Teacher work Sample

Heidi Borrego
May 3, 2015
EDUC 350: Individualization and Management

Setting and Context:

Poudre School District
Poudre school district is a K-12 public school district in Larimer County that operates and
manages the public schools in Fort Collins, Wellington, Timnath, Laporte, and Livermore. They
serve approximately 27,000 students in 50 different schools. They have a wide range of
programs to help meet the needs of all their students. Programs include International
Baccalaureate, Core Knowledge, Bilingual/Dual Language Immersion, Hybrid/Online,
Expeditionary Learning, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) along with extracurriculars and athletics. Poudre school district also supports school of choice, although the
majority of families send their students to their neighborhood school.
Their Vision:
Poudre school district exists to support and inspire every child to think, to learn, to care and to
graduate prepared to be successful in a changing world.
Their Mission:
Educate Every child, every day.
Demographics:

Asian: 3.06%
Black/African American: 1.37%
Hispanic/Latino: 17.93%
Native American: 0.53%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.13%
White: 74.31%
Two or More: 3.15%

Student Profile
Participating in Free/Reduced Lunch: 30.79%
Special Education Programs: 8.03%
Gifted and Talented Programs: 11.57%
English Language Learner Programs: 7.55%

Staff Profile
Total Staff: 3615
Certified: 1917
Classified: 1587
Administrators: 111
Total teachers: 1436
Average teaching experience in PSD: 11.72 years

Academics
Dropout Rate: 1.44%
Graduation Rate: 86%
8.9 out of 10 graduates completed at least one post-secondary class prior to graduation
Graduates earned more than $42 million in scholarships in 2012-13
Students performed 4-17% higher than students around the state in all subjects and in all
27 areas tested on the 2013 Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP)

4.

Learning Goals
Third Grade Reading Proficiency - 83.9% of 3rd graders scored proficient on CSAP
Annual Academic Growth - 73.8% in Reading, 71.9% in Writing, 72.6% in Math
Post Secondary Readiness - 74% in English, 51% in Math, 62% in Reading, 41% in
Science
Successful Transitions - 94.3% average attendance rate

Operating Principle
The leaders of Poudre School District will focus on helping all student learn in an environment
based on these operating principles:
Operating with Integrity: We commit to being persons of our word whose actions are

aligned with the language we use. Out of this foundational principle will come an atmosphere
where we respectfully honor the truth that each of us brings to any endeavor.
Committed to Continuous Quality Learning: Every member of our school community, in

everything we do, will focus on increasing students and staffs learning and growth. We will
continuously define our goals and expectations and supportively help one another be accountable
so that we can be stewards of education at all levels.
Trust through Openness: We will presume the good intentions of others and honor

1.
2.
3.

speaking the truth from our hearts and minds so that we can create a culture of openness for
honest input and creative ideas.

Courageous Action: Ethics and integrity will guide our actions even when the serious

issues must be faced. With courageous actions, we will rise above mediocrity, chaos or
isolation. We will support one another's courageous actions in an environment that embraces
thoughtful risk-taking.
Inclusive of all Stakeholders: We value all voices; our collective wisdom is greater than

individual wisdom. People do their best work when they feel valued and connected, and we are
all made stronger by each of our successes. We will continuously work to create a climate that
values diverse thinking, mutual respect and working as a team for the betterment of the whole
organization.
Joyful in our Work: We strive to cultivate the human spirit and to care about staff and
student feelings. We dedicate ourselves to provide inspiration and support for each other, to be
non-judgemental, and to be genuine. Enjoying our work, taking the time to laugh, and having
fun are important to us and will provide continual rejuvenation. Joyfullness promotes personal
and organizational health and generates more opportunities for success.
Source: www.psdschools.org

