced. This student is back and forth between households. He is below grade level in all areas. He is late to school most of the time, and rarely completes his homework, which leads me to believe that there is not a lot of help at home.
To create a profile for my student it would be essential for me to contact his previous teacher, specialist, counselor and, if possible, talk with both parents.
Todd S- CFE
"At this point the student is not mature enough to comprehend the magnitude that educational effort will have on his future."
In response to your comment above, I have had this problem at the primary level, if parents do not have this motivation, it is extremely hard for the student to understand the importance of education. I think it is important at the primary/elementary level that we try to instill this early, so in middle/school and high school students will strive to perform well in school and hopefully want to go on for further education.
Reply to Candice Houseman:
I agree with you 100%. I wish some of these parents would understand what an impact just 30 minutes of their time spent talking to their child and looking over their homework does. I will never be able to comprehend parents that have no time for their own children. I can only hope that one day these children find a loving, supportive adult that helps nurture them in the ways they do not get now. It is absolutely heartbreaking to stop and think about some of the situations my students go home to. I really want to see the movie "The Blind Side" over the break in hopes that it will remind me (again) that one person can make a difference!
I am going to use a four year old hispanic male that I have in my class. This is the second year that I have taught him so I have got to see him grow alot. In order to develop a profile for him I have been in touch with our education coordinator, the family specialist,ERSEA/Parent Involvement Specialist & his family. His inequities include his language barrier (even though he knows more English then his parents); he comes from a low economic status; & he is VERY active & I do not know if he is always absorbing what is going on.
To respond to Sutton @ CFE: I totally agree with the fact that tests are much harder for Hispanic students. I think that if some of the assessments & tests that are given were a little bit more equal, that maybe the scores would be different. Also with the assessments we might could find out a lot more then we know about what the student knows. I have been working a lot closer with our family specialist to help with translating testing amteraisl that we use & with finding appropriate materials to send home to work on. A Weaver
You would need to talk with the c teacher,the child and any other members of the school that the child comes in contact with including the past teachers. Check to see if there is an action plan anything.
You would need to talk with the teacher,the child and any other members of the school that the child comes in contact with including the past teachers. Check to see if there is an action plan, anything that may shed some light.
For my particular student, I would want to collaborate with previous teachers (both regular ed. and exceptional), case workers, specialists (OT/Speech), mother, grandmother, and doctors.
My student is biracial, with special needs, and from a low economic background. These subgroups can provide for greater academic challenges. Having a special need often places one below grade level and tasks that may take a regular ed. student a day to master, may take this student days or weeks. Also, when a student comes from poverty, parents may not be as available to assist their child - due to longer work hours, more responsibilities, or simply disinterest.
CFE Kane --
This student is probably frustrated, especially if he is unable to read, which may be the cause of increased behavior problems. First, assess his reading ability, as this is the cornerstone to all academics. While collaborating with other teachers, determine if he needs to be assessed for EC placement. As for the drawing skills, are there OT problems, motivation??
To Tait CFE:
It is so true, we typically think that when a child is a low performer, there must be something wrong, either with the child or the home life.
I would need to speak with the student's teacher and with the parent of the child and get more information that would help me to be able to help this child to perform to their best abilities.
The student is a black male and is having problems meeting his expectations which he is capable of. He has problems paying attention and fails to follow directions as they are given. We are working on postive ways to help this child do what we know he is capable of. BrownRPP
I believe that it is very important that we monitor our students and find out what areas they may need help in and seek for other support to help us to help them to be the very best they can be. I believe that we need to work along with parents and other that can help us to reach our students and constantly encouage then to do their best. We neeed to take it one day at a time.
My low performing is a black male in a low income household. He is being raised by a relative and really has no contact with his parents. His parents have chosen not to visit him or support him. He was born to a mother on drugs. The relative raising him struggles to get the assistance needed to help him. She feels burdened having to raise someone else's child yet knows that he would not be cared for by his natural parents.
To develop a profile on this child, I have talked with his relatives, teachers, EC teachers, former teachers, and doctors that treat him for a disability.
In response to Mr. Chris cfe...
I agree that talking with the specialist teachers gives a lot of new insight into the students.
Another group to collaborate with would be the bus drivers. Being a bus driver myself, you would be amazed how differently these students act on the bus. And the bus drivers gather a lot of information from just seeing where these students actually live and how they live.
I agree with what Suzanne Kleiner said, many of our students have non English speaking parents, with varying levels of education, which makes communicating difficult and sometimes impossible.
In some classrooms, we have offered these parents opportunities to come to school and volunteer.
In one instance, the parent is learning English from the students and in return teaching the class Spanish. This has been a very positive experience for the family, and hopefully is making our school more welcoming and less intimidating.
Cioffi- RPP
To CFE Williams
It is very dificult when you have a child that moves around a lot. I am experiencing the same thing with a student right now. I am trying to get him placed for speech. He has been in 4 different schools and he is only in second grade. Wouldn't it make life so much easier if all schools followed the same guidelines.....no matter what state?
Last post from J. Philips rpp
My student is a Hispanic male from a low socioeconomic and inconsistent home life. This child sometimes comes to school dirty and tired. He aims to please and tries to comply with classwork and teacher directions.
