My Contextual Factors Paper

Here it is:

As responsible future educators we must be knowledgeable of the academic and social needs of the communities we will be teaching in. By visiting both an urban and suburban district we were able to witness first hand how factors family income and crime rates will lend themselves to our pedagogy strategies. It is the contextual factors of our district that will help us come up with comprehensive methods of reaching our pupils and their families.
In this paper we will examine the contextual factors that influence Frank K. Hehnly School’s student’s academic performance. All of the statistics mentioned are from the schools 2005-2006 report card and www.OurClark.com.

Frank K. Hehnly School is located in the township of Clark, New Jersey. Clark is a thriving suburban community with elements of an industrial core. One of the states largest companies, L’Oreal, is located in the heart of this city. Many people who reside in Clark also work there. Due to the availability of jobs there is a very low student mobility rate. In fact there were no students who entered and left during 2006. This stability is both good for the community and for national test scores.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $65,019 ($10,000 more the state average), and the median income for a family is $77,291. About 1.0% of families were below the poverty line. This information is significant because it illustrates that the parents of this community are not financially stressed. Teachers do no have to be overly mindful of financial burden when choosing field trip locations or assigning at home projects.

The majority of the population consists of married couples (69.3%), less then 10% are single mothers, and the remaining population is single professionals. 31.5% of this population has school-aged children. The township is predominately Caucasian (95.61%). This lack of cultural diversity will be a major factor when considering an enriching curriculum. It will be very important to supplement diversity for these students and to make sure that the few students who are not Caucasian are accepted and treated with respect while in school. Likewise, there is a strong value in exposing the students to multicultural influences they are likely to find in the world outside Clark.

Clark is a safe community. There is less then a 2% chance of being a victim of a crime, and only a .03% chance of being a victim of a bodily crime. Due to this parents will be more likely to let their children play outside and participate in after school programs. They will feel as secure when their children are at school as they are when they are at home.

The best way to describe Clark is in laymen’s terms. It is a typical suburban environment. The people are middle to upper middle class. The parents are interested in their children’s education and overall success and are very active with the PTA. On any given day you will find several parents at the school helping in one way or another. Clark’s educators and parents both pave the children’s path to success. Most students enter Hehnly with a background of previous learning that was primarily developed at home.

Now that we are aware of the family and economic factors in Clark we can now examine the schools themselves. The Clark Public School District consists of the Frank K. Hehnly Elementary School and Valley Road Elementary School both service grades K – 5. The student’s transition from there to the Carl H. Kumpf Middle School for grades 6 - 8 and then to the Arthur L. Johnson High School for grades 9 – 12. It is important to mention that students from Garwood, attend the district's high school as well. Garwood and Clark work closely together and will send/ receive students based on need.

The length of the school day at Hehnly is 6 hours and 25 minutes, 5 hours and 25 minutes of this is instructional time, leaving the children an hour for lunch, and recess. The average class size in 2005-2006 is 24.1- this is considerably above the state average of 19.2. There are 13.3 students to every 1 teacher, also a higher ratio than the state average. Conversely, the number of school suspensions and expulsions are remarkably low, with a suspension rate less than 1% and zero expulsions in 2006. Hehnly students have also achieved a high success rate on the NJASK4 standardized testing. They test far above the state average in all areas of the exam. Hehnly School is clearly a powerhouse of academic triumph.

The percentage of students with IEPs (Individualized Education Program)is 9.2%. Although this is a small percent of the student population it is also important to note that the children are all ranked and placed in different math sections based on their ability and need. During my observation, I noticed my cooperating teacher and visual, written and auditory techniques to ensure her lesson was understood by many different intelligence types. This is done to make certain that the each student receives the attention needed to do well on standardized exams.
In many schools there is a need for bilingual classes. This is not the case in Clark. The first language spoken at home is 96.2 % English. Only 1.3% of the students come in as LEP students. (Limited English Proficient) This is also a huge advantage for them when it comes to standardized testing. There is a language learner’s room, and the school has all of the media necessary to aide in the process. In 2006 there were 6.9 students to each computer, but during my observation I was told that any class could provide laptop access to each student if it is required for a lesson plan. Each classroom has 100% Internet connectivity. Since all classrooms have Internet access, tools like Google Images can be incorporated into daily lessons.

Hehnly students have also achieved a high success rate on the NJASK4 standardized testing. They test far above the state average in all areas of the exam. Hehnly School is clearly a powerhouse of academic triumph. Contextual factors help to show how the school achieves these great results. No one factor can tell the story , although Clark does not rank as well in metrics like class size and student-teacher ratio, other contextual factors mitigate and even outweigh these. Clark’s schools benefit from it homogeneous and generally prosperous socioeconomic environment. Minimal resources need to be allocated for LEP students and IEP programs. Also, teachers know that most students are given resources and encouragement at home, thus enhancing the teachers in school efforts. In effect there is a sense of partnership between the parents and teachers in this school, creating a student centered environment, not merely a student centered classroom.