Park+View+Middle+School+Fall+2012

Welcome to Park Vi[[image:uriopenminds/Screen shot 2012-10-01 at 2.22.35 PM.png align="left"]]ew Middle School, home of the Cougars!
Presented by:Kayla Babayan = =  Introduction:

Park View Middle School is located on 25 Park View Boulevard in the city of Cranston, Rhode Island, 02910. Cranston is located in central Rhode Island in the Providence County. Park View Middle is one of three middle schools for this city. In addition to Park View Middle there is Hugh B Bain and Western Hills Middle Schools. In addition to these three schools with grades 7 +8 there are 17 elementary schools for grades pre k- grade 6 and two high schools. The current superintendent of the Cranston Public School System is Mr. Peter Naro. Joseph Rotz serves as principal for the school and has done so for over three years. Park View consists of grades 7 and 8 and has a collective student body of 485 and a faculty of 65. This large amount of educators lends itself to a low student to teacher ratio of 7:1. This ratio is much lower than the average for Rhode Island which is around 11:1 student to teacher ratio. Their mascot is the Cougar and their school colors are blue and white. For most of this project facts about Park View will be compared to those of Birchwood and Gordon Junior High school, for reasons that will be made clearer later in this report. In addition to being compared to neighboring middle schools in several occasions Park View will be compared to data from the state and nation.This context statement is intended to provide the facts about the public middle school of Park View in Cranston, Rhode Island. It can aid parent's and guardians in deciding whether Park View will provide a proper education in a suitable environment for their children. It is also a way to present info in a much easier to comprehend manor.

=Community Background =

Cranston, Rhode Island is located towards the center of the state and is bordered by six cities and towns including: Scituate, Johnston, Providence, Warwick, West Warwick and Coventry. It is one of eight cities in the state and with 80,392 residents it boasts being the third largest city in the state. It was incorporated as a city in 1910. The area encompasses varying socioeconomic statuses so it is hard to classify it into the three main categories of lower class, middle and upper class, but I will proceed in presenting data about the estimated household income for the city which will help you to get a sense of how affluent or not this area is. The median household income for the city of Cranston is $57,922, which is higher than the median household income for the state which is $54,900. It is also above the U.S. median household income which is $51,914. The median family income for this community ($70,932) is only slightly above the average for Rhode Island ($70,663). Since the estimated household and family incomes for the city are only slightly higher than the state and national incomes I wouldn't go so far as to say Cranston as a whole is a very affluent city, they are doing better than other areas, but they aren't totally wealthy. The community of Cranston is a melting pot of ethnicities, it is predominantly of the Caucasian race (81.9%) which is only a slim percentage greater than the average of the state (81.4%), but it has a significant amount of each race. The next largest ethnicity,following the Caucasian race, is Hispanic or Latino (10.8%) which is lower than the percentage for the state which is (12.4%). The African American population of Cranston (5.3%) is only slightly lower than that of the state (5.7%). The Asian population (5.2%) is about 2% higher than the state (2.9%). Last but not least, the American Indian and Alaska Native population makes up an extremely small percentage of the city (.3%) which is almost equal to that of the state (.6%). If the percentages were closer in gap for each race the city would be much more diverse, but as it is the community represents a multitude of races and ethnicities leading it to a rather diverse demographic. The percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native's is rather low, but when compared to the percentage in the state is about average.

Table 1: Break of Race for Cranston and RI State
 * || Cranston || RI ||
 * Caucasian || 81.90% || 81.40% ||
 * Hispanic/Latino || 10.80% || 12.40% ||
 * African American || 5.30% || 5.70% ||
 * Asian || 5.20% || 2.90% ||
 * American Indian/Alaska Native || 0.30% || 0.60% ||