I have worked with his family, classroom teachers and TAs, other EC teachers, ESL teachers, specialists and behavior specialist to create a consistent and positive environment for this student and work on his academic needs. With our collaboration, this student has been making academic strides!
Cioffi-RPP
My low performing student is an African American male. I think collaborating with my partnership teacher would be helpful because she may see attributes/behaviors that I don't. The school counselor could help me develop a profile on this student because she may have prior knowledge of his past and family life. Former teachers can also provide a wealth of information on him.
My student is a low performing white male in second grade. He lives in a single parent home. He is below grade level in most areas at this point. He went through EC testing last year but did not qualify.
1. I would need to collaborate with his mother, all teachers (past and present), START case manager, and EC chair person. I would want to gather information from his cumulative and START folders to see some strategies that worked with him.
2. There are not many inequities associated with the white male subgroup although we do see some in males that have late birthdays as this student has a September birthday.
To Dees CFE
I also agree with the African proverb. We have to pull in all resources to help our children.
Ann RPPS
First, we would collaborate with other teachers who have had or presently teach this child.ie: specialists,etc. We collaborate with the parents and ask questions to gather information about how the child learns and behaves at home? Does he or she follow directions the first time given or does the student need repeated directions given. Does the child easily understand and complete homework? Does he or she seem motivated to learn, etc.? How often do you sit down with your child to complete homework or read?
Who else can work with this child (maybe a older sibling?) Is the child absent alot or is their a medical condition/s? Once those meetings take place with parents and other teachers, I can make a plan designed specifically for that child whether it be to improve academics or is it behavior that is impeding his ability to complete work? The demographic subgroup this child belongs to is white males. Sometimes the inequities of white males who enter Kindergarten have low fine motor skill and are somewhat immature socially. My student in particular has accumulated 22 absences out of 60 and has entered K very immature and busy. He exhibits poor attendance due to medical issues. Both parents work and have little time to concentrate on academics.
My student is biracial in 1st grade and has special needs . I would talk to the preivous teacher, EC teacher, mother and anyone else involved in the students life.
The subgroup that she belongs to is the lower class. She lives with her mother and grandmother. They both have to work, so there is limited assistance going on. They do care about her education and want to help in everyway. It takes her longer to get things, so without constant help she might not improve.
ramonaleerpp: Talking with the parents and other teachers is very important to get information about the child. We have met with parents several times and because he is a sibling of a child we have taught, we have a good relationship with the parents. We also have talked with his speech therapist and she has worked with the child previously. Our student has missed a lot of school and has been very sick. (flu, strep throat, etc.) The demographic sub-group is white males and some of the inequities are low fine motor skill and he is also immature and has a hard time focusing during instruction. Attendance is an issue and when he returns we have a lot of catching up to do with him. Males are usually somewhat immature and have low fine motor when entering kindergarten. He is a very busy boy and he needs many reminders to stay on task.
Heather Padgett, RPP
To Holly Greenoe:
Good point about checking with couselors. They may have had previous experience with our children as well and may be able to offer much more background information abouth the family that a classroom teacher may not know about.
My low performing student is a Hispanic female who moved into our district this school year.
My first reference would be the cum folder. Although it's not a person, it would shed much insight into her struggles through her academic career thus far, and it would also provide me with her former teachers, whom I would make contact with to gain more knowledge of the student.
I would talk with each teacher that has contact with her this year, be it the art or music teacher, her reading teacher, the counselor, or the reading specialist.
I would also consult with her parents. They would be a great help in identifying areas they believe to be problems, and issues they see at home with her learning.
ELL teachers are also a must-use resource. Not only would they help in building a case with this student, they would provide excellent insight into the inequities that the Hispanic students have in American schools.
As far as those inequities, obviously language is a barrier. Home life would be another issue, especially if there is little or no English spoken by the parents. That would lend to very little, if any, help with homework or problem areas. Another inequity would be prior knowledge, or the difference in prior knowledge, more so if the Hispanic student moved to America from another country. What we assume students should know is often times not the case at all, as we all know. With a student from a different culture it seems to reason that this would be ever more of a discrepancy.
A.Purgason - RPP
I agree with you about the economics and the problems that they present. Coming out of povery also might mean that there is no extra money to get the child any extra help.
I meant poverty on my last post, not povery. I really am quite literate y'all, I promise!
The student I choose is ELL and has trouble paying attention and keeping his hands to himself. He also needs guidance while doing his work to help him stay on track. The people we would need to collaborate with would be his parents or whoever they live with, bus drivers (for behavior), any specialist that may be of help (O.T., P.T., Speech, Behavior) these people could all give some guidance as to how we could meet this child's needs.
Inequities - Being ELL this child has to learn a new language, so that already puts this child a little behind, also having parents that do not speak English.
responding to Mr. Chris: I agree with you that just talking to these kids we can learn a lot about them. They can give you their own ideas about what we could do to help them learn and understand what we are trying to teach.
I have chosen an hispanic male, four years of age. If I were to create a profile on him, I would begin by talking to the family specialists, education coordinators and the ERSEA/Parent Involvement Specialist. I would also talk to his parents. This child belongs to lower class of SES and this is one of his inequities. Others include the language barrier, though he is biligual, he himself speaks more Spanish than either of his parents, therefore there is a gap in his home life and academic life. Since his primary language is Spanish, he still has problems with semantics and syntax of the English language. We also think he may have ADHD, and whith this problem we cannot be sure he is gaining all the knowledge that is put forth.
