Running Head: Lawrence Contextual Factors Analysis 1

Lawrence High School Contextual Factors Analysis

By Joshua Carey

Introduction

I am currently student teaching at Lawrence High School (Lawrence) in Fairfield, Maine.

I am in three higher level math classes, teaching mostly juniors and seniors while working with

two different mentors. The goal of this paper is to research and analyze the factors that may play

a role in the lives of my students and how these factors will impact my teaching.

District Factors

Lawrence is a part of RSU/MSAD 49. This includes the towns of Albion, Benton,

Clinton and Fairfield. The district is located in central Maine and is primarily rural. This is

important to note as it means that weather conditions and power outages will affect families in

the area more so than in more urban locations. The school’s location in Fairfield is bordering the

city of Waterville, a much more populated area in that part of Maine. Other than Lawrence, the

schools in MSAD 49 include Albion Elementary, Benton Elementary, Clinton Elementary,

Lawrence Junior High and Fairfield Primary. Although Lawrence Junior High is listed as a

separate school, the two schools actually reside in the same building. It is easy for many new

visitors to get mixed up when trying to find locations in the building.

The district has a population of 14,796. Of that count, 18.11% of the population is

between the ages of five and seventeen. 97.1% of the population is white, leaving 2.9% part of a

minority group [1]. Compared to the national level where only 76.5% of the population is white,

the community in this area is not very diverse [2]. This means that many students will not have
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much experience with others of different ethnicities. Therefore they may need additional

teaching on the subject of minority populations. Some families may also have biases against

people from other races and the students may learn these biases from their family. The

percentage of foreign born people in the district is 1.1% [1]. This is important because it can

affect how a student’s family interacts with others in the community. This can also determine

what point a students education is at based on whether they are foreign born and what their

circumstances were like before coming to the US. This also ties in to the languages that the

students and their families speak. Of the population aged 5 and older, 0.48% don’t speak English

very well and mainly speak another language [1]. A student’s home life has a big impact on how

they operate at school. The languages that a student can speak can affect them greatly in both

parts of life. Are they bilingual? They might be spending a lot of their time at home teaching

their families how to speak English. Are they ELL’s? If so, they will have a much more difficult

time learning than the average student. Other students may also treat them differently because of

this. An important thing to watch for would be bullying, especially where these students would

have a harder time communicating than the average student. In the 2017-2018 school year, the

percentage of ELL students in the district was 0.8% [6]. Because so few students in the district

are ELL’s, then there are likely much fewer supports in place for these students. There is also

going to be less awareness about ELL students among the general student population. On top of

all that, these students also likely do not have as many people that they can connect with as the

average student does. We must also consider the fact that 20.8% of students in the district have

some sort of disability [6]. This is important because it could affect how the student is viewed by

their peers and the community at large. The percentage of people over 25 who are high school
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graduates or higher is 90.8% [1]. The percentage of people over 25 with a bachelor’s degree or

higher in the district is 17.4% [1]. This can affect what path a student decides to take based on

what parents and their other family members did. This can also affect what level of involvement

the parents/guardians have in assisting the student with figuring out work.

The district has a total of 6,036 households. Of that, 78.5% are owners and 21.5% are

renters [3]. There are 181 homes where the grandparents are living with and responsible for their

grandchildren [3]. This is important because it means that the parents are not in the picture for

some reason. This reason could also have adverse effects on the student and would affect how

they act. In the district, 62.3% of all people 16 and older are employed [4]. This is important to

know because if the students are working, it will affect how much time they have to do school

work outside of school and some may miss school in order to work. I am teaching mostly Juniors

and Seniors, and quite a few of these students work after school or work long hours on

weekends. It’s also important to note whether parents are working or not. This could easily have

an impact on the relationship between the student and the parent. Employment status also has a

clear impact on the income of a household. 8.8% of families in the district had an income below

poverty level within the 12 months before the data was collected [4]. This data is important as it

raises the question as to whether the household makes enough money for the student to have

their basic needs met. This also affects whether the students need to work, and how much time

they need to spend working. Additionally, students in poverty are much more vulnerable than

their peers. As relationships are a key part in helping students in poverty, one of my main

focuses will be on building positive relationships with the student [7]. One tactic I can take is to

relate personal stories to the content as a way to show the students “why the tasks assigned are
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important and how achieving the requirements can mean something other than stress to them”

[7]. Stories overall can be a great way to communicate to students in poverty, as they tend to be

more oral in communication. In addition to stories, I should also model appropriate behavior in

supportive ways, develop relationships while/through sharing information, and be more verbal

with the student in general [7]. Related, 0.9% of students in the district are homeless. This will

have an impact as to whether all their basic needs are met. In relation to school, this will impact

their attendance greatly. 1% of students in the district are in foster care [6]. These students

would have had many different experiences than the average student and it could play a role in

the student’s relationship with their peers. The district has a chronic absenteeism rate of 22% [6].

