Overview of Clack Middle School and Aspects of School Title 1 Funding - Term Paper Example

Synthesis Paper Table of Contents I. Introduction, Overview of Clack Middle School and Aspects of School Funding 3 II. Literature Review 7 III. Family Life Education Practices- Integration 9 IV. Personal Reflection 11 1References 13 I. Introduction, Overview of Clack Middle School and Aspects of School Title 1 Funding My choice of institution for my practicum is a Title 1 school located at 1610 Corsicana Avenue in Abilene, Texas, named Clack Middle School. My aim in actively pursuing a practicum here is to be able to understand and gain practical insights into what Title 1 schools are, how they are different from other schools, and how Title 1 programs as implemented in this school impact student academic and overall life outcomes. A special interest is in being able to gain insights into the impact of poverty on student achievement, as well as into the dynamics of family life as they relate to the circumstances that give rise to poverty and the impact of poverty on various aspects of family life. The thinking is that as a practicum, it is important to spend time doing things that have potentially large impact on the community and on the lives of poor people especially, and student achievement among those along the margins of poverty need to be understood in the context of larger family and social dynamics for interventions to have any chance of succeeding (Schoolwires, 2014). Title 1 refers to the program that is funded by the federal program and is of the biggest of its kind in the United States, with the goal of providing financial and related support to schools with large proportions of being at risk of not meeting academic standards due to poverty. In its original form, it achieved the force of law under the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965, and this was later revised in 1994 to tweak the overall goals of the program. In its current state under the No Child Left Behind, schools have to meet academic standards progress in achievement as reflected in yearly state testing in order for continued inclusion in the funding program. The annual money earmarked for the program is pegged at $14 billion, and in recent years as many as 56,000 different schools across America have tapped into the program funding (US Department of Education, 2015; Malburg, 2015). It is important to note that the Abilene Independent School District or AISD in general is a school district that naturally meets the standards for government support under the Title 1 program of the legislation on No Child Left Behind and earlier legislation that originated the idea of providing additional funding and support to school districts that have large numbers of students living in poverty or near the poverty line. This is because large numbers of residents in the school district are poor, and make substantially less than the average American worker on a national basis. It is true that the average annual income in Abilene is already less than the national average of $52,000 in 2015, at just $44,149. Abilene’s need for Title 1 funding is further stressed by the fact that a large number of workers in the area are hourly workers, and averaging the incomes of these workers, the average annual income further drops to just $33,466, or just roughly 60 percent of average annual American wages. There is a need therefore to pour appropriate funding to the public schools in this school district as mandated by the Title 1 stipulations and programs of the No Child Left Behind Act (Anderson, 2015; NAEYC, 2015). Built in 1992, Clack Middle School is one of four such middle schools in the Abilene School District that cater to the need of a burgeoning student population in the area. It has a student to teacher on full time status ratio of 12 to 1, which is substantially lower than the average in Texas, which is 15 to 1. This makes Clack Middle School fairly well-staffed in terms of teachers, with the ratio exceeding the state average. The student population is 749 in grades 6 through 8 in 2011. The student population is roughly divided into both genders equally, with slightly more male students at 51 percent and female students making up 49 percent of the population. About two-thirds of the population are eligible for subsidized lunch programs, and as of 2011 roughly 40 students are white, 34 percent are of Hispanic ethnic origin, and roughly 17 percent are African Americans, with the remaining made up of two race-students, Asians, American Indians and natives of Alaska. Looking at its test scores in state tests, the results for the different grade levels from grades 6 to 8 from 2007 to 2011 show that the test results for Clack Middle School students align closely with district as well as state averages, with some years seeing the school outpace the district and state results in mathematics and in science. The trend though is that of the school lately lagging state and district averages, which is a cause for concern (Education.com, 2015; Schoolwires, 2015). Examining the demographics of the student population at Clack Middle School relative to the demographics of Abilene, Texas, we see that the Abilene Texas 0-17 years old demographic makes up about 24 percent of the area population, and of this, about 7 percent are made up of young people between the ages of 10 and 14, the age of enrollment of students at Clack Middle School. In terms of overall race profile of the area, about 68 percent are white, about 20 percent are Latino or Hispanic, and the remainder are made up of African Americans, Asians, and Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. These age and ethnic demographics tell us that the population is predominantly white and that a substantial portion