Response to Havens_CFE:
I agree that collaboration with both the parents and the teachers is the most important step in developing a profile, as they spend the most time with the child and are more aware of their capabilites as well as their weaknesses.
The student I am identifying is a third grade white female. This student is not EC but is performing at a very low level. I am familiar with this child during AM time. She often scores very low on her practices and tests, and some of the problem is her inability to correctly fill out the scan card. I would primarily discuss the problem with the homeroom teacher so she could give me some family and academic background. I could also view her report from the AM STAR test and her first LOA math assessment, reviewing these things with the homeroom teacher.
In answer to the first question, I would need to speak with several colleagues to obtain backgroud information on this particular student. The colleagues I would need to speak to would be the classroom teacher, the EC teacher, and the ELL teacher. I would also check with previous teachers and his cummulative folder.
In answer to the second question, my student is from a low income migrant family. Both of his parents work. They cannot help their son with homework because they do not read/speak English.
I agree with what you said. After reading your comment, I left out the prior knowledge piece. It would take some time to build their prior knowledge to the level of the kids in the US. They have so much territory to cover. However, I am really amazed how they eventually overcome the language barrier and are bilingual. I'm also amazed at how well their hand to eye coordination is when I observe them in my art classes.
"Dan" is my low performing student who received "2's" in all core academic areas. I have collaborated with his mother, the ELL teacher, and the EC team to coordinate the Tier 1 profile which is now accelerated through to Tier 5 as the parents have insisted on testing by the county. "Dan" has significant language "processing" issues which affect his academics and social skills. I also have collaborated with the Speech teacher and some of the other specialists at our school to gain their insights into his behavior/academics. I also have researched his cum file for his earlier academics.
This student belongs to the Hispanic subgroup, and the inequities GENERALLY associated with this subgroup as a whole are lower economic status and lower performing academics.
My first blog I forgot to leave my name: rpphowell
My student lives in a two parent household. He moved from another school at the beginning of this school year. I know that he struggled at the other school as well.
In response to Linda at RPP, I agree that an early conference with the parents is a proactive way to begin helping any given student. What they say and don't say can be indicative of any pre-existing situations or issues.
from CFE
I agree w/ the comments from Amigo, Chris,and Carolyn. Speaking w/ specialists is an important step in devising intervention plans as well as developing a relationship w/ the student as Bogan described. One may find a student excels in a specialist's class, and as the classroom teacher, can apply this to individualized lessons. This may bring success as well as interest and motivation to a student.
Collaborative planning involves school personnel possibly as well as members of the family and outside sources. School and central office personnel would include teachers, administration, counselors, psychologists, behavior specialists, and social workers. Utilizing all these sources can open the larger picture to the child's needs. Family members, as well as the child him or her self, must be included in developing a profile.
Tutors and mentors may also be contacted.
TO: cfesradcliff
If the parents are not on board with your student, I know you have a real challenge on your hands especially. The home support is critical to a child's success, isn't it?
The student I would profile would be an African American male in my reading class. He performs low on tests as well as in class. Homework is an issue as well as behavior. Many outside forces affect the student's performance/success. He is from a low-wealth area where education is not always valued. His family seems to value education, but the other members of his community he may look up to do not. His peers are also in an at-risk group which is also a detriment. The socio-cultural atmosphere is a huge influence on students this age. There are fewer peer mentors as well as adult mentors in his race and gender groups. One may look at the demographic wealth, free and reduced lunch statistics, test scores, and more to see this sub-group is at risk.
1. I agree with many who've already posted, you need to collaborate with many of the individuals that play a part in the student's life from parents, teachers (not just his/her teachers, but those who have contact with that child) and other family members. Some of these collaborations can be a little tricky due to confidentiality, so you have to be very careful as we all know.
2. To ID my student: a 2nd grade African-American male with deficiencies in math, writing and reading. He lives in a low economic status, single parent home with several family members living close as a form of support to the single parent. Although in a single parent home, his parent is well educated: Graduate level degree.Many would say you have to look at this child three-fold; as a male, an African-American and of the low socioeconomic status. There are many inequalities that are associated with his subgroups/demographics. But to name a few there are language barriers, self-esteem/motivational issues.
To cfes_Cain:
I totally agree that other events and activities other than sports can be VERY helpful in keeping students interested in school. It's important to use their interests like Collins from RPP to help them academically. With the student described above, I did an interest inventory with him during a parent, teacher, student conference. First I used the conference to inform/educate parents, but also to show the student and parent a united front on his behalf. I made sure that each party involved had a voice and was included to be a partner in the child's education.
Tiffany, RPP
The student on my mind is an 11 year old white male. He lives with his mom and younger sister. Mom is a single mom who works full time and is going back to school. There is lack of support for the family. He has learned that negative attention is getting him the most attention. He is well below in his reading abilities and iss giving up. He has become the great avoider. He avoids school (attendance is horrible), when in school he avoids reading assignments and tests by going to the nurse or getting in trouble.
I agree with so many of the comments. I think we need to collaborate with everyone in involved with the student; past and present. Inorder to put the puzzle together we need all the pieces.
