Community Analysis and Needs Assessment for Eastern Elementary

The following information is based on the community feeding into Eastern Elementary outside the city

center of Hagerstown in Washington County, Maryland.

Part I: Community

● The makeup of the community is divided into two distinct settings.

○ East: The area of the district to the east of the school consists of predominantly white

(76.7%), middle class families living in single family homes in a suburban environment.

○ West: The area of the district to the west consists of predominantly black (68.4%), low

income, single-parent families living in apartments and shared housing in an urban

environment.

● Socioeconomic status

East West

Median family income $68,493 $24,334

Unemployment 4.8% 10.5%

Living under the poverty level 6.3% 15.9%

Bachelor’s degree or higher 37.9% 18.9%

● Cultural backgrounds include Hispanic, African American, Chinese, Indian, Romanian, Swedish,

and French.

● Languages spoken and read at home include Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Romanian, French,

Swedish.

● Homes with internet access

22% of county residents do not have access to the internet according to a 2013 report published

by the county regarding the need for increased broadband access.

 ● Access to public library service

○ East: There are no public libraries located nearby however many students from this area

of the district report using the Washington County Free Library system at either the main

library location in Hagerstown’s city center or the branch located to the northeast in rural

Smithburg.

○ West: The main library of the Washington County Free Library system is located in

Hagerstown’s city center and is within walking distance of most of our students living in

this area of the district. Very few students from this area reported accessing the public

library. Of those who did utilize this branch, most were accompanying parents or older

siblings in order to access the internet or use the printers and copiers.

Part II: Eastern Elementary School

● Vision statement of all county schools

Building a community that inspires curiosity, creativity, and achievement.

● Aspirational goals of school

○ All students will read at or above grade level by 3rd grade and continue to read at or

above grade level thereafter.

○ All students will meet grade-level and course-specific curriculum standards each year and

complete an established educational and/or career pathway by graduation.

○ All students will be provided quality instruction using appropriate technology.

○ All students will be healthy, informed, and productive citizens.

● Teaching staff

○ 27 Standard professional

○ 15 Advanced professional

● Grades 3-5
 ○ 8 Grade 3 classrooms

○ 7 Grade 4 classrooms

○ 7 Grade 5 classrooms

● Enrollment: 507 (As of 11/18/15)

○ Ethnicity

■ 19 Asian

■ 126 Black/African American

■ 67 Hispanic/Latino

■ 239 White

■ 52 Two or more races

○ 70% FARMS (the highest rate in the history of the school)

○ ESOL: <5% LEP

○ Special Education: 10.3%

● Attendance rate

○ 35.9% absent fewer than 5 days

○ 6.9% absent more than 20 days

● Student mobility: 30.2%

○ 16.0% entrants

○ 14.1% withdrawals

● Academic achievement scores

Fall 2015 Reading Measure of Academic Progress

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

(On & above (One grade-level (Two or more
grade-level) below) grade-levels below)
 Grade 3 47% (89/188) 27% (50/188) 26% (38/188)

Grade 4 55% (88/159) 21% (33/159) 24% (38/159)

Grade 5 55% (81/147) 24% (36/147) 20% (30/147)

Fall 2015 Mathematics Measure of Academic Progress

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

(On & above (One grade-level (Two or more
grade-level) below) grade-levels below)

Grade 3 40% (72/180) 33% (59/180) 27% (49/180)

Grade 4 50% (79/158) 28% (45/158) 22% (34/158)

Grade 5 56% (83/147) 18% (27/147) 25% (37/147)

● Trends in test scores for 2014-15

○ More than half of our students are meeting their reading growth goals each year based on

MAP.

■ 58 % of third grade students met or exceeded their reading MAP target.

■ 60 % of fourth grade students met or exceeded their reading MAP target.

■ 61 % of fifth grade students met or exceeded their reading MAP target.

○ Based on PARCC, less than a third of our students are meeting the grade level

expectations in English Language Arts/Literacy.

■ 25.2% of third grade students met the expectations.

■ 29.3% of fourth grade students met the expectations.

■ 28.1% of fifth grade students met the expectations.

● Subject areas where students are doing poorly

 ○ Students entering Eastern as third grade students have significant gaps in their

mathematical knowledge resulting in more than half of our students beginning the year

one or more years below grade level.

○ Students are growing as readers but are not able to perform at their grade level.

● Special school programs

○ Free lunch and breakfast is provided for all students

○ Extended learning to provide before or after school interventions (15% of students

participate)

● Parental involvement

Parental involvement is limited. The PTA has fallen apart during this school year and no longer

exists. The majority of volunteers within our building are retirees who live nearby without ties to

the school. We do have a full-time Parent Involvement Liaison paid by Title I funds who

organizes parent workshops, transportation for events, and runs a food and clothing pantry to

support the needs of our families.

Part III: Current Library Collection

● Eastern Elementary Vision statement of the library

The school library media program is an integral part of student learning and achievement. It has a

central place in the entire educational process and provides all students and staff members with

equitable and timely access to ideas and information. Through the school library curriculum,

media specialists empower students and staff to be enthusiastic readers, lifelong learners, and

responsible citizens in the information age.

