Christie Drago
October 8, 2003
Education 2201/02
Professor Marks
Student Diversity and Social Issues
Park Street Elementary School in Marietta-City has an enrollment of 838 students
in grades K-5. According to www.gppf.org , the gender breakdown of the student body is
51% male (423 students) and 49% female (415 students). The student population is
African-American comprising 49% of the student population or 414 students. Hispanic
children make up 42% (354 students). There are 60 Caucasian students or 7% of the
student body and the remaining 1% (10 students) are of Asian or Pacific descent. The
school is located within a low SES community which is evident in the fact that 52% of
the students receive free lunch and another 11% receive reduced lunch. These numbers
result in a 63% poverty rate for the community. More than half of the students are
considered at-risk students and therefore participate in the school’s early intervention
program (EIP) which provides assistance for those students who are struggling in reading
or math skills. In addition, approximately 25% of the students have a native language
(predominately Spanish), other than English making communication difficult at times.
Some evident trends within the school are that enrollment has increased since last
year by 73 students and according to http://reportcard.gppf.org the school is academically
improving. For instance in 1998, the school as a whole scored in the 52nd percentile on
standardized tests and they were ranked with a -1 poverty index which means they had a
worse than expected academic performance based upon the poverty rate. In 2002, their
overall percentile was 65 and their poverty index was increased to 0 which now rates
them as average in relation to their poverty rate. Overall, I think the expectation for the
future populations of the school is to continue to grow and improve academically.
The population of the class that I am in is almost evenly split between African-
American and Hispanic children with the exception of the one Caucasian student. There
are eleven male students and three female students in the classroom. This class is a first
grade EIP classroom and it is the only class of its kind in the school. These students are
all at high risk in math and reading. While they are in a first grade class, the majority of
them are at the academic level of Kindergarten. There is not much cultural diversity
within this particular class however there is learning diversity. It seems as if each student
learns things in a different way. Some are hands-on, some are visual, and a couple are
auditory learners. The classroom teacher implements many types of strategies to reach all
of her students. She utilizes small groups often and one-on-one work even more. She also
implements manipulatives for those students that require the hands-on experience to gain
the knowledge they need. Based on the fact that my collaborating teacher is an EIP
teacher, I had the opportunity to see how she serves her class. Her main goal is to have
each one of her students achieve and to not just reach their grade level but to excel.
There are some social issues that impact the environment of the school and
learning. The two significant ones are the low SES of the community and the high
transient rate. The low SES is a detrimental factor because many of the children tend to
arrive at school hungry and tired. This does not lend itself to learning. I feel that hunger
leads to irritability which in turn leads to distraction for the other students within the
class. Students within a low SES community also tend to have less assistance with their
schoolwork from their parent or guardian. I feel that this is due to a lack of interest on the
part of the adult, the stress of living hand to mouth, their own lack of education, or a
combination of all of that. If a student is not getting the support and encouragement that
they need from home then I feel that they will get the message that school is not
important. That will certainly interfere with their learning. The high transient rate also
affects learning for both the student who is moving in or out of the classroom as well as
for the students who are already there. For the student who is moving in or out, their
education is interrupted and they tend to miss some or all parts of the curriculum.
Sometimes, these children never catch up to others in their peer group. It is also
detrimental to the other students because there tends to be disruptions when a new student
enters a class. The routine is broken and for a classroom full of six year olds routine is as
important as academics, especially for at-risk students.
Student diversity affects the classroom environment, the school, and I believe
each individual student as well in many aspects. Although a school such as Park Street
Elementary may face many challenges due to the low SES and the students who are not
fluent in English, I choose to believe that the diversity enhances the education of the
students in the long run. In this type of setting, a student learns patience through
attempting to communicate with another student who does not speak their language. A
good education provided by a caring and loving teacher can give the student more than
money can. I think that a teacher can easily demonstrate to a student that they do not have
to have money in order to achieve at something. A good grade on an assignment that a
student worked hard on will achieve the same thing but I think that it will mean more. In
addition, I believe that by combining students with diverse backgrounds, each individual
student will ultimately walk away with a greater knowledge base of others which in turn
eliminates the fear that many people have about diversity. When the fear is eliminated,
hate, racism, and discrimination will be eliminated. The lesson taught through diversity is
that although someone may have a different culture, heritage, race, learning style, or
language it does not render them inferior, just different. That difference provides the
opportunity to learn something new and to teach something as well. I think life would be
extremely boring and predictable if we were all the same.