of the population are potential students at Clack Middle School. In terms of household types, about two thirds of all households are family households. Half are married couple households, and about a third of the households have children below 18 years of age. 12 percent of households have single females, and about 8 percent are of single parents with children below the age of 18. Single households make up about a quarter of all households, and about 10 percent are made up of people over the age of 65. The average family in Abilene has three members, and the average household has 2.5 members. Meanwhile, more recent income data shows that while average incomes in 2012 have risen to levels that are substantially higher tan turn of the century figures, the average at about $40,000 still trails the state average of about $51,000 per annum, and the per capita income levels is half the average income at just $21,000, way below the national average. These figures indicate the justified inclusion of Clack Middle School in the Title 1 program (MDNH, 2015; Onboard Informatics, 2015; Abilene Visitors, 2015). Funding sources are linked to the standard funding sources for public schools in Abilene, and with the inclusion of Title 1 funding, the funding options for Clack Middle School is somewhat expanded. This, even as the continuation of funding under Title 1 and the No Child Left Behind Act rests on Clack Middle School meeting standards for testing scores in yearly state tests as stipulated by law. Given the recent decline in performance of Clack Middle School in those tests one can say that some aspects of the school funding are in jeopardy of being compromised, unless test scores improve in the coming years Anderson, 2015; NAEYC, 2015).The literature also mentions funding going into lunch programs to ensure that students who are poor or are hovering near the poverty line are able to get the right nutrition to be able to perform well in school, and are given relief from problems relating to getting the right food (Education.com, 2015). In terms of intervention strategies employed by Clack Middle School, the literature tells us that there are interventions under Title 1 that can be implemented in aid of improving student performance. The low student to teacher ratio implies that the school has utilized some of the funding to increase the number of teachers relative to students, in hopes of upping performance. Some additional interventions that are mentioned in the literature and are of use in Clack Middle School are the use of funds to offer supplemental teaching and tutoring in core subjects such as mathematics. Elsewhere targeted interventions are utilized with the help of Title 1 funding to aid in improving student outcomes for those who are homeless, students who face neglect at home, and generally students who are at risk by virtue of poverty (Malburg, 2015; Education.com, 2015). More general intervention strategies that may not be directly linked to Title 1 funds include those that relate to enforcing discipline, such as the enforcement of the school code of conduct for students, and the awarding of First Class Cards for good behavior and school performance that can be used for special incentives such as being able to eat with the teachers and other social avenues for public recognition (AISD, 2014; Schoolwires, 2014). In terms of objectives, of course Clack Middle School have to meet standards for school achievement as measured in state tests, for continued inclusion in Title 1 funding under the law. Moreover, being part of the Texas school system, Clack Middle School has to adopt statewide standards and objectives relating to meeting TEKS content, or Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. These are standards of proficiency for different subject areas that are set by the state and to which Clack Middle School is bound to meet (Texas Education Agency, 2015). The literature tells us that TEKS dates back to 1998, and the content prescriptions in the TEKS as inclusions in the curriculum are then the subject matter of state tests to measure progress for all students across the Texas school system. TEKS impacts Clack Middle School financially, because continued funding under Title 1 requires meeting state criteria for progress in state tests, which in turn are tied to TEKS content (Texas Project First, 2015). The way the AISD and Clack Middle School incorporates TEKS into its objectives is to measure school performance as reflected in the grading system based on student mastery of TEKS content in different subject areas (AISD, 2015). II. Literature Review There are several issues and concepts tied to inclusion in Title 1 programs and the implications of inclusion on areas of interest such as student outcomes and poverty, the role of families in student performance, poverty and family contexts, and poverty in families and the impact of those on behavior for adolescents. Obviously the topic of poverty and school performance is vast and there is a need to narrow down and target more specific aspects of those, and in this literature the focus is on family dynamics in poverty contexts and how those dynamics impact adolescent behavior and school performance in middle schools eligible for Title 1 funding, such as Clack Middle School. The literature that revolve around this and related ideas is vast and profound. A sampling of more recent literature tells us that indeed, in meta analyses of past studies, families in poverty breed conditions that negatively impact school and life achievement in children, and those who experience chronic poverty are the hardest hit. Those who suffer from family poverty in their pre-school years moreover suffer more in terms of school and live achievement moreover in comparison to those who experience