This affects how much you can teach them and how much they will retain. This will affect the

future plans for those students. It may also affect other students in them trying to help students

with home life problems.

The graduation rate for students who take four years of high school is 85.7% [6]. Any

students that have family members that did not pass is important as it can affect their own

choices. 55% of the students graduating in the district enroll in post-secondary education, with

21.35% leaving with college credit from a dual enrollment course [6]. This will affect the

students outlook on post-secondary ed. I specifically am in two dual enrollment classes that this

would affect. Additionally, plans for the future can help shape or predict student behavior too.

School Factors

There are also three colleges situated closely: Colby College, Thomas College, and Kennebec

Valley Community College. This is important as it allows some students at the school to enroll in

courses on campus at these colleges. There are also quite a few Dual Enrollment classes with
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KVCC, allowing the students to graduate with multiple college credits. Additionally, students at

Lawrence have access to Mid-Maine Technical Center. The other schools with students attending

MMTC for classes are Messalonskee, Waterville, Winslow, Temple, Snow Pond Arts Academy,

and Maine Academy of the Natural Sciences [5].

There are currently 632 students in the school. 95.6% of the school population is white.

52.2% of the students are economically disadvantaged. 1.9% of the students are homeless. 15.1%

of the students have a disability. There is a 28% chronic absenteeism rate [6]. These statistics are

very reflective of their district counterparts. The same reasoning I used previously applies here as

well.

There is a moderate amount of technology available in the school, but it does not appear

to be used in anything other than basic formats. Each room is equipped with a projector that can

display a paper placed underneath it’s overhead or a laptop can be hooked up to it. However, I

have seen and heard of few teachers using it as any more than a way to display the homework on

the board for the students. There are many ways that a teacher’s laptop can be used to enhance

learning, but it does not seem to be used in advanced ways frequently. In most classrooms that I

have seen, there does not appear to be much more technology than this. A few rooms have smart

boards. One of my mentor’s has such a device in their room, but does not use it. They stick to the

projector at the front of the room and have yet to use the smart board since I have been here. In

the math department, there are also calculators available for the students, but not enough in any

one classroom for each student to use one when there are 20+ students in a class. While the

technology in each classroom is minimal, Lawrence High School has an amazing program where

each student gets their own laptop at the beginning of their high school career. Once they finish
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high school, they get to keep these laptops. Each new incoming class to the high school gets new

laptops. While the technology available is not great, it is enough to allow for solid applications if

the teacher chooses to do so. The class that I will be focusing on is called Technical Math, and it

is heavily based in real world application of basic mathematics. I can use my own laptop and the

projector to show videos of the mathematics in use in various aspects of life. I can use virtual

manipulatives to teach some of the concepts: showing the students how to do it on the projector

and then letting them use the manipulatives themselves on their laptops. It could be a way to

bring in people from all around the world to video chat with the class on a subject. I can use it in

a way as simple as keeping a class list of the jobs that use each topic we cover. This could be

created on google docs and shared with the students so that they can add to it themselves. With

each student having their own laptops, we can also do various activities with their laptops such

as researching jobs that use certain mathematics. Or they could pick the jobs they are interested

in and see what types of mathematics are used in that position. The one problem with this is that

many students do not bring their laptops to school everyday. As already stated, many teachers do

not use the technology available effectively. Because of this, many students don’t use their

laptops on a regular basis and will not bring them unless the students are told to bring them

ahead of time. This will be something that I will need to work around. I can set my expectation

for the students to bring their laptops to class each day. I could also set the expectation that

students bring their laptops on specific days of the week. I already plan on doing research

activities every Friday where students use their laptops to research what jobs use the math taught

that week.