● The present collection contains approximately 10,547 items including books, e-books, and

magazines. This is approximately 1,500 items less than the recommended guidelines for the size
 of a basic collection established by the ​Standards for School Library Media Programs in

Maryland.

● Yearly budget: $4097/$7 per pupil allotment

● Daily circulation figures: 140 books per day

● Access to the media center

○ Individuals may check out books from 8:45-9:10 daily

○ Whole classes may check out books during their 50-minute class weekly

● The library is primarily used by students during their scheduled class time. Students select books

for recreational use. Students do not often use the library to access materials for projects. Few

teachers use the library to check out resources for classroom use.

● The present collection appears to be aging. While browsing the collection, the nonfiction section

of the media center has many titles that are outdated while many curriculum related topics are not

included in the collection. The fiction section of the collection has many chapter books and series

books that are appropriate for those students reading on or above grade level but is lacking in

titles that are appropriate for struggling readers. The library itself is well lit and spacious.

● The librarian, Ginger Pearce, has stated that her collection goals are as follows:

○ Weed books ruthlessly in 500 & 600 classification, and replace them with books that are

less than 10 years old.

○ Keep abreast of the changes in curriculum in order to have books that will support

teachers.

○ Continue to survey students about what they want and have as many of those books

available as possible.

Part IV: Analysis

 Eastern Elementary is a diverse school with diverse needs. ​There is a definite sense of “haves”

and “have nots” within our school community. Unfortunately, this disparity doesn’t just apply to the

material items our students have but also applies to their life experiences and the opportunities they have

for learning outside of school. The majority of our students, 70%, qualify for free and reduced meals. Our

mobility rate is 30%. Many of our students live with instability outside of school and rely on the school

community to provide what is lacking academically and emotionally.

Our collection is approximately 1,500 books under the state’s recommended guidelines for a

basic collection. We definitely have room to grow and addressing our school’s aspirational goal to ​have

all students reading at or above grade level by 3rd grade continues to present challenges that our library

needs to address through the collection. Reading levels range from beginning reader through 12th grade

based on lexile levels as determined by MAP testing. Our library should include a wide variety of

high-interest fiction and nonfiction to meet the broad range of reading abilities in our building. These

titles should also be age-appropriate in the sense that we are only a grades 3 through 5 building and many

of our students are embarrassed by their deficits. This may be an area best addressed through ebooks that

students can access through their iPads rather than physically carrying an easy reader out of the library

following their class time.

Mathematics is a weakness identified through test scores. Our collection should include books

that allow students to see math applied to real world problems and in careers. The collection should also

include books that allow students to see math concepts in story and pictorial representations rather than

the abstract representations they are already struggling to understand. Reference books and access to

digital resources related to mathematics concepts would also be helpful to our students.

The vision statement of our school’s library includes ​empowering students to be enthusiastic

readers and lifelong learners. Our library’s collection should include engaging titles that inspire our

students to read and to consider the possibilities the future can hold. Books that explore career paths and
higher education should be part of the collection. ​Our library should also include titles that feature diverse

cultures and characters that reflect our school’s population. As African American students are our second

highest ethnicity, the collection should include books with which our black students can personally

connect. Programming such as reading challenges and celebrations of readers is needed to engage all of

our students, and families, in meaningful reading experiences and to increase positive attitudes about

reading.

Eastern’s English Language Learner (ELL) population is relatively small however it is growing.

Of those students receiving ELL services the majority are Hispanic. There is a need to include Spanish

language books in our library as well as access to audio books. Audio books would benefit many

subgroups within our learning community including ELL, Special Education students, and struggling

readers. We are fortunate to be completely one to one with iPads and need to explore how electronic

books and podcasts can also support students in these categories. At this time, students are not able to take

iPads home with them however it would be worth investigating ways to provide technology such as

electronic readers for student use at home.

Washington County Public Schools has a shared vision statement for all schools. Based on this

statement, we are tasked with building a community that inspires curiosity, creativity, and achievement.

Our library should include materials that allow students to explore creative outlets. Keyboards and a

printer for producing written work is needed to help students express themselves through writing. A green

screen, microphone, and tripod are needed to allow students to produce multimedia presentations

including book reviews and culminating products to exhibit learning. Books featuring artists, thinkers,

and inventors should be included in the collection to help our students understand the creative and critical

thinking process that will lead to higher achievement.

The library is physically located at the center of our school and should be the hub that allows our

students to move between the roles of consumers and creators. With resources and materials that better
reflect the needs of our students, we will be better able to engage all of our learners. By engaging all of

our learners, we can increase the use of the library for authentic learning purposes and to empower our

students to take ownership of their learning.

Sources:

http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Entity.aspx?K=211002

http://www.city-data.com/city/Robinwood-Maryland.html

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hagerstown-Maryland.html

http://www.hagerstownmd.org/DocumentCenter/View/2507

Pearce, Ginger. Personal interview. 23 March 2016.