poverty in their later years as adolescents and hint at the potential interventions to aid children in poverty in the early years of schooling. This does not water down the need for support for students in middle school, but highlights how earlier interventions may help mitigate the worst effects of poverty on school performance and life outcomes for the most vulnerable, which is the very young (Brooks-Gunn and Duncan, 1997). Literature also exists that link family structure to the prevalence and greater likelihood of persistent poverty among children going into adulthood, with family structures where the head of the family is female yielding children who are more likely to end up poor and deprived in adulthood in comparison to children growing up in families where a father is present (McLanahan, 1985). Literature also exists that links the kind of neighborhoods that children are raised and how neighborhood characteristics and the presence of mitigating effects such as social networks and positive parenting contribute to the deterioration or the improvement of adolescent and child school and later life outcomes. This latter study has implications for coming up with interventions to improve adolescent school outcomes in areas of Abilene where neighborhoods have been identified as traditionally problematic. The take here is that certain neighborhoods increase the likelihood of adolescents and children experiencing difficulties in school and in climbing out of conditions of poverty later in life, true, but that positive interventions centered on good social network support and good parenting can offset the negative effects of bad neighborhoods (Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, 2000). III. Family Life Education Practices- Integration The literature provides ample evidence for the usefulness and value of early family and child interventions in families that are on the verge of or suffering from persistent poverty in improving child learning and later life outcomes as adults. The interventions of family life practices relate to the value especially of early life intervention, and of being able to generate the support of the immediate family and the wider circle of social relationships that revolve around the child. In one prospective study over fifteen years involving school children in very poor households, it was found that early child and family intervention that included putting children through early schooling resulted in improvements in measures of school and life achievement as reflected in longer stays in school, higher overall academic achievement, reduced rates of dropout, reduced commission of juvenile crimes and reduced incidences of juvenile arrest, and higher school grades and better overall life outcomes by the time the children reach the age of 18 (Reynolds et al., 2001). In terms of the timing of the intervention in family life education contexts, it is found moreover that the most potent interventions in families living in poverty are those that are made when children are youngest. This has implications for programs that aim to boost the chances of success in life and in school of school children in chronically poor family settings (Brooks-Gunn and Duncan, 1997). On the other hand, the literature also suggests that because poor family conditions hit children the hardest, it is important that family life interventions prioritize aiding children and intervening to improve access to immediate needs such as food and educational opportunities. On the other hand, because families are the fundamental ground in which children develop, interventions that exclude the family overall misses the mark, which is another way of saying that those interventions that focus on family dynamics and education practices for families have the best chances of succeeding (Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Elsewhere, alternative ways to view poverty in terms of the way poverty socially excludes families and especially young children from participation in meaningful economic and social activities that can lift them up from poverty have implications for practices in family life education that aim at inclusion. For children, this means inclusion in vital educational opportunities, and interventions on the family side can include providing ways for the family to find work and to be included in vital community discussions and services that can impact their overall well-being and life chances. In practical terms, in Clack Middle School, this means inclusion in terms of socially engaging students living in poor households and making them feel part of the community and of the student body as much as possible. For families too, this includes interventions that highlight inclusion and participation, and meaningful access to jobs and to opportunities for social interaction with the rest of the community (Huston, 2011). The above discussion acknowledges that academic literature in support of family life education for poor families with middle age school children can come from a variety of disciplines, and the objective here is to get insights from a broad range of social science and related disciplines in order to craft the most useful and helpful interventions and strategies to improve student outcomes at Clack Middle School. The idea too, as reflected in the literature, is to not come up with definitive prescriptions for helping families of students at the school, but to put in place some broad strokes in the direction of crafting strategies and programs that work on the family level. The above discussion moreover emphasizes the need for updated and relevant research into the effects of poverty and the various aspects of poverty in families and children in middle school. Some initial interventions that aim