This student falls in the free/reduced sub group and with some many of these students it is do to a single parent household. In this case I believe he lacks positive male role models. I also think he needs convincing that we care.
I agree with Terri C - the cum folder is a great place to get a student's history. Especially to see if there has been a sudden change or if the student has continuously struggled.
To Todd S.:
I notice that our students may not be the same age/grade level but they have similarities. How have you attempted to get to know this student/family? What his parents' views on eduation? Have other teachers been able to motivate them/how has this been done? You sound like your very interested in the student and will do your best to find the motivation to help him.
Tiffany, RPP
My lowest student is a Hispanic female who is a repeater in Kindergarten. To develop her profile I would need to collaborate with her previous teacher, ELL teachers/migrant coordinators who may know about the family. I would also talk to specialists.
My student is faced with the inequities that many ELL students face--not understanding the language, no help from home in English, and the fact that she came in to the school year a few months late. I know that she was very young last year with very little exposure before K and that played a role in holding her back. While she has shown much improvement from where I know she was last year (she can now write her name and knows about 10 letters), she is still very far behind my other struggling ELL student who is also a repeater from last year. I know that all students learn at different rates but further testing may be needed in the near future.
To respond to many of the posts I've read, it is interesting to see that so many of our lowest performing students are Hispanic children. We just had our K data meeting this week where we were asked to determine our "lowest performing subgroup." For 3 out of 6 K classes, the majority of our low performers were white males, the other 3 said it was an even balance of white, Hispanic, and black children. It just struck me that although our low groups may be white males or an even mix, the LOWEST out of our classes tends to be a Hispanic student.
The student is a Hispanic male in his second year of first grade with the same teacher. His family speaks Spanish primarily. They are unable to help with grasping the concepts of learning to read or write in English at home. It is difficult to determine how much of his learning difficulties stem from a disability or the lack of extra attention he may need to grasp concepts in English. He has trouble understanding directions and a lack of understanding leads to acting out in disruptive ways. This student requires a lot of repetition of directions and instructions yet still he seems to be lost at times. However, he has begun to mature and improve in the second year of first grade which leads us to question if his difficulties are all just a matter of needing a little more time and attention.
This Hispanic male would belong to a Hispanic subgroup. Disadvantages to his subgroup would include language difficulties. While many of these students can speak, read, and write in English, their parents cannot and therefore they may not receive the extra academic help and support they may need at home. In this case, the hours this student is in school are very important. Administration, the homeroom teacher, ELL teachers, and specialists should be collaborating to give this child what he needs while at school. They are also responsible for involving the parents in every way possible and to offer them opportunities to learn how to help thier child at home.
Susan L. RPP to CFEKane- Your student sounds similar to mine but just a few years older. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a Hispanic child is having trouble because he actually has a learning disability or if he just needs a lot of extra attention to grasp concepts. With parents unable to speak English, the extra help he might need has to come while he is at school. I think the solution is to find a way to help the parents help the child.
Oops...CFE cain:-)
The low performing student I am going to focus on is a Hispanic male. In order to develop a profile of this student, I would need to meet with our ESL teacher and his previous teacher. I would also meet with his mom in order to gain insight on any help he receives outside of school.
This student falls into the Hispanic male and EC subgroup. The language barrier is one inequity that is associated with this subgroup. This student also has a low working memory which makes it difficult to recall information that was presented to him.
To Fucili CFE:
It sounds like many outside factors are affecting the student’s performance in school. If his family values education, maybe they can get on board and help you influence the student to work hard in school. With positive influences, I hope this student can make the necessary growth.
I agree with rppmary.......the bus driver receives our students first thing in the morning and are the last ones to see them at the end of the day. If you were to tour the areas where our students lived, it would be eye opening and give you some IMPORTANT information. From some of the places I have seen since being at CFE..... it will make you cry!! Bus drivers are a GREAT resource in building a child's profile.
Sfree23= S. Willis at CFE
My low performing student is a white female. She struggles in all academic areas and did not pass either LOA. According to her records, she has always struggled in school. She has been in the SST process since kindergarten, has been retained, and has been tested but did not qualify for EC services. She also has self esteem issues that interfere with her performance and her social interactions. Her mom is a single parent who unfortunately cannot always be there to give her the extra support she desperately needs. Her academic failures and self esteem issues are certainly more influential on her progress than any subgroup inequities. I am currently collaborating with several colleagues to address her needs. The CARE team, her case manager, my team partner, the psychologist(who is going to meet with her to assess the self esteem & anxiety issues), her mom, and the student herself are all important in the process of developing interventions.
To Beth at RPP
As I was reading your post, I am reminded of several low performing students in my class. It is so heartbreaking when parents truly want to help their children, but they are unable due to circumstances beyond their control. When a student's own mother cannot read, how can we expect her to help her child? So many students are on their own once they get home from school. As much as we would like to, how can we take that burden away from them?
My student is a fourth grade white male. He is struggling in reading with comprehension and fluency. I consulted his cum folder to see his past test results in reading. I looked at his AimsWeb scores from this year versus last year, as well as his EOG scores. I also called a meeting with his guardian to discuss what I see at school to compare with how he performs at home. The results were the same. The guardian and myself both agreed that there seems to be a deficiency in his reading achievement (high achiever in math), so this student will be referred to our Student Support Team and as a whole decide the interventions that need to be in place.