=District Summary = A great way to compare a school against other schools in the state is to investigate their scores on the New England Common Assessment Program commonly called the NECAP. The NECAP measure students proficiency in the areas of math and science for grade 7 and math, reading, writing and science for grade 8. For this summary I will be comparing the scores of Park View Middle to two other middle schools of cities in Rhode Island. I am choosing to compare Park View to Birchwood Middle School in East Providence and Gordon Junior High School in Warwick. I chose to compare Park View to these two schools because they are all located in cities and as we know cities tend to have the highest diversities of people. Since there is quite a bit of data and number to compare among these three schools I will first state the data, then later explain the trends involved with the number I have presented. So for the seventh grade math scores for the state the percent proficient is 56%, for Park View 55%, for Birchwood 49% and for Gordon 55%. For 7th grade reading the state proficiency was 72%, Park View was 75%, Birchwood was 73% and Gordon 71%. For 8th grade math the state proficiency was 58%, Park View 63%, for Birchwood 50% and for Gordon 60%. For 8th grade reading 78%, for Park View 83%, for Birchwood 86% and for Gordon 83%. For 8th grade Writing state proficiency was 59%, for Park View 68%, Birchwood 79% and for Gordon 58%. For 8th grade science the state proficiency was 25%, for Park View 23%, for Birchwood 11%, and for Gordon 20%.

Park View Middle scored higher than the other two middle school and the state in the areas of 7th grade reading and 8th grade math. It scored higher than the state in all areas except 7th grade math and 8th grade science, but for 7th grade math scored equivalent to Gordon and higher than Birchwood. Since the state proficiency percentage includes scores from schools of the highest and lowest rated schools it doesn't necessarily strike as a negative against the school if they preform slightly below the state level. If a school was dramatically below the state level it would prove as a serious warning sign, but the scores of 7th grade math and 8th grade science don't necessary lower the overall quality of the school. Park View scores higher or only slightly lower to the state and other schools in all 4 testing areas for the two grades. The seventh grade math percentage was 1% lower than the average for the state and 2% lower than the state for 8th grade science proficiency. All three middle schools performed below the state proficiency level, which is both a bad and an okay thing. The reason as to why it is okay is because Park View is only 2% below the state proficiency level, which doesn't seem horrible, but when you look at the already low percentage for the state at 25% it starts to raise a bit of concern. Park View performed better than the other two schools, but it doesn't necessarily mean a great deal when looking at the overall scores.

In addition to analyzing test scores from the NECAP assessment other potential ways to compare schools across the state include student to teacher ratio, percentage of not highly qualified teachers, and attendance rate. The state average for student- teacher ratio is 11:1, this rate is higher than all three schools, Park View has a 7:1 ratio, 9:1 for Birchwood, and 8:1 for Gordon. A low student to teacher ratio means more individual time for each student which can lead to a higher overall education. Closer instruction from the teacher leads to a definite increase in academic performance and retention of the information. This is a very beneficial statistic for a school to have, it is a huge positive for the school of Park View. For percentage of not highly qualified teachers the state rate is 3%, but for Park View the percentage is 0 which indicates that 100% of the teachers at the school are qualified to teach the subject they are teaching. This is a very good measure of the school, because unqualified teachers are not a positive attribute to a school and can hinder performance, but qualified teachers add to the overall performance of a school. The state attendance rate for middle schools is 94%, Park View is at the exact same rate of 94% attendance. This is a pretty high percentage of attendance when you consider the factors that go into a child attending school. For children of poverty stricken families, it may be essential for every member of the family to earn money in order to support the family, or even possibly have to care for their younger siblings if one of both of their parents have long houred jobs. Children of these families may see working as being of more importance then attending school because they are responsible for bringing in money and helping out the family. By attending school they are lowering the amount of money they could be making and for some attending school may be a luxury.

School Analysis Another way to compare schools is through the areas tax and spending reports. The major factor I will be comparing these schools by is the district per pupil expenditure. A rough definition for district per pupil expenditure is the overall cost of education for each student. It is usually calculated by dividing the overall expenditures of a particular school and dividing it by the overall attendance of a specific period. Out of these three schools,Gordon Junior High School has the highest district property value per student which is $15,939, followed by Birchwood Middle School at $14,212 and lastly Park View Middle School with $13,261. Having the lowest district per pupil expenditure is rather concerning because it indicates that less money is being spent on the children's education. These numbers aren't really shocking when you consider the district property value per student. Gordon Junior High School has the highest value at $1,074,558.04 which is directly proportional to it having the highest district per pupil expenditure. This could just simply mean the school has more money due to reasons unknown. I imagined the district property value per student would be proportional to the median family income, but that doesn't seem to be the case if you examine Park View's median family income is $55,241 which is higher than that of Birchwood ($51,655). This proves to be the only real factor in which Park View Middle doesn't measure up to other surrounding middle schools.

