Demographics+for+Cleveland+Middle+School+2008

As an outsider to the Cleveland community (as in one who does not actually live in Cleveland, nor was I raised in the area), I have always viewed Cleveland as a small, poor area. In doing this assignment, the first thing that I learned, if the 2007 School Report Card for Cleveland Middle School is accurate, is that many of the members of this community are much more educated and well-off than I previously thought. As a teacher in this community, I realized that perhaps my own personal views of the community have been affecting the way I teach and interact with students and parents, and from that standpoint, I am glad that I now have a fresh perspective of the community and the school in which I am teaching. The following information is from the 2007 School Report Card for Cleveland Middle School, which is the one and only middle school within the Cleveland Public Schools district, and is also the school in which I teach: Socioeconomic Date for CMS: Caucasian 86% Black 0% Asian 0% Hispanic 3% Native American 10% I know for a fact that these percentages are not 100% accurate, because currently we have at least four black students enrolled at the high school, and at least four black students enrolled at the middle school—so even in just the past year the socioeconomics of Cleveland Middle School has changed. Still, there is not a lot of cultural diversity in Cleveland Middle School, as can be viewed from the above demographics. The following is information concerning population, poverty, etc. for Cleveland Middle School, as also reported in the 2007 School Report Card: 2000 Census Data: District Population: 9,220 Poverty Rate 13% Unemployment Rate 5% Avg. Household Income $40,552 Single-Parent Families 23% This is the section of the report card that surprised me the most. The district poverty rate, at 13%, is two points lower than the reported state average of 15%. I have always assumed that Cleveland is a poor community, especially since 61% of Cleveland Middle School students (and 66% of students district wide) are eligible for free/reduced lunch. This is over half, but still we are below the state average’s poverty rate. This made me realize that the poverty rate in Oklahoma is probably a lot worse than I think that it is. The other part that really surprised me in this section was that only 23% of the district’s families are single-parent. If I had to guess, I would have guessed a much higher percent. It seems like almost every student I talk to only lives with only mom or dad, or even more often, grandparents. Again, I was surprised that this statistic was not higher. According the 2007 Report Card, Cleveland Middle School teacher’s make an average salary of $42, 284. However, in the last two years we have had several older veteran teachers retire or move, and new, just-out-of-college teachers have taken their place, so I bet this average has gone down. Over half of the teacher’s at Cleveland Middle School have less than 10 years of experience, including myself. Our principal and vice-principal have been in Cleveland for over 10 years, but our VP just finished his master’s four years ago, and this is only his third year to be an administrator. Our counselor has been involved with alternative education programs in Cleveland for 5 years, but this is only her second year to be the counselor at CMS. Our library media program at CMS is growing. Our LMS, Kathy Thomas, is fresh out of OSU’s LMS program, and has been employed as our LMS for three years. We also have one full-time library assistant, who also helps out in the front office when needed. 8th grade students are also assigned to be library aides during their exploratory time, so the library almost always has extra help. The library is open to students before school and during lunch and during the regular school day. During her first year as the LMS, Kathy had to teach a class at the high school, but thankfully she now is able to devote all of her time exclusively to the middle school library. When Kathy came into the library, the previous LMS had been the librarian for about 15 years, so Kathy implemented some really new and positive changes. Here are just a few of the new changes that have been implemented since Kathy became the LMS at CMS: All of the changes have allowed the library at CMS to be much more student centered and teacher friendly. I personally use the library and have my students go into and use the library’s resources at least once every grading period, usually more. As far as technology goes in the rest of the school, each teacher has his/her own computer, and our school has a technology director who tries and keeps the school’s main website up-to-date, but it is each teacher’s own responsibility to keep his/her own class website up-to-date. To encourage teacher’s to keep his/her website up-to-date, the district allows for a technology stipend to be given out each year for teacher’s who keep updated sites. Although Cleveland Middle School may not be at the top of the game as far as test scores, technology, or other such factors, after taking a good look at the demographics and what CMS has to offer its students and teachers, I feel that our school is advancing at a great rate. We have fresh teachers, with new innovative teaching ideas; our library media program is growing; our administration is very supportive of the growth and changes; and many students from smaller surrounding areas transfer into our school district because we have more to offer. In the future, I would like to see our district, and specifically Cleveland Middle School, offer more technology classes for the students (and teachers); I would like to see students use the library even more than what they already do; and I would like to see more parents involved in helping their child grow as a student. Ideas for such changes might be having more computers brought into the library (through a grant or something similar) so that every student in a class can have access to a computer at the same time (which cannot be done right now with only 16 computers). Also, I think it would be great to have more computers in the classrooms for student use. Smart boards in a classroom would also be a great idea. I would like to see the school and the library host more parent nights and open houses, not just parent teacher conferences, so that more parents can be involved as well. In a district with a low SES, like Cleveland, these ideas would enhance the demographics of the school.
 * __ Cleveland Public Schools Demographics Assignment __**
 * 16 new computers for student use
 * research databases implemented for student use, including searchasaurus and Ebsco Host
 * created a research project and acquired materials for all language arts classes
 * weeded a ton of dead fiction and history and replaced with more current materials
 * painted the walls and replaced all those falling down jigsaw puzzles with new stuff
 * eliminated half of the magazine subscriptions(databases have replaced them)
 * replaced the inventory control system with one that is more powerful and compatible with the other libraries in the district
 * moved paperback fiction off of spin racks and put them alphabetically on a shelf
 * doubled bookfair sales
 * cataloged all videos and dvds and created an audio visual catalog with descriptions that is updated every year
 * keeps a current and up-to-date website