My student as I posted in the first response is a white male. He has been passed around from family member to family member and is in the process of adoption. The person who is adopting him does not have a job (low socioeconomic status) and her phone has been cut off. My student also receives free/reduced lunch. There is only one person who is going to adopt and she is a female. He has no male role models in his life. In the past he has been known to be a "trouble maker".
M. Harrell RPPS
The student I would like to discuss is a white male in first grade. He is from a low socionomic background, two parent home, with little education. Their focus is survival, with some attention given to school and his academics. Basically just survive in all areas. Their parenting techniques are limited, with no real consistency in their discipline. As a result the child misbehaves a good bit. He was recently tested, but just did miss qualification. What to do? I completely agree with everyone's comments on utilizing the entire school's resources. The specialists, siblings' teachers, and previous teachers. Dig in to find out what interest him, find out how to excite him about school and trying his best. As the counselor I will meet with parents and review their approach and how it could be tweaked. Then possibly include him in a counseling focus group.
I concur with Miranda about always putting the pieces of the puzzle together. That is one of my favorite analogies. And like Ms. Collins, I always like to review the cumulative records. They do reveal a good bit a valuable information.
Response to Bogan RPP - I totally agree that you must first establish a relationship with the student and collaborate with the family. It is amazing how much you find out from a family member who truly wants help for their child.
Carol (CFE)
The low performing student I have selected is a shy 11 year old white female, who lives with her uncle. (Unfortunately, her aunt died last year.) She has repeated the 1st grade, and is currently repeating the 4th grade. She has been a CARE Team student for the past two years, and has been closely monitored. She did not pass her EOG Reading Test last year, and she scored a 2.7 G.E. on this year's beginning STAR Test. This year's initial AIMsweb data was a 33 (CBM score), and a 5 (MAZE score). Progress Monitoring is taking place in the area of Fluency. She does use word attack skills, and she puts forth a lot of effort when reading aloud. She struggles with comprehension, as well as fluency. (Her first LOA score was 30%.) She has great difficulty locating and citing proofs for her answers on comprehension assignments and tests. She does take her time when completing reading assignments however; and she never gives up. Her vocabulary is deficient, so she often has difficulty answering questions orally. She received speech services last year, and she did master her speech-language therapy goals. She continues to receive speech services this year, and hopefully will master her goals again.
The demographic subgroup that this student belongs to is the White Female EC Group. She is also part of the Low Socio-Economic Subgroup. One of the inequities she faces is that being part of the EC subgroup means that she is performing below grade level. She has been through some difficult family times recently, but she appears to be happy at this time. It does not seem to bother her that she is repeating the 4th grade this year. Her self-esteem seems to be good at this time. She is currently receiving modified instruction, assignments, and assessments. She gets 50% extended time on assignments and tests, and separate setting for taking tests with a small group.
She has shown signs of success this year, due to all of the modifications that are being made in her instruction, work tasks, and tests. She responds very well to the positive reinforcement she receives, and she gets very excited when she meets her AR goals.
Another inequity is that she had to take the same 4th Grade LOA test that on/above grade level students had to take. I feel that students who will be tested using the NC Extend2 tests should have LOAs similar to the actual end-of-the-year tests they will be expected to take. (Collaboration with our central office personnel
could help with this situation.)
I believe that all stakeholders within the CFE School Community need to collaborate in order to best serve all of our students. I have looked through the cumulative folder to acquire info. and read the student's IEP. As I wrote the PEP for this student I also gathered data from AIMSweb, ClassScape, and STAR reports. I
feel that collaboration with the
student's uncle,former reading teacher,EC teachers,guidance counselor,administrators, and all specialist teachers has also provided important information about this student.
rppmary
I had not thought about talking with the bus driver of my low performing student. You are so right about gathering info. from seeing where our students live, and their living conditions. Thank you for the suggestion.
BROWNRPP
I agree with you about helping our students, so they can be the best they can be! I also agree with you about taking things one day at a time with some students.
Terri Collins (RPP)
I agree with you about co-teaching allowing for greater insight. I also agree with you about the self-esteem of a student playing an important part in his/her performance.
My student to focus on is a black male who is struggling in language arts. He is a first grader who is still struggling with some letter sounds and sight words. He seems to have trouble comprehending some oral instructions. He is also socially immature and has trouble working independently. I have already been in close contact with his mother and some of his other teachers. He attended most of K at our school, but attended pre-k in another city. I would want to talk with his previous teachers, but they are unavailable at this time. This child is in the START process and I plan to also conference with my grade-level colleagues for different strategies. PayneRPP
In response to Fucili's comments about collaborating with specialists and other school-side (even community-wide) - I think this would lend itself to tapping into different "intelligences" (H. Gardner) in order to offer more opportunities to reach the student at his or her level and build on strengths to target other areas. Simply put, I agree! The more people provide input, the easier the puzzle is to put together.
Candice Houseman-RPP
@Ms.Willis- I like what you said about the bus drivers. They may be the first school contact in the morning, they can help set the tone for the day.
@Miranda-So many students with academic difficulties, become excellent at developing strategies to avoid. Many behavior problems are masking academic deficiencies. By documenting, and carefully observing we can figure out the pattern. This is valuable information for future teachers/schools.
