Portsmouth+High+School+Fall+2012


 * PORTSMOUTH **** HIGH SCHOOL **

“The mission of Portsmouth High School is to be an ever-improving, respectful community where all students are challenged as individuals to develop intellectual curiosities and to use immense bodies of knowledge proficiently as they learn to value the past, thrive in the present and prepare for the future.”

120 Education Lane, Portsmouth, RI 02871 Phone: (401) 683 2124 Fax: (401) 683 1096 By, Jessie Valenti __ ** Introduction: ** __ Welcome to the home of the Portsmouth Patriots! Portsmouth High School is a four-year public high school, with about 1,006 students, teaching grades 9-12. It is one of Portsmouth’s four public schools and is the only high school. It is located in the northern part of Aquidneck Island with the beach right down the street. The current principal is Robert E. Littlefield with two assistant principals Chris Ashley and Colleen Larson. Portsmouth High School, PHS for short, offers a variety of academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities. It has a 1:10 teacher-student ratio, high SAT scores, and superb AP Exam scores. This report is intended to inform parents, students, and teachers about what Portsmouth and Portsmouth High School has to offer. __ ** Community Background: ** __ Portsmouth is a very nice, charming town part of Newport County, Rhode Island. Anne Hutchinson founded it in 1683. Portsmouth is both a rural and suburban town with a strong sense of community. It has several relaxing and enjoyable activities including boating, fishing, tennis, and golfing and is home to many beaches, playgrounds, and parks. (Portsmouth School Department).

Portsmouth has a population of about 17,389 with a total area of 59.3 square miles (23.2 of land and 36.1 of water). The median family income is $96,173 compaired to Rhode Island’s $70,663. There are only 2.3% of families that are below the poverty level, compaired to the statewide 8.4%. (US Census Bureau). Portsmouth’s high median family income and low family poverty levels shows that families are doing very well financially and are able to provide for their families. Since families are doing well financially, children are doing well. The child population in Portsmouth is 3,996. 3,940 of those children live in households; 2,977 live in married couple families, 718 live in single parent families, 172 live with grandparents, and 47 live with non-relatives. (RI Kids Count). As you can see in the chart below, Portsmouth’s living situations for their children are better than the overall state. Portsmouth is not a very diverse town; the majority of the population is white. According to the 2010 US Census Bureau, Portsmouth is made up of 16,445 people who are White, 372 people who are Hispanic or Latino, 274 people who are Asian, 234 people who are Black/African American, and 37 people who are American Indian and Alaska native. As you can see in the chart below, Rhode Island is much more diverse than Portsmouth.

__ ** District Summary: ** __ The Portsmouth School District’s mission “is to create a comprehensive teaching and learning environment which provides opportunities to students to become, to their fullest potential, responsible citizens, self-directed individuals, and life-long learners.” (Portsmouth School Department) Portsmouth has a very high and well-put together school district that is providing students with what they need to succeed. Below are some scores of the NECAP, which tests students on their proficiency in math, reading, science and writing. Portsmouth is being compared to the state averages of Rhode Island, the highest school district, Barrington, and the lowest school district, Central Falls. Portsmouth showed higher proficiency over both the state average and Central Falls, and was about even to slightly lower proficiency to Barrington. Portsmouth doesn’t only have proficient NECAP scores but also good teachers, high student attendance, and good graduation rates. Portsmouth and Rhode Island both have a 1:11 teacher-student ratio and a 1% of teachers with emergency certification. Portsmouth, however, has 0% not highly qualified teachers and Rhode Island has 3%. Portsmouth attendance rates are close to perfect staying in 96% throughout all schools; which is the same as Barrington. The state target is 90% so Portsmouth is doing awesome. Portsmouth also has a good four-year graduation rate; below is a graph comparing Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Barrington, and Central Falls. (Info Works RI). __** School Analysis: **__ Portsmouth High School is an intelligent, awesome school with both amazing teachers and bright students. The teacher to student ratio is 1-10, which is very good for students to get the education they need. This school has very proficient scores in the NECAP, great SAT scores, and numerous passing AP exams. The two charts below compare Portsmouth High School’s SAT and AP Exams to Rhode Island, Barrington High School, and Central Falls High School. Portsmouth is far above the states SAT scores and is very close to Barrington’s scores. Portsmouth also has a much higher percent than Rhode Island that scored at the college-level mastery for AP Exams. (Info Works RI). This shows that students take their work seriously and are learning in school and doing the correct things it takes to succeed. Portsmouth High School has a very good attendance rate of 96% and only 11% chronic absenteeism. Rhode Island has a 92% attendance rate and an 18% chronic absenteeism. PHS also has a higher four-year graduation rate than Rhode Island; 89.2% compared to 77.2%. PHS has 17% of their students receiving special education services, which is just 1% above the state average. (Info Works RI).

__** Conclusion: **__   Portsmouth High School is a wonderful school. It has a beautiful community and an amazing school district. It scores high on NECAP, SAT, and AP Exams. It has awesome attendance, a pretty goodgraduation rate,and meets all NCLB standards. Overall, Portsmouth High School is a well-rounded school that provides students with the education they need to succeed.

__** References: **__

Portsmouth School Department:  []

US Census Bureau:  [] RI Kids Count:  []

Info Works Rhode Island:  []


 * Author: (Person who wrote report.) **
 * Editor: (Person evaluating report.) **
 * Total Score for this Evaluation: ** _/35 pts

The purpose of the context statement in EDC 102 is to provide each student with an opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability to research a school, its district, and its community in order to better understand its strengths and challenges. Each report should describe their school based solely on evidence that they cite in their Reference section.

As a peer editor, your tasks are:
 * Read author's report.
 * Carefully **evaluate** report by assigning a score for each criterion
 * provide **constructive comments** that will help the strengthen the author's report for each category.
 * Create a link to your evaluation at the end of the report.

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. ||