at getting poor children in school and feeding them at an early age can be the starting point for more involved and more informed policies and interventions in that direction (Ballard and Taylor, 2015; Brooks-Gunn and Duncan, 1997). IV. Personal Reflection Summarizing the goals of the practicum., they are to see firsthand and to gain insights from immersion in a Title 1 school, in the context of being able to delve into the impact of family poverty on the behavior and performance of adolescents in school, and the impact of such poverty on overall attitudes towards academics; to see the impact of Title 1 programs on the learning experience and school outcomes of children in middle school; to gauge my own comfort and confidence in future involvement with a Title 1 school and educational setting; to gauge the potential use and benefit of having a dedicated child and family service staff in a title 1 school. My overall experience at Clack Middle School has been very great and positive, and overall it was a tremendous learning experience, especially with regard to being able to get insights into how adolescents think and interact with peers, teachers and the rest of the world. The literature tells us that poor children face tall odds and that they need practical help, support and lots of compassion from teachers and the wider social circle of friends, family and the general community to make it. The literature and my own experience tell us that though the way is tough, some practical interventions grounded on good theory do work. This gives me hope that with sustained effort and with the earnest focus of a family services person the life and educational outcomes of poor students at Clack Middle School can be radically improved (Ballard and Taylor, 2015; Brooks-Gunn and Duncan, 1997). 1 References Abilene Visitors (2015). Abilene Demographics. AbileneVisitors.com. Retrieved from http://www.abilenevisitors.com/Demographics AISD (2014). Student Code of Conduct. Abileneisd.org. Retrieved from http://www.abileneisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001461/Centricity/Domain/1/SCOC%202014_2015.pdf AISD (2015). Abilene Independent School District Grading Policy. Abileneisd. Retrieved from http://www.abileneisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001461/Centricity/Domain/3639/Grading%20Policy82214.pdf Anderson, A. (2015). Poverty and Education: How Title 1 Funding Impacts Abilene Schools. Big Country. Retrieved from http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/story/d/story/poverty-and-education-how-title-1-funding-impacts/35300/GT1iawq3iUWd0Q6ka6_9EA Ballard, S. and Taylor, A. (2015). CFLE in Context: A Framework for Best Practices in Family Life Education. NCFR. Retrieved from https://www.ncfr.org/cfle-network/cfle-network-current-issue/cfle-context-framework-best-practices-family-life-education Brooks-Gunn, J. and Duncan, G. (1997). The Effects of Poverty on Children. The Future of Children: Children and Poverty 7 (2). Retrieved from https://povertymatters.wikispaces.hcpss.org/file/view/The%20Effects%20of%20Poverty%20on%20Children.pdf/417056668/The%20Effects%20of%20Poverty%20on%20Children.pdf Duncan, G. and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). Family Poverty, Welfare Reform, and Child Development. Child Development 71 (1). Retrieved from http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/upload/resource/Duncan2000.pdf Education.com (2015). Clack Middle School. Education.com. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/texas/abilene/clack-middle/ Huston, A. (2011). Children in poverty: Can public policy alleviate the consequences? AIFS Conference Keynote Address. Retrieved from http://aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2011/fm87/fm87c.pdf Leventhal, T. and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The Neighborhoods They Live In: The Effects of Neighborhood Residence on Child and Adolescent Outcomes. Psychological Bulletin 126 (2). Retrieved from http://www.gxe2010.org/Speakers/pubs/Brooks-Gunn_2000a.pdf Malburg, S. (2015). Understanding the Basics of Title 1 Funds. Bright Hub Education. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/11105-basics-of-title-1-funds/ McLanahan, S. (1985). Family Structure and the Reproduction of Poverty. American Journal of Sociology 90 (4). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2779522?uid=3738824&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21106646960203 MDNH (2015). Abilene City, Texas Statistics and Demographics. Area Connect. Retrieved from http://abilene.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm NAEYC (2015). Title I: Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards. NAEYC.org. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/policy/federal/title1 Onboard Informatics (2015). Abilene, Texas. City-Data.com. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Abilene-Texas.html Reynolds, A. et al. (2001). Long-term Effects of an Early Childhood Intervention on Educational Achievement and Juvenile Arrest A 15-Year Follow-up of Low-Income Children in Public Schools. JAMA 285 (18). Retrieved from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=193816 Schoolwires (2014). Clack Middle School. Abileneisd.org. Retrieved from http://www.abileneisd.org/Page/950 Texas Education Agency (2015). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. TEA. Retrieved from http://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=6148 Texas Project First (2015). TEKS-Statewide Curriculum. TexasProjectFirst.org. Retrieved from http://texasprojectfirst.org/TEKStCurKtoHS.html US Department of Education. Programs: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies (Title I, Part A). Ed.gov. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html Read More