The very poor marks that the Grace A. Dunn Middle School has received in terms of state evaluations are due to a number of problems. One, it seems the staff and faculty are not reflective of the ethnicity in the school; two, the academic performance of students is well below acceptable; and three, yes, there is poverty and crime in the neighborhood, but that is no excuse. An upgrade in curriculum and in instruction is imperative.
Demographics
The Grace A. Dunn Middle School (grades 6, 7, and 8) in Trenton, New Jersey, has a demographic that reflects the ethnic diversity of the community. The Dunn Middle School is composed of: 5% Asian; 28.88% African-American; 60.93% Hispanic / Latino; 3% Native American; and 5% Caucasian (www.movoto.com).
There are approximately 289 females at Dunn Middle School (48% of the student population) and 310 males (52%).
How do the school's demographics match up with Trenton's demographics in Dunn Middle School's 08610 Zip Code? The neighborhood is composed of: 10% African-American; 2% Asian or Pacific Islander; 2% "mixed races"; 3% "others"; and 83% Caucasian. In the 089610 Zip Code, 48% of the population is male and 52% is female, the reverse of the population at Dunn Middle School.
As to the comparison between the Dunn Middle School and the reported ethnicities in the neighborhood, nearly 29% of Dunn School is African-American but only 10% of the population in the neighborhood is African-American, so there is likely a bussing program that brings African-American students into the Dunn Middle School.
Goals, Mission, and School Direction
The Mission statement for Dunn Middle School is to proceed "…through collaboration of all stakeholders" to give support to "…the academic, social, emotional, and physical development of all students." This is done by giving value to "…the importance of diversity, citizenship, and academic achievement thus preparing [students] for participation in the global community." Clearly the administration of the Trenton School District cares a lot about the education their students are receiving, albeit the data is not there to show the improvements needed.
New Principal's Goals
The goals for Dunn Middle School are spelled out in a letter from the new principal, Elizabeth Ramirez. She writes to the parents that her school desires to develop a "…strong partnership with you" in order to help "…make a great difference in your child's education." Clearly Ramirez knows that without the support of the parents -- and without the dynamic of parents being fully engaged with their children -- education cannot accomplish what it sets out to do. And that is preparing students for a world that will challenge them in many ways.
Ramirez sets out a bullet list of goals for each student; her goal for every Middle School Student at Dunn is that each student:
Attends school daily, arrives on time, and is ready to learn
Completes all homework
Spends time reading every day to "…develop a love for reading and to improve literacy shills
Shares school experiences with you [the parent] so that you "are aware of his/her school life"
Informs you if he/she needs additional support in any area of subject
Knows that you "…expect him/her to succeed in school and go to college"
AYP Status and History -- Low Student Achievement
According to the New Jersey School Performance report, Grace A. Dunn Middle School "…significantly lags in comparison to schools across the state" when it comes to academic performance (www.state.nj.us). As to the competence the middle school shows vis-a-vis preparing students for college and career readiness, Dunn Middle School "…significantly lags in comparison to its peers"; and the same situation exists with reference to "student growth" and with Dunn's school peers in the community (www.state.nj.us).
When compared with middle schools with similar demographics, Dunn is ranked 29th in academic achievement ("…Lagging performance… is between the 20.0th and 39.9th percentile"). In terms of the percentage of "Targets Met" it is 75% of the way towards that in academic achievement. The state defines "Significantly Lagging Performance" as below the 19.9th percentile, and that means that Dunn Middle School is in deep trouble in terms of preparing its students for the future, whether that be a future for college or university for those students.
To wit, in College and Career Readiness Dunn is ranked "3" in comparison to peer schools; it is ranked "2" when compared statewide; and in terms of "Percent of Targets Met" for college and career readiness, Dunn is given a "0" by the state. Significantly Lagging is not a good rating or ranking for any school, so it is clear that Dunn needs to vastly overhