Introduction
American legislation states that school education is compulsory for all Americans in spite of their income and social status. This requirement is satisfied mainly by public schools, especially in lower-income communities where people cannot afford high tuition fees. Public schools exist in all the American states, but their ratio and level of students’ academic proficiency vary from state to state (Lavalley, 2018). That is why it is crucial to understand the state of things in a particular community or school when starting a career as a teacher. The best way to provide understanding is to analyze the economic and demographic situation in the community and the school’s academic rank. The present essay is concerned with analyzing a school located in the Bronx in New York City.
Demographic Situation in the Bronx
The Bronx has a population of 1,471,160 people and is considered the most diverse area in the country. The population of the District is growing, while the economic situation remains tense. The Bronx is considered one of the poorest estates with thriving violence and gang activities (Compton, Ho, Robles, 2017). The public school system remains weak due to the situation in the community, and only about 60 percent of teenagers attend high schools (Compton, Ho, Robles, 2017). Such a description enables us to consider the Bronx a criminal and non-prosperous area and think that school education is not paid as much attention as needed. That is why it may be complicated for a teacher to make students interested in their studies and explain the material to them.
Demographic Situation in District 10, Bronx
The number of children and teenagers that attend school in District 10 is 54,035 and composes about 45 percent of the population of the District. The increasing number of students shows that at least school education has started to gain popularity in the District. Although most of the schools in the area remain unreasonably poor because the percentage of the students who get free lunch is 87. According to Lavalley (2018), a rural school may be called a high-poverty school if the percentage of children getting free lunch is 75 or higher. Even though the District serves Grades PK-5 schools and middle and high schools, the majority of them remain poor. It is necessary to consider these factors, as the teacher may face a lack of materials needed for the educational process and the lack of understanding from the students.
School Demographics
The school in question has 826 students enrolled and is labeled as a Title 1 school, so it serves Grades PK-5. The school’s academic achievement is #1273 with a reading proficiency #1386 and a mathematics proficiency #1684. These figures may be considered promising, as the level of reading proficiency may be referred to as well above expectations. The data shows that although the school belongs to high-poverty ones, teachers in it seem to provide their students with actual knowledge on the subjects and help them improve their results. It is necessary for the teacher to save progress as well as academic achievement level. To do that, a teacher may keep his students interested throughout their classes by using different education techniques and up-to-date knowledge.
Conclusion
Considering all the mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that the school in question may be regarded as a high-poverty school. The high level of academic achievements of its students may result from the teachers’ fruitful and passionate work. That is why when starting to work in this particular school; it is crucial to remain interested in your job and transmit this interest to children and motivate them to study.
References
Best New York Elementary Schools. (n.d.). Web.
Compton, R. W., Ho, H. L. & Robles, Y. (Eds.). (2017). Dynamics of community formation: developing identity and notions of home. Palgrave Macmillan.
Lavalley, M. (2018). Out of the loop: rural schools are largely left out of research and policy discussions, exacerbating poverty, inequity, and isolation. Center for Public Education.