Classroom Factors
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My classroom is located in a building called the annex and is disconnected from the main

building. Figure 1 shows a sketch of my class layout. A big thing that I really like about the

classroom is its size. It is a relatively large classroom and fits comfortably for the current average

class sizes. With a class of 12 for Technical Math, the classroom is more than big enough. The

layout of the classroom is also fairly open. The tables are arranged in clusters so that students can

sit in groups at different tables. While this is what the students will have gotten used to, that does

not mean I can not move it to suit my needs if I decide to have a big class discussion around a

table or something else. The only seating available in the classroom is the regular school chairs

that are not particularly comfortable or uncomfortable. There is one rounded table at the front of

the room that many students frequently enjoy sitting at. Across from the door and shelving units

are yellow boards with posters covering it, resting against tan walls. It is important to note that

the posters are not at eye level, so much of it may be ignored by the student unless they are

specifically looking at it. While the posters are brightly colored, the wall being tan means that

they do not stand out in a distracting way too much. The room is mostly lit by the overhead

lights. While the shades on the windows are open, they do not bring much in the way of lighting.

There are a few plants in the corner by the window and my mentor’s desk. The majority of the

materials are hidden from sight in the storage space on the side of the room. It is kept fairly

organized so students can find what they need easily. Parental involvement in the class is

minimal. A few student guardians have regular contact with my mentor via email and my mentor

generally corresponds with at least one guardian a week. Around half of all communications with

parents/guardians are initiated by my mentor. As far as classroom rules go, there are only a few
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Figure 1
Lawrence Contextual Factors Analysis 9

big ones that need to be addressed on a regular basis. My mentor hates energy drinks and has a

no energy drink policy in her classroom. A few students regularly bring in energy drinks and are

forced to put it away when coming into the class. Another big rule is no phones. Unless

otherwise stated, students are not supposed to have their phones out except to play music through

their headphones if they want to during individual work time. There are few big rules other than

those two and other than what is normally expected of students. Technical Math is a dual

enrollment course with mostly juniors and seniors. So my mentor is very relaxed in terms of

rules with the students, within reason. My mentor does split up students who are not getting

enough of their work done. In terms of class routines, my mentor is trying a new routine where

we start the class with three minutes of silence and end with the students answering a question

anonymously on a sticky note.

Student Factors

This Technical Math class began on 1/27/2020. There are currently twelve students, ten

juniors and two seniors, in the class. Technical Math is a dual enrollment course through KVCC.

On the first day with the students I did a survey to get to know my students better, asking the

following questions:

● Full Name, what should I call you, and preferred pronouns

● What do you like to do for fun?

● What is/are something(s) you are good at?

● How do you learn best? Circle all that apply (I then included a list as seen in figure 2)

● Order these groups from favorite (1) to least favorite (8) (I then included eight groups as

seen in figure 3)
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● What are your top three subjects (english, math, art, etc.) in order from favorite to least

favorite

● What are your reasons for taking this class

● Please list the math classes you have taken in high school and the grades you earned

● Please list up to three professions you are interested in pursuing

● Is there anything else you would like me to know about you?

● Choose three majors that interest you or fit with your professions of interest (included

was a list with programs at local colleges and universities)

Of the twelve surveys I handed out, I got ten back from the students. Students 1 and 12 gave no

survey back. Since I know how important appropriately addressing people is, I made sure to ask

the students what they want to go by and if they go by specific pronouns that I otherwise would

not know at first glance.

Asking about what the students like to do for fun, I got a good variety of answers. The

most common answers were video games, skiing and lacrosse. The answer I found most

interesting was by student 11 who listed bow practice as an answer. With the varied information

I got from the students, I can use their interests to design personal summative assessment

questions to fit the students interests, or have students research the basic mathematics that can be

found in their subject of interest. The answer to what students are good at was most common to

be what they listed in the previous part.

The class answers to how the students learn best can all be seen in figure 2. The most

common answers from the class are learning with partners, alone, with hands-on activities, in

quiet spaces, while listening to music, and by understanding how things work. What is
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Figure 2

Figure 3
Lawrence Contextual Factors Analysis 12

interesting to note is that a few of the people who put that they work best with partners also put

that they work best alone. To help the students from these two sections, I will make sure to have

plenty of time for both individual reflection and group reflection on a topic. With hands-on

activities, I can do more project based assessment. I can also focus less on direct instruction and

more on activities that visually and physically demonstrate concepts. When students are given

class time to work on assignments, I will let students listen to music with headphones if they

want to, and otherwise will make sure to maintain an appropriate level of silence so that all

students can focus. To make sure that all the students understand how something works, I will

need to make sure to avoid rushing through any type of assignment. I will plan out days so that

there is plenty of time if I need to take longer than expected in certain areas.

