Reply to other students
Student 1 & 2
Reply to 2 of your classmates' threads. Each reply must be 200 words with 1 reference in APA format.
Student #1 Post
Chronic Student Absenteeism
The purpose of my applied study will be to help solve the problem of chronic student absenteeism for Crossroads Elementary School within the St. Paul Public School District. The literature that addresses chronic student absenteeism suggests that not only does chronic student absenteeism affect those absent students in their core curriculum classes of reading and math; but research has also indicated that it has an effect on the learning of their peers (Gottfried, 2019). What constitutes a “chronic” student absence is missing more than 10% of school days per school year; in which, amounts to roughly 18 or more standard school days an academic school year (Gottfried, 2019). In addition, students who experience chronic student absences from class(es) on average experience more alienation from their peers; thus, resulting in more negative experiences in the classroom setting. In which, remediation of lessons and more instructional time playing “catch-up” to this group of students then takes away from the whole group setting as students who are chronically absent need more instruction time. Hence, as Gottfried (2019) explains “any deviance from regular instruction caused by one student can be interpreted as a strain exerted onto his or her classmates” (p. 31).
Nevertheless, moving from a small rural school district of about 250 students to a school district of well over 30,000 students I was impacted with the topic of chronic student absenteeism this school year (2019-2020) by our school counselor as I had about 5 students whose parents were facing court hearings and truancy charges. This major change from teaching within a rural school to a large urban school truly grave me a whole new growth mindset on the importance of chronic student absenteeism. What truly spoke to my heart was that students who are chronically absent may not qualify for assistance (eg. special educational services) as the reason for their achievement gap is due to lack of school attendance. As having one student who is chronically absent and tardy each day is due to medical reasons; I was not able to meet the needs of this student and help to close the achievement gap. Hence, my passion and personal interest in this topic as there has to be a way to reach these students who are chronically absent. “Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke, 6:38, King James Version). Thus, with research, dedication, and my faith I know that I can at least make a difference in the problem of chronic student absenteeism for Crossroads Elementary School. (Word Count: 442).
Reference
Gottfried, M. (2019). Chronic absenteeism in the classroom context: Effects on achievement. Urban Education, 54(1), 3-34. doi: 10.1177/0042085915618709 j
Student #2 Post
The purpose of my applied study will be to increase the kindergarten readiness skills of the St. Mary’s Preschool students. Currently the St. Mary’s preschool students, entering kindergarten in the Cobb County school system, are having identifiable problems in literacy skills: phonemic and phonological awareness; and numeracy skills: counting objects and rote counting. In order to determine the areas of the St. Mary’s Preschool program that require improvement for student readiness, the following areas will be evaluated: curriculum alignment strengths and deficiencies, professional development and teacher training requirements, student assessment data, and instructional planning and procedures.
St. Mary’s Catholic Preschool is located in Marietta, Georgia. The preschool serves approximately 150 students ages 16 months to 5-years-old in various daily program options from 2 to 5 days a week based on the students’ age. St. Mary’s Preschool is a private preschool where the curriculum is not regulated by any governing body. The director of the preschool, Nancy Wilhime, developed the preschool curriculum to prepare students for kindergarten entry into the Cobb County School System. Ms. Wilhime, a former speech and language pathologist with nearly 25 years’ experience in education, based the curriculum for the last 5 years on recommendations referenced in the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS), The Creative Curriculum and The Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum. The mission statement and goals of the St. Mary’s preschool include facilitating age-appropriate opportunities in spiritual, physical, social, cognitive and language development, encourage students to continue their friendship with God, and to value life and respect self and others.
According to the director of St. Mary’s Preschool, Ms. Wilhime, for the past 3 years parents of former St. Mary’s preschool students have expressed their growing concerns that their students are experiencing deficits in reading and math readiness upon entry into the Cobb County kindergarten program. In the fall of 2019, as a result of this parent feedback, Ms. Wilhime approached Tucker Elementary School Assistant Principal, Mrs. Maxine Bates, to ask for input into this continuous concern regarding kindergarten readiness preparation for students of the St. Mary’s Preschool program. Mrs. Bates approached me as one of the kindergarten teachers on the Tucker staff, to collaborate with Ms. Wilhime on devising a plan for improvement of kindergarten readiness for the St. Mary’s Preschool students. After reviewing numerous research-based articles on early childhood development and kindergarten readiness skills, I have discovered that the majority of the articles point to the following areas for increasing school readiness skills in preschoolers: increased professional development of preschool staff, emphasis on phonological development and increasing the foundations of numeracy concepts. (429 words)
Students who enter Kindergarten prepared to learn, are at a clear academic advantage and are more likely to complete high school (Duncan, Dowsett, Claessens, Magnuson, Huston, Klebanov, et al., 2007).
References
Duncan, G., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., et al. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1428–1446.