School Overview
Among the total of 1350 enrollments with a gender ratio of 56:44 between male and female students, Hispanic or Latino students are the dominant ethnical group in this school, with more than 90% of the total population. The remaining students are African Americans, Whites, Asians, Filipinos, or others (California Department of Education, n.d.).
More than 95% of students are labeled as socioeconomically disadvantaged and the majority of them are eligible for Free or Reduced lunch programs (California Department of Education, 2019).
At the same time, approximately every three out of ten students are English learners, mostly Spanish speakers. Around half of the students were once English learners and have received reclassification in the previous school years.
Ms. Hackett (Personal Interview, January 22, 2020) also mentioned in the interview that there are 185 students receiving special education accommodations.
West Adams has prepared several school-wide programs to support student's needs, especially for special education.
General Support
Gear Up For LA(Gear Up For LA, n.d.Gear Up For LA keeps track of socioeconomically disadvantaged students from middle school to high school to prepare them for college readiness.
Parent Center(Quiroga, Personal Interview, January 21, 2020)Parent Center at West Adams Prep High extends the communication with the parents through the parent portal(cite) and offers various training of Schoology. They also establish committees to involve parents in the school decision-making process and build parent academic capacities beyond the district standard programs.
College Center(Martinez, Personal Interview, January 21, 2020)) The college center is a consulting resource to assist students in college application, including searching for a college or financial aids, revising resume and portfolios.
USC TRiO program(University of Southern California, n.d.) locates near the college center and functions as an additional resource for college preparation.
Support for Special Education
Under the Special Education Center at West Adams, the school operates a variety of programs to facilitate special education monitored by LAUSD. Special Education coordinator, transition teacher, and other teachers/staff are striving together to support both IEP students and their families.
Certificate Programs(Hackett, January 22, 2020)
- Autism - Alternate Curriculum
- Intellectual Disability Moderate
Diploma Programs
- Intellectual Disability Moderate
- Resource Specialist Program
- Specific Learning Disability
Personnel
- Special Education Coordinator
- Transition Teacher
- Reclassifying ELD coordinator
- Adapted PE teacher
- Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Deaf and Head of Hearing support
Least restrictive environment implementation
Neighborhood Overview
Based on the Community Facts estimated by the U.S. Department of Commerce(n.d.), The total population is more than 41,000 and the median age is around 24.6. The median household income is 23,070, approximately 1/3 of the state average. The same data also shows that nearly 46.5% of the individuals are below the poverty level. Regarding the racial groups, individuals who have only one race take up more than 95% of the total population (U.S. Department of Commerce, n.d.). In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic or Latino is the largest group, approximately 58% by estimation. The foreign-born population also exceeds 45% of the total population. There are certain portions of non-Hispanic white and Asian people live in this area. The estimation also indicates that two-thirds of the residents in the neighborhood speak a language other than English and nearly 45% speak Spanish(U.S. Department of Commerce, n.d.).
Analysis and Responses
The distribution of the racial groups in the nearby neighborhood follows the trend of the composition at West Adams. However, there is a significant disparity in the patterns, which leads me to consider the possibilities of the modern "segregation" of schooling. However, to draw a solid connection needs additional data of race makeup under the age of 18.
In addition, the community demographics indicate that there are 13% of the Hispanic or Latino people do not speak Spanish. This reminds me of the concept of "subtractive schooling" discussed in EDUC671 and Proposition 227 passed in California in 1998. This makes me wonder whether there is a connection between such mindsets and the data.
I have also noticed an unbalanced gender ratio at West Adams. The male-female ratio is 56 to 44. At the same time, I found out that there are significantly more male-only homeless shelters than shelters for both females and males. I wonder if there are any hidden correlations between these two facts.
On the bright side, most of the community and school resources are well-established in both English and Spanish, which makes them more accessible for the parents and students. However, for individual families, I am concerned whether these resources are sufficient considering the dense population and limited resources. Many parents may have difficulties to access the school resources and facilities because they need to work during the daytime.
In the interview with the special education coordinator Ms. Hackett at West Adams(Hackett, Personal Interview, January 22, 2020), she pointed out that one of the most critical challenges was to establish collaboration with providers or organizations outside the school or district. Reasons surround the incongruity between the expectations and resources, how the system operates, etc. Her comments led to my interest and concern about whether the school, community, and neighbor can collaborate coherently and continuously to fulfill the needs of the students.
I have also generated many questions during the investigation.
- Even though most of the students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, it appears that their families are "generous" to purchase electronic devices, such as new iPhones, Airpods. I wonder what the real image of socioeconomically disadvantaged is and what the mindsets of buying the students expensive devices are.
Credits:
Created with images by Kelli Tungay - "Back to School" • Element5 Digital - "untitled image" • Green Chameleon - "Designer sketching Wireframes" • NESA by Makers - "untitled image"