In figure 3, students had to number the groups from favorite to least favorite. The goal of

this was to get a general sense of the multiple intelligences that the students have without

spending the time it takes to fully take a multiple intelligence test. So it is important to note that

this will not be as effective as if they had fully done out a multiple intelligence survey. I

collected the data and organized it as the whole class as shown in figure 3. The data showed that

the ranked order of the multiple intelligences for the class is kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal,

logical, naturalistic, intrapersonal, linguistic, and finally visual. So I will make a point of

focusing on more hands-on activities because of this as well. I will be sure to include more

cooperative learning strategies and will potentially include activities involving reaching out to

professionals to learn more about real world applications of mathematics.

When asking about the top three subjects that each student likes, I found that the most

common responses were math and english at 5 people including each in their list. Eight of the
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Figure 4

nine students who answered this question included either math or a vocational trade in their

responses. This fits perfectly for the class given that it revolves around the math involved in

trade skills. As seen in figure four, there are a decent number of other preferred subjects too. This

could bring in a lot of room for cross-disciplinary instruction as well.

Many of the reasons students are taking this class are the same. Half of the answers were

about getting college credits. Three of the others were needing it to graduate. One student heard

it was an easy class and the last, student 5, stated “need to learn quick mffffs”. The last answer

was a fun little bit of insight on that student’s personality. Knowing why a student is taking the

class is an important bit of information as it sets the tone for how they may take the class. For
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example, student 3 is a senior and needs the class to graduate. Student 8 is a junior who is taking

the class because they heard it was easy. Student 3 will likely be more motivated for the class

than student 8 will be. But it is also important to take these inferences with a grain of salt. While

student 8 may have less obvious of a reason to take the course seriously, that does not mean they

will not try.

Asking about prior math classes is to get a sense of what point each student is at. This

information should be taken with a grain of salt, as people should not be judged based on past

actions/performance. It does give us an idea of how fresh some of this information is in the

students minds however. Students who have taken geometry in high school will recognize the

area and volume section more readily than those who have not, whether those students passed or

failed.

Asking about professions that the students are interested in pursuing is an extremely

important question in this survey. With it, I know what types of questions to use for my word

problems. I can make a point of showing ways in which math can be used in that career. I can

also use it to prepare ahead of time. For example, student 2’s three professions were artist, writer

and photographer. I have no idea where math can be used in those fields. Now that I know what

careers to look into, I can research and find out. I can also work with the students themselves and

turn it into a project where they find the math involved in their professions and explain a portion

of it. Asking about the majors relating to their professions was more to get the students thinking

about their future and whether college is for them or not.

When asking for other information, this is where I got information that may impact my

teaching with the student more directly. How much information I get from this question varies
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from class to class. Many students choose not to answer, though a few do. Student 2 has scoliosis

and is currently in physical management. Student 5 is very interpersonal. Student 3 has a good

sense of humor. The rest chose not to answer.

I have not been allowed access to student files. In order to get some of the needs of my

students, I discussed the types of modifications and accommodations needed by my students.

From this discussion, I learned that a number of my students have adhd and/or anxiety. Student 8

is on an IEP where they are allowed extended time on assignments and tests. Also, if they do not

turn something in, we need to email the student’s mother to discuss it. There is also a student

who is allergic to zucchini and another who is allergic to bananas. I will be frequently making

some of the same types of accommodations and modifications to assist my students:

● I will be giving warning ahead of time for any schedule or routine changes.

● I will keep the class schedule written on the board.

● I will provide notes for the students.

● I will provide graphic organizers when teaching new content.

● I will plan for extended assessments. This will involve flexible planning where I have a

plan for both students finishing quickly and students who take longer than expected.

● I will allow group work on assignments that will not degrade in quality from it.

There will also frequently be more that apply to specific lessons. In preparation for lessons, I

have already begun researching effective accommodations for students with adhd or anxiety and

will continue to do so to further benefit these students. I also hope to discuss any physical

accommodations necessary with student 2, especially where I have the intention of doing more

hands-on activities for the class.

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References

DP1 General Demographic Characteristics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

http://proximityone.com/acs/dpme/dp1_2314330.htm ​[1]

U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI125218#RHI125218 ​[2]

DP2 Social Characteristics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

http://proximityone.com/acs/dpme/dp2_2314330.htm ​[3]

DP3 Economic Characteristics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

http://proximityone.com/acs/dpme/dp3_2314330.htm ​[4]

MMTC. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from https://sites.google.com/mmtc.me/mmtc ​[5]

ESSA Dashboard. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

https://www.maine.gov/doe/dashboard ​[6]

Beegle, D. M., Ellis, D., & Akkary, R. (2007). ​See poverty-- be the difference!: discovering the

missing pieces for helping people move out of poverty.​ Tigard, Or.: Communication Across

Barriers, Inc. ​[7]