Catherine Rothans

Dr. Poindexter

EDES 6359

24 February 2020

Culture of Literacy

I work at Linwood E. Howe in Culver City, California. At Linwood E. Howe, students in

grades 3rd-5th take California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress or (CAASPP). I

looked at the California Department of Education website in order to see the assessment data of

the students at my school. I looked at the results of each grade level and I also looked at the

overall scores as a school. Overall, when comparing all students in 3rd to 5th grade, 66.30% of

students met the standard for English Language Arts on the CAASPP. In comparison, in

Mathematics, when comparing all students in 3rd to 5th grade, 63.47% met the math standard.

When comparing the scores in Math and English Language Arts, our school is slightly stronger

at teaching English Language Arts. However, 66% is still not a strong number and work can

definitely be done to improve these scores.

It is difficult to know exactly how Linwood E. Howe did on the CAASPP without having

scores to compare them to. First, I decided to compare Linwood E. Howe’s scores to those of

Culver City School District as a whole. In 3rd grade, 67.82% of students in the district met or

exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. In 4th grade, 70.94% of students met or

exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. In 5th grade, 74.30% of students met or

exceeded the standard for English Language Arts.

 Next, I decided to compare Linwood E. Howe’s scores to those of the state of California.

In 3rd grade, 48.54% of students in the district met or exceeded the standard for English

Language Arts. In 4th grade, 49.46% of students met or exceeded the standard for English

Language Arts. In 5th grade, 51.68% of students met or exceeded the standard for English

Language Arts.

After comparing Linwood Howe’s scores to those of the Culver City School District and

the State of California, I believe we are doing a decent job in teaching English Language Arts to

our students. We are scoring very similarly to the scores of Culver City School District. Third

through fifth grade students at my school are scoring above the average scores for the state of

California. I believe our culture of literacy is moderate, but we can work harder to achieve a

greater culture of literacy.

I decided to look more closely at the scores by grade. In 3rd grade, 66.3% of students met

or exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. In 4th grade, 73.26% of students met or

exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. In 5th grade, 63.25% of students met or

exceeded the standard for English Language Arts. The fourth grade scored noticeably better on

the English Language Arts section than third and fifth grade.

As a principal, I would look at these scores and think about possible causes in the

variation of scores. First, I would think about how this is the first time third graders are taking a

formal test like this. They may not be used to the format of the test or the environmental factors

such as sitting at a computer for longer than they are used to. I also wonder if the fourth grade

test is easier than the third and fifth grade tests. I would definitely make my priority working

with third and fifth grade in order to improve these scores. My first step would be to meet with
the fourth grade team. They are definitely teaching English Language Arts very effectively. I

would want to see how they are teaching their students. I would give these ideas to 3rd and 5th

grade in order to better support them. Next, I would set up a meeting to go over the scores with

the Reading Specialist in order to proceed in the most appropriate way. The Reading Specialist

and I would make a plan to improve our culture of literacy.

As a reading specialist, I would study the scores of the CAASPP very closely. Based on

those scores, I would assume that fourth grade teachers are teaching English Language Arts quite

effectively. I would meet with each team level during Professional Learning Community time

after our staff meetings. I would invite the principal to join us in the meetings to hear his

thoughts and feedback. I would print out the score reports and go over them with each grade

level team. I would spend one hour with each team for a total of three weeks. I would meet with

the fourth grade level team first in order to find out the different ways they teach English

Language Arts. The second week, I would meet with the third grade team to go over the scores

and how they teach English Language Arts. The third week, I would meet with the fifth grade

team to go over the scores and see how they teach English Language Arts.

In these meetings I would understand that each teacher teaches English Language Arts in

a different way. Some teachers teach using Journeys, our Language Arts textbook. Some teachers

teach using the Lucy Calkins Unit of Study. I would be interested in observing a lesson in each

of these classrooms. I would then call a meeting with the grade levels again discussing what I

saw that worked and what I saw that seemed to not work. My end goal is to share ideas so our

teams can strive towards a culture of literacy at Linwood E. Howe.