This table is for the Park View Middle School:
 * District Property Value per Student ||= FY2009 ||= $ 659,765.83 ||=  ||
 * District Tax Rate per $1000.00 ||= FY2009 ||= $ 19.11 ||= — ||
 * District Per Pupil Expenditure ||= FY2009 ||= $ 13,261 ||= — ||
 * District Property Tax Capacity ||= FY2009 ||= $ 85 ||= — ||
 * District Tax Effort ||= FY2009 ||= $ 121 ||= — ||
 * District Median Family Income ||= FY2009 ||= $ 55,241 ||= — ||  ||

This table is for Birchwood Middle School
 * District Property Value per Student ||= FY2009 ||= $ 790,874.62 ||= — ||
 * District Tax Rate per $1000.00 ||= FY2009 ||= $ 15.72 ||= — ||
 * District Per Pupil Expenditure ||= FY2009 ||= $ 14,212 ||= — ||
 * District Property Tax Capacity ||= FY2009 ||= $ 71 ||= — ||
 * District Tax Effort ||= FY2009 ||= $ 132 ||= — ||
 * District Median Family Income ||= FY2009 ||= $ 51,655 ||

This table is for Gorton Junior High School A factor that can also help to decide the quality of the school is the percentage of teachers with emergency certification. The state percentage for this factor is a rather low figure of 1%, but not as low as Park View which has a 0% for teachers with emergency certification. This is something to really consider because emergencies happen and children need to be kept safe. You want to feel your child is safe at school, and having a higher percentage of emergency certification would certainly put your mind at ease. It would be much more worrisome if it was a greater percentage below the state average, but since the state average is so low, it doesn't prove to be a major negative. Having such a low percentage isn't exactly a shining light for the school, it sort of sets it back and makes it look less appealing. This is definitely an area of which Park View should improve in order to better protect their students and increase the overall quality of the school.
 * District Property Value per Student ||= FY2009 ||= $ 1,074,558.04 ||= — ||
 * District Tax Rate per $1000.00 ||= FY2009 ||= $ 14.14 ||= — ||
 * District Per Pupil Expenditure ||= FY2009 ||= $ 15,939 ||= — ||
 * District Property Tax Capacity ||= FY2009 ||= $ 102 ||= — ||
 * District Tax Effort ||= FY2009 ||= $ 117 ||= — ||
 * District Median Family Income ||= FY2009 ||= $ 56,225 ||

This table is comparing Park View Middle with the state of RI
 * || Year || This School || Statewide ||
 * Teachers with Emergency Certification || 2010-11 || 0% || 1% ||
 * Not Highly Qualified Teachers || 2010-11 || 0% || 3% ||
 * Teacher-Student Ratio || 2010-11 || 1:07 || 1:11 ||

Another key factor that helps in determining the quality of a school is the amount of one on one attention available to the students. The student to teacher ratio for Park View, as previously mentioned above, is 7 to 1, which is four students less than the average for the state of Rhode Island which is 11 to 1. A lower teacher to student ratio means more one on one attention which can lead to higher test scores and participation rates in class. Smaller ratios also mean a higher potential connection between the student and teacher. This can allow teacher's to better understand their students which may help the teacher to better cater to the needs of their class. A smaller ratio allows the teachers to better interact with their students which may help in more ways than just school. Teachers are role models to students, with the smaller ratio teachers are able to spend more time with each student and create a bond in many cases.This closer bond could make a world of difference in the students life. Middle school aged children are very impressionable and it tends to be the years where children start to make decisions in education that will follow them further down the line. By having a closer bond teachers could have more say with these children and that could lead to these children making better choices in their lives.

Conclusion Overall, Park View Middle School is an amazing learning environment for any child in grades 7 and 8. Its wide range of sports, clubs, specialized classes and attention to each and every student makes it a great option for your child. The teachers are more than qualified to teach these children anything they could wish to know which is part of the schools well rounded nature. It also proves to tower above the other schools it has been compared to in areas of NECAP scores, student- teacher ratio, and percentage of qualified teachers, just to name a few.The facts presented in this context statement are important because they compare this school to others within the same demographic. I chose to compare Park View to two other middle schools in cities and not for example schools in a suburb community because cities tend to be more well rounded in terms of encompassing a wide range of people. It didn't really seem fair or a good use of time to compare Park View, a city school, to one that is totally dissimilar because if you are looking into Park View, you are more than likely a city person and interested in the area. I particularly chose Birchwood and Gordon because they too are located in cities, contain grades 7 and 8, have similar median household incomes and have close to the same amount of students attending them. However, these are only a handful of factors one should consider when deciding between middle schools, there are a great deal more things to consider. The only real way to get an accurate representation of the school is to set up a visit and come and catch some of the Cougar Pride running rampant throughout the halls of Park View Middle School. It is a school filled with diversity, compassion and overall love for the school and it is in every way an acceptable and presentable middle school. There are some areas that need a bit of sprucing up and revamping, but they don't hinder the overall success and value of the school. Here are some pictures of students taking part of activities Park View Middle presents to its members: (Students huddled for a basketball pep talk) (Members of the Reading Club) (A young artist at work during Art class)

(Computer Class) (Geography Class)



= References =

Rhode Island Kids Count (2012). Retrieved October 26, 2012 from http://rikidscount.org/matriarch/MultiPiecePage.asp

U.S. Census Bureau (2012). American Fact Finder. Retrieved October 26, 2012 from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.html

Votta, Peg(2012). InfoWorks! Rhode Island Education Data Reporting. Retrieved October 27, 2012. From http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/

Rubric

Introduction = REPLACEWITHSCORE/ 5 pts.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:
 * 5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform. || 4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform. || 3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else. || 2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community. || 0 - No introduction section is apparent. ||

Organization = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:
 * 5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented. || 4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section. || 3 - Report is missing one of the sections. || 2 - Report is missing more than one section. || 0 - Report does not include any sections. ||

Mechanics = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

 * 5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report. || 4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings. || 3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors. || 2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used. || 0 - Report does not include a Reference section. || Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:

Conclusion = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:
 * 5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader. || 4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community. || 3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings. || 0 - No conclusion section is apparent. ||

Creativity = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation:
 * 5 - Report is written in an engaging style. || 4 - Report has some interesting sections. || 3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose. ||

Thoroughness = REPLACEWITHSCORE /10 pts

 * 5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures || 2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures. || 0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures. ||

Rubric

Introduction = REPLACEWITHSCORE/ 5 pts.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:
 * 5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform. || 4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform. || 3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else. || 2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community. || 0 - No introduction section is apparent. ||

Organization = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:
 * 5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented. || 4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section. || 3 - Report is missing one of the sections. || 2 - Report is missing more than one section. || 0 - Report does not include any sections. ||

Mechanics = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

 * 5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report. || 4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings. || 3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors. || 2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used. || 0 - Report does not include a Reference section. || Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:

Conclusion = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:
 * 5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader. || 4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community. || 3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings. || 0 - No conclusion section is apparent. ||

Creativity = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation:
 * 5 - Report is written in an engaging style. || 4 - Report has some interesting sections. || 3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose. ||

Thoroughness = REPLACEWITHSCORE /10 pts

 * 5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures || 2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures. || 0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures. ||

Rubric

Introduction = REPLACEWITHSCORE/ 5 pts.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:
 * 5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform. || 4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform. || 3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else. || 2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community. || 0 - No introduction section is apparent. ||

Organization = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:
 * 5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented. || 4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section. || 3 - Report is missing one of the sections. || 2 - Report is missing more than one section. || 0 - Report does not include any sections. ||

Mechanics = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.

 * 5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report. || 4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings. || 3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors. || 2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used. || 0 - Report does not include a Reference section. || Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:

Conclusion = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:
 * 5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader. || 4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community. || 3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings. || 0 - No conclusion section is apparent. ||

Creativity = REPLACEWITHSCORE / 5 pts.
Strengths and constructive comments about presentation:
 * 5 - Report is written in an engaging style. || 4 - Report has some interesting sections. || 3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose. ||

Thoroughness = REPLACEWITHSCORE /10 pts

 * 5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards. || 3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures || 2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures. || 0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures. ||