Lincoln Middle School

Lincoln Middle School is the longest running International Baccalaureate (IB) School in Fort
Collins. The fundamental concepts that guide the IB program are communication, holistic
learning, and internationalism. All students that attend Lincoln are part of the IB Middle Years
Programme.
Lincoln follows the same code of conducts that the rest of the Poudre School district follows,
which can be found here: https://www.psdschools.org/webfm/3874. Lincoln also follows its own
policy called the 6 Ps. The 6 Ps stands for Prompt, Prepared, Polite, Positive Mental
Attitude (PMA), Participate, and Produce.
Mission Statement
Unite. Respect. We are Lincoln. We question, Learn, Think, Care, and Act!
Recognition

Lincoln has created many ways for recognizing their many talented students. Every week they
come out with a weekly newsletter that includes things that are going on in the school, as well as
achievements their students have made. At the end of the year the whole school attends an
assembly where they award many students for different achievements such as GPA, attendance,
state test scores, and extracurricular activities. Throughout the year, the school also displays
pictures in the hall of high achieving students. Lincoln also has a system they set up called
Lancer Bucks. Teachers will hand out Lancer Bucks to students they believe have earned them,
and then the students can buy merchandise at the schools store. Lincoln believes in recognizing
hard work and dedication.
TCAP Test Scores

TCAP

Students tested

% proficient

Test

Year

Grade

School

District

State

School

District

State

Math

2012

6th Grade

180

2,036

62,080

43.9

74.2

61.3

Math

2013

6th Grade

153

2,128

63,050

46.4

74.6

62

Math

2014

6th Grade

178

2,136

63,719

51.1

71.9

61.1

Source: Colorado Department of Education

Demographics

Lincoln Middle School is known as one of the most diverse Middle Schools in the Poudre School
district. They have the highest population of minority students and students on the free or
reduced-cost lunch program. The 530 students enrolled are broken down into approximately
45.3% female and 54.7% male.
Race
Number
Indian
8
Asian
8
Hispanic
234
Black
9
White
214
Two or More Ethnicities 8

%
1.7%
1.7%
48.6%
1.9%
44.5%
1.7%

Source: USA School Info

The following is the percent of students at Lincoln participating in these programs:
Free or reduced-cost lunch
68.34%
Special Education
13.51%
ELL
27.41%
Special Ed and ELL
40.92%
Here are the % proficiency rates at Lincoln for the past 3 years in different content areas:
Reading
54%
Deficiency range 19.2-37.1%
Math
44%
Deficiency range 13.2-37.7%
Writing
43.2% Deficiency range 16.2-42.7%
Science
33%
Deficiency range 15.8-43.2%

Mrs. Wrights ELL/ELA Classroom

At Lincoln Middle School I was placed with Mrs. Wright for my mentor teacher. Mrs. Wright is
one of the ELA teachers. She has all Newcomers in 6th-8th grade. When I first started in her class,
the group consisted of six boys and seven girls from the following countries; Mexico (5), El
Salvador (1), Nicaragua (1), China (2), Libya (2), Vietnam (1), and Denmark/Madagascar (1). A
few weeks before the end of school three more students were added, which brought the total to
eight boys and eight girls. One of these students was from Mexico, one was from El Salvador,
and the third student was from China. There was only one student in the class with an
exceptionality. He was a seventh grade boy with a very high functioning level of Autism. He did
not require any accommodations; except for the occasional extra moment to calm down if
something upset him. Having this variety of students in the classroom gave the classroom a
feeling of liveliness. The students were always anxious to share information about their home
countries. For many of the activities in Mrs. Wrights class, the students would write the
vocabulary words in their first language, as well as in English. The variety in cultures also made
it important for us to make sure all the students were being thoughtful and respectful of all
cultures. Cultural awareness was very important.
One thing that Mrs. Wright was very proficient at was building relationships with her students.
All her students knew she cared about their wellbeing and academic success. They respected her
and enjoyed being in her class. Due to this respect and the relationships she built, it was very
easy for her to redirect students and correct them. I never saw an incident in her class where she
had to discipline a student, because she was always able to correct behaviors before anything
happened. She was very aware of situations that would escalate and she would redirect the
students using the 6 Ps and respect. The policy in Mrs. Wrights room was be respectful of
everyone and their culture.