My student is a five year old black female. She comes from a low socioeconomic background and is being raised by her maternal grandparents. The inequities are that she is being raised by an older set of grandparents who lack the energy, and sometimes may even lack the resources to meet her basic needs. She has never been around other children and does not have the basic socialization skills necessary to succeed in an early childhood classroom. She also appears to lack experience with writing materials, scissors, and other fine motor activities.
This is her first year in school which makes it difficult to collaborate with other adults who are familiar with her. I have been in touch with our Family Specialist, ERSEA/Parent Involvement Specialist, and her grandparents in order to learn more about the needs of this child and her family. It is great that she was able to qualify for the PreK program this year, as she is already showing progress socially which will prepare her for Kindergarten.
In response to WoodCFE:
I am glad you brought up the fact that sometimes parents want to help, but are unable to do so. So many times it appears that a family might be uninvolved when in reality they might not know how to help/not have the resources to do so. In our PreK program we conduct home visits, which can really give insight on the child’s home life, what is available to them and how their family interacts together at home. This helps build relationships between the school and the families very early in their school years.
MDalton RPPS
The student I've identified is a black female. She is not performing at grade level, did not pass either EOG last year and was placed in her current grade. She is a hard worker, but is easily frustrated and has low self-esteem. In working with her, I have collaborated with her current teacher, past teachers, mother and grandmother, as well as our guidance counselor and specialist teachers in the building. I have also worked hard to establish a positive relationship with her to help boost her self esteem and motivate her to work to her full ability.
The inequity that most impacts this child does not have to do with gender, race or home life. It is, that despite the fact she has great teachers and is working hard, she is not working on grade level.
In response to Harrell RPPS who wrote of a child's parents, "Their focus is survival, with some attention given to school and his academics." I believe it is vitally important to communicate with parents for this very reason. There are parents who are doing all they can do just to keep their children housed, fed and put on the bus in the mornings. It's amazing some of our children are doing as well as they are considering the situations they are living in. Their basic needs are barely met. It's no wonder their education suffers. I believe we should be doing all we can to help the families of our students. Anything we can do from providing training or referrals to community resources to just generally making them feel welcome and involving them in the school, will benefit our students.
CFES Hardee
My low performing student is a 4th grade black male who is new to our school this year. To develop his profile I have talked with his mother several times and have also conferenced with her. Fortunately she has been helpful in providing much of the educational history of this child. We only received information in his records from his previous school in NC (3rd grade). He attended K-2 in another state and we have no records from those grades. He is currently in the EC program. He also has ADHD and takes medication on a daily basis. I have met his stepdad (white male) and he appears to be supportive and involved in the child's life although I'm not sure to what degree. With most low-performing students I would collaborate with the child's previous teachers but in this case this student is new to our school and his records provide limited information. Being that this child is in the EC program, I will need to continue to collaborate with our EC chairperson to continue to gain information about him. I will also need to collaborate with his other teachers this year including the specialists. As others have posted on this blog, this child has talents that I have not had the chance to observe in the regular classroom. Continued communication with his mother and stepdad will be crucial to helping this child to succeed this year. Although I am seeing progress with this student, it is minimal. He is working on a 2nd grade level in math and has difficulty working independently. He is a hard worker and continues to give me his best effort. All the resources and interventions that are available are being used with this child. He has a very low self-esteem right now and has learned mistakenly in the past that he is stupid. Someone has really done a number on his self-concept.
My main goal right now is to change his self-concept and get him to believe in himself. Hopefully by seeing himself be successful, this will build up his confidence and improve his self-esteem. We work on his math skills daily and he receives help at home with his homework. His mother is very supportive and very concerned with his education. Even though she herself is going to school, she finds time to help him at home with his schoolwork. I know that continued communication with his mother will be important in his success this year. After reading some of the posts on this blog, I realize that I am going to have to spend more one on one time with this child to get to know him better - not just to work on his math skills. I need to find out his likes and dislikes and find his strengths. I think this is where the specialists can really be helpful to me.
This student belongs to two subgroups - African American and EC. The inequities associated with this subgroup are the fact that most EC students perform below grade level often one to two grade levels below but yet are assessed on a grade level standardized test and are expected to achieve the same standards as average to above average students. EC students can learn - they just learn the concepts and skills differently and at a slower pace. He also falls into the black male subgroup which typically, according to the data, this group has greater academic challenges and do not perform as well. I am hoping with continued support from all those involved in this child's life we will see significant improvement in his confidence level and he will continue to show progress with his academic abilities.
In response to PayneRPPS, your post caught my attention because I believe you are the only one that has mentioned assessing and tapping into Gardner's multiple intelligences. I find that this would be useful in helping me find the strengths of my low-performing student. This would give me one more piece to the puzzle. I find it a bit puzzling as to why we (as a whole) don't identify the multiple intelligences of our students or even their preferred learning style. We gather other important data, such as their reading and math levels according to STAR and their basic skills with AIMSweb, but not their preferred learning style or areas of strength. I think this is a piece of data that we should not overlook but should use it to help us gain insight into how a child learns best and "what makes them tick".
1-In developing a profile of my student, I will collaborate with as many sources as possible. Most importantly, I'll meet with the parents and find out all there is to know about the background, history, and home life of my student. I will talk to his previous teachers and other school collegaues who have worked with him. In addition, I'll meet with administration to get their thoughts and knowledge about what I need to be doing to help him.
2-My student is an 8 year old white male. He is in second grade and is almost a year older than his classmates as he started kindergarten a year late. My student is very short for his age and overweight. He has been identified as ADD and takes medication for this daily. Even with medication, he struggles in school to follow directions, focus in class, and finish assignments. He gets frustrated easily and shuts down quite often. He can be sweet at times and has a lot of knowledge about science and history. He gets this mostly from the Discovery Channel which he watches regularly. My student has moved several times which has put him in many different schools. This has been hard for him as change is especially difficult for him. His dad is not around and mom is not able to work and struggles financially. Currently, my student receives outside counseling and therapy to help with daily living and mood control. I am extremely worried about this student as he has a lot of circumstances stacked up against him. I have regular communication with mom and plan to continue this habit. Hopefully, some progress will be evident soon. Mom is planning to move again this school year. I am hoping she'll wait until the end of the school year as another move would be hard for my student.
In response to Ms. Woods' comment. . . Your comment made me think. . . It really does take a village to raise a child. You have to collaborate with a range of people to get the full picture of the child and be willing to work with them to make best choices for him or her. That's great you are so willing to seek out help and try new things in order to help your students. I bet you're a great teacher!
To Tait, CFE
From Ensign, RPP
I agree that finding out as much as you can about the student may help. She's a puzzel 'cause her profile would indicate achievement rather than not. Maybe the fact that parents are recently seperated has thrown her for a loop. Sounds like you are on the right path finding our all you can and getting the counselor involved.
rpps redinger agrees with Mr. Chris when he said that the biggest help to him had been simply talking with the child. I agree that information can be gathered from many different sources but talking to a child can make a lot of headway in helping a child. It seems no matter how old a person gets, they enjoy that one on one interaction with others.
RPP Amigo,
I completely agree with those that you would consult to gain a better understanding for your student. Specialists, counselors, and even other school personnel all have different opinions and experiences to share... which can ultimately give you a more developed and complex understanding of the student.
rpps redinger - My students are a set of twins born at 20 some weeks. They are from a bi-racial marriage. There is an older sister who seems to be functioning high academically. Both twins are very low academically and one is extremely withdrawn. He does not even want to participate in PE. Mother has said that a doctor is seeing some autistic signs and father wants to pursue the doctor's suspicions but mom is still very reluctant to verify this. Both teachers involved with the boys have looked at the cumulative folders. They have talked with parents, specialists, and the counselor. Mom said the boys need to be together. The teachers got together to let the boys spend parts of their days together to see if that might help. The teachers thought that it would also give the boys a double dose of Open Court Phonics. Until the teachers are able to get mom to believe further testing is needed, they are continuing to work on each boy's specific areas of need.
5th grade white male, single parent home, ec, low income family, attendance issues, attention issues. He has a lack of parental support with school, and the only time we here from the parent is when there is a complaint. He is not receiving any form of discipline when it comes to his education. He is learning in spite of his environment. He is a great kid who could succeed to a higher level if he had any support at home.
For this child, I would speak with as many of his past teachers as possible, his ec teachers and other professionals that provide him services, his parent even though the past has shown no support but you never want to close an avenue. I also would look to anyone in the community that has contact with this student. If parents are not doing the job then it is our duty as educators to find anyone who is filling that role for that child, if there is such a person.
As a response to L. Amigo and many others, the role of specialists is huge. Specialists are the equivalent to a high school coach. They are a teacher that is seen in a different light therefore allowing them to connect with a child on a different level. As a past coach, this type of relationship gives you the ability to get a child to do something they usually wouldn't do. You can connect with them in educational way that the child does not see, therefore allowing you to inspire that child to succeed in the classroom.
My student is a low performing African American male who struggles in LA and Math. He is from a two [working] parent home with a number of siblings who struggle financially. He struggles with blending sounds, decoding, vocabulary, following specific directions, fluency, sight words and higher level phonemic awareness skills. He also struggles with addition concepts, using a ten frame correctly, identifying his numbers, and many other concepts.
Besides getting to know the student, the first resource I reached for was his cum folder; I was able to find out a little information about his family, his grades from the previous year, see if he was referred to the START program, etc. I also checked his health folder to see if there were any vision/hearing or other issues that might not have been 'mentioned' at the Open House from the parent.
Next, I moved onto making direct contact with his family and communicating my concerns. I also included making contact with his previous year teacher who gave me even more insight.
I am currently beginning an educational plan with this student, so I will move onto asking other colleagues he works with for their insight and move onto other professionals as we get further into the process.
This student is an oddity in my subgroup of low performing students because the majority of my low performing students are female. Two white and one Hispanic. Two out of the four lowest performing students do receive consistent help at home.
@Amgio- Good point you made. I'll be coming to see you about my student. :) The students can act or perform differently based on their environment.
@SWillis- I thought you made a great point regarding the bus driver in the morning! They could be used as a resource for a low performing student, too! They would be useful to describe their behavior or habits on the bus. It could be a clue to help a classroom teacher out!
@AngelaTait-I found your 'real' subgroup interesting. I think we all encounter a student who 'should really perform well', but does not. Great point for us to reflect on!
-LBullardRPPS
MY child is a little girl that is very quite. Looks at other children as though they are from some other place. Her social skills with other are not very good but with adults she is a gem. a child that every teacher would want.
My little girl comes from a low income family. She is in an enviorment with older adults more than children because of never be. Mom works with older adults.
I agree with everything that was said. But we all have to remember that all diffrent that is why we do wht we do and not working some place else.
My low performing student is a10 year old female. I would like to talk with her mother and father, but especially her mother. It would also be very beneficial to talk to all the teachers she come is contact with as well as administrators.
My student belongs to the low SES and exceptional children subgroups.
My lowest performing child is an African American girl in Kindergarten. I have gathered background information from family members (ex. mother, grandmother), discussed by data with colleagues, and asked questions from my EC department.
Holly Harrison CFES,
It is so hard when they come from a home where there is no stability. I don't think that some families are aware of how important their role is in education. Some believe it is solely up to the schools to educate their child. When parents are active, the children have the support at home AND at school.
1. For my student I would collaborate with previous teachers,parents and any school support system that I could to help me with my profile. I have also found it beneficial to talk to the actual student about his/her past educational experiences.
2.My student is a black male that has repeated kindergarten and is now in second grade. His mother is married to a man that is incarcerated and has several other children at home. My student is reading 6 wpm and has gotten level 1 on all subjects. He is now being tested by the school psychologist. Attendance has also started to become an issue.
1. My lowest performing student is a Hispanic female who is VERY shy. I would need to collaborate with the ESL teacher to develop a profile for her. I have had all three of her sisters so I know a little about her background. I could also collaborate with the sisters current teachers.
2. Being Hispanic this student does not speak much English. It took her a few weeks to even say anything to me and still now she rarely speaks in English or Spanish. One inequity associated with this subgroup is that for some of our assessment there is not a word in Spanish to translate what I am asking. For example there is not vocabulary word in Spanish for “sorting”. I would say “en gruops”. (in groups) To me that is giving the answer away. But is it fair to not assess in the students native language when they can’t speak to you in English?
I would need to collaborate with my child's parents, along with our family specialist and early intervention specialist to help in developing a profile of this student. We will be able to come up with many strategies, through working together, to help this child succeed. Amy Leister RPP
My child is a Hispanic boy, who is very impulsive and has a hard time focusing for longer than 2-3 minutes. He is not socially aware of the other children around him and seems to have very few boundaries. He is raised in a mixed household. His mom speaks Spanish, but his grandpa is American, so he speaks English. Therefore, this child is already bilingual (which may be confusing at this age). Family is also unable to keep this child's focus and does not know what strategies they can use to help him. They are worried and are asking for help. I will collaborate with my team members to come up with strategies to help this family. Amy Leister RPP
CFES-Radcliff:
I can hear the frustration in your words. I know what an awesome teacher and mentor you are for children and teachers. Here are some familiar words for you that you said to me once: "try to involve the child in a leadership role to break that attitude or defiance." Hopefully she will come around and be thankful she has you in her corner!! Good Luck...j
To Hudson CFE
I agree with you and Harrell. For my low achieving student I believe that the family is doing all they can to keep their children’s needs met. I think your comment about making them feel welcomed and involved in our school is the key. If the parents feel supported then hopefully they will be open to working with the teacher to helping these students.
That was me above. I don't know how to go back and add my name or unpost the comment.
Cioffi- It's so sad to see students that are not getting their basic needs met. Being new to this area, it's been an eye opening experience to see how many students don't have enough food to eat and come to school tired and dirty. It's good to hear that your student is making progress despite his obstacles!
T. Podolinsky CFE
To RPPMary
I never thought of the bus driver but it makes sense. One more view of the student! Thanks!
I have a Hispanic male that has scored extremely low on all tests given to assess his levels. I rely heabily on the ESL teacher for information about his past school experiences and for ideas about what we can do to help this student succeed. Talking to former teachers will give an idea of past history in school, and speaking to the parents to give them ideas to use at home.
My child is a first grader. Student lives with both parents along with two older, biological siblings. Family is probably of low-middle socioeconomic status. Child comes to school clean and taken care of, however he has a very difficult time remaining still and focussing on educational lessons. Although child has ample support at home, the child is still falling behind academically. Socially the child interacts very age-appropriately with peers, however he also has difficulty following simple school rules such as walking in line and remaining quiet when appropriate to do so.
CE:
I would form a very small group of smiliar students and being working (as a group) on coping skills in social situations. Since they are all on the same playing field, no one will dominate the group and inimidate the others into further introversion.
The student I identified is not a part of a subgroup at this time, but is being referred to CARE Team.
Mrs. Willis,
You are so right about the bus drivers getting a closer look at where our children come from. When I was interning as a school social worker in New Hanover County, I made several home visits - so many that my career path quickly changed to teaching. There was so much more I wanted to do to help the children while in social work, but knew that I could only do so much.
Katherine
CFE/RPP
CFE Insco's reply to Heather...I think it is great that you would not only speak to the former teachers and counselors, but also to the specialists. I think we can tap into some of these special talents sometimes and help the children do what they know and love to help them learn and succeed in the regular classroom as well.
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