Calif S - Grade: A PDF

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Summary

Ethnography for a local school. Examines crime, home price, socioeconomic statuses, ethnic populations, local cuisine and health care, etc...

Description

Jessica Morrison Cady California Studies October 20, 2016 Ethnography of Norman Liddell Elementary

School Norman Liddell Elementary is the fifth newest school in Central Unified at only fifteen years old. It is located in Northwest Fresno in a newer part of town. The school promotes student success, parent involvement, and academic excellence. It is a low-poverty school with a diverse student base. The school's textbooks are all up to date. The school has a ‘Good’ overall rating for their facilities. The percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards in ELA, math, and science exceeds the Central Unified’s averages significantly, and they exceed the state averages in science, meet them in math, and are close behind in ELA. The suspension and expulsion rates are significantly lower than district and state averages with zero students being expelled last year and less than two percent of students being expelled the year before that. There are extensive opportunities for parent involvement including volunteering on-site (office assistance, library, yard duty, classroom aid, athletics, etc.), participating in committees (ELA council, Parent Faculty Club, School Site Advisory Committee, etc.), and assisting with special events (book fair, red ribbon week, school field trips, etc.). According to information from the 20152016 school year, there were about twenty-two students to every teacher, and all thirty-one teachers were fully credentialed. Average teacher salary is $69,682, which is four percent more than the district average and a hair under the state average. The school boundaries are small, only about two square miles. However, Liddell is an overflow school for students living north of Shields, so an indeterminable amount of students are from communities other than is described in this report. Unfortunately, the school’s Student

Accountability Report does not include how many students might be from these over-capacity schools.

Community Demographics A school is a product of its community, and Liddell’s surrounding community is a part of upper-middle-class Fresno. City-data.com offers many statistics for the ethnicities, real estate, unemployment, and income for the area. Over 80% of the households are composed of families, which is high, but the lack of apartments in the area encourages family households over owners who are single or unattached. The ethnicity statistics for the area are “57% white, 16% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 6% Multirace, 4% African American, and...