GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY

STUDENT TEACHING EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE (STEP)

STANDARD 1, PART I

Student Teaching Evaluation of Performance (STEP) is the process for preparing and implementing a unit of instruction.

By understanding the community and school environment and the makeup of the classroom, you will be able to strategically meet the overall needs of your
students. In the first two weeks of student teaching, you should focus on learning about the students you will be working with. You are expected to teach the
unit you are preparing by the end of week 8.

Review the geographic, district, and school demographics of your student teaching classroom. Utilize the district or school website, your cooperating
teacher/mentor, or school administrator for this information. You may also use your state Department of Education website for statistical data on community
and school demographics.

Complete STEP Standard, 1 Part I that includes:

A. Geographic Location
B. District Demographics
C. School Demographics

APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected. This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to
become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin.

Please note, that in order to submit this assignment, you must:

1. Complete each section of the STEP Standard 1, Part II as directed in the course syllabus.
a. Note: Closing your internet browser before the signing process is completed will result in a loss of your work. If you will be completing this
document in multiple sittings, it is highly recommended to save and back up your work on another document. When you are ready to make
your final submission, copy and paste your responses into this document. The data from this electronic document will not be saved until you
complete the signing process.

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3. Submit a completed copy to the appropriate LoudCloud submission space for grading.

©2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

 GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
STUDENT TEACHING EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE (STEP)

TEACHER CANDIDATE INFORMATION:

Teacher Candidate Teacher Candidate Student ID:
First Name:
Sydney
Last Name:
Wenger 20522447
Email Address: Phone: 3309888510 State:
sydwenger@gmail.com OH- Ohio
Program of Study:
B.S. in Elementary Education

STANDARD 1, PART I: COMMUNITY, DISTRICT, SCHOOL, & CLASSROOM FACTORS

A. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Cooperating School State: If “Other” School State Cooperating School
OH- Ohio Selected, Specify: City: Dalton

Population of City: School Classification: If “Other” Classification

1843 Public Selected, Specify:
Facility Setting: Stability of Community: Perception of the Level
Rural State of Growth of Community Support: Medium

 Discuss the possible effect these characteristics could have on planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit.
 Cite the references used for this information.
I attended 2 separate board meetings for the Dalton Schools. My cooperating teacher is the spokesperson for her grade (Kindergarten). This meant that I was able to attend the
Building Level Board Meeting along with her. She is also 1 of the 2 representatives for the elementary grade level in the District Level Board Meetings. Through these meetings I
really got to know more about the population of the town as well as the type of people. There seems to be a lot of community support for the school system in this town. The
school is proposing to build a new playing field for their students as well as upgrading the high school to have air conditioners in their building. In the last 5 years, they built the
new elementary school as well and have done lots of renovations since then. From the meeting I figured out that the community is very supportive of their school systems and
have done well with higher taxes in the past as well as huge donations for the school and it's needs. This is a smaller town, so I would say that it classifies as a rural setting. The
population is only 1,843, but is in a state of growth. The population grew 14.8% since 2000 until 2014 ("Dalton, Ohio").
All of this information helps me to figure out the impact this school will have on my planning, delivery, and assessment of my students teaching experience. From this I know
that I am going to have all of the necessary materials needed to conduct my lesson plans. I will not have to worry about lack of support from parents either. This is a small school
and the classroom I am student teaching in only has 22 students. The entire Kindergarten then is only split into 3 total classes. This will help me manage the classrooms better
because I will have less students to deal with.

Resources:
Dalton, Ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from http://www.city-data.com/city/Dalton-Ohio.html

©2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

 B. DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS
District Name: Dalton Local Schools District Grades Served:
K-12

Number of Schools in Number of Students Percentage of Students in

District: 3 Enrolled in District: 873 the District Receiving Free 22.3%
or Reduced-Price Lunch:
 Describe the district demographic data, including statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it, for your cooperating school
district.
There are 3 total schools in the Dalton Local Schools District. The elementary and middle-junior high are in the same building. The high school has its own building. The high
school is the oldest school, because the new school was rebuilt about 5 years ago now. There is a pretty high percentage of free and reduced-price lunch students at Dalton.
Students in this area may not be as culturally diverse, but are more religiously diverse. There are 93% students that are white in this area ("Explore Dalton...", 2018). But, the
religious diversity ranges from amish children in the school all the way to mennonite and non-religious. Because of this religious diversity, I notice that this school is different
than any other school I have been to before. The school however has great academic success with an average ACT of 25, a graduation rate of 95%, math proficiency levels of
80%, and reading proficiency levels of 75% ("Explore Dalton...", 2018).
Resources:
Explore Dalton Local School District. (2018, February 11). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.niche.com/k12/d/dalton-local-school-district-oh/

 Discuss the possible effect these characteristics could have on planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit.
 Cite the references used for this information.
The students success rates will only help me in my student teaching progress. This means that the majority of students are reading and math proficient. I can not speak for the
Kindergarten grade level yet though. It seems that we have a lot of amish and mennonite children coming into the school district and their native language is not English, they
speak Pennsylvania-Dutch. This is not a language that I am particularly proficient in enough to help them use cognates. Thankfully, there are enough staff in the school that are
mennonite and are native in this language as well to help out. The area seems to have a high percentage of free and reduced-priced lunches, but I do not see the area of Dalton
as being overly poor as a whole. The school also has a great teacher to class ratio of 19:1 which means I will not have to be working with too many students at once("Explore
Dalton...", 2018).
All of this information means that I am going to be at an advantage because of smaller class sizes and the fact that students are generally smarter here or that the curriculum is
very beneficial.
Resources:
Explore Dalton Local School District. (2018, February 11). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.niche.com/k12/d/dalton-local-school-district-oh/

©2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

 C. SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
Cooperating School Dalton Elementary School Cooperating School Title One (I):
K-4 Not Labeled
Name: Grades Served:
Number of Students Percentage of Students in Academic Achievement A
Enrolled in School: 349 the School Receiving Free 0% Ranking/Label of the 325 out of 1,811 in Ohio
or Reduced-Price Lunch: School:
 Discuss the possible effect these characteristics could have on the planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit.
 Cite the references used for this information.
Students in the elementary grades have high academic achievement levels. They scored 72% reading proficient and 92% math proficient. This is pretty good for K-4. The
elementary school does not have any students on the free and reduced-price lunch system according to Niche and its last update("Explore Dalton...", 2018). In general, the
elementary school students have high percentages of reading and math proficiency levels, which means that when I am teaching, they will figure it out easier and be able to
move on sooner. Because of the small class size, I am going to have an easier time managing the classroom as well. The elementary curriculum seems to be preparing these
students well for their future. This means that I will have some great resources to look at to help me when I am lesson planning myself.
Resources:
Explore Dalton Local School District. (2018, February 11). Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://www.niche.com/k12/d/dalton-local-school-district-oh/

AGREEMENT AND SIGNATURE

I, the above named, GCU student attest this submission is accurate, true, and in compliance with GCU policy guidelines, to the best of my ability to do so.
NOTE: The data entered into this document may be audited for accuracy. Students who engage in fabricating, falsifying, forging, altering, or inventing information
regarding clinical practice/ student teaching may be subject to sanctions for violating GCU academic integrity policies, which may include expulsion from GCU.

Teacher Candidate Date:

E-Signature: Sydney Wenger
Sydney Wenger (Feb 11, 2019)
Feb 11, 2019

©2018. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.