Project
Participants
The
accessible population for this unit was approximately 30 seventh grade
honor students assigned as one of my classes for the 2004-2005 school
year. The participants all have reading levels that meet or exceed
the language arts standards.
The
class is homogeneously grouped. The honors class contains level three
and four readers (students who meet or exceed the standards). Overall,
the participants described create a representative example of the
population involved in the unit.
The
middle school houses sixth through eighth grade students. Large portions
of the students attend the middle school after graduating from two
nearby elementary schools.
The
middle school is located in the borough of Queens and has been identified
as a school in need of improvement. This designation is based on the
prior year’s results on standardized tests in mathematics and
reading. The school must improve these scores or it risks being shut
down and reorganized.
The
majority of the students live in a large public housing complex about
a block away from the school. All students receive a free lunch. There
is no application process.
Some
students remain after school and participate in a voluntary Beacon
program that provides homework assistance. A large percentage of the
students come from single parent homes and/or receive some type of
financial assistance.
The
school day is eight periods long. It runs from 8:00 a.m. until 2:35
p.m. Students receive mathematics and reading instruction for two
class periods each day for five days a week. Honors classes receive
the same.
The
parents of the participants of this study have a high attendance rate
at parent teacher/ open school nights. In this school parental attendance
varies. Some parents do not visit all their child’s teachers
either due to long waits or time constraints. Other parents are unable
to attend because they work jobs with inconvenient hours. They do
have the option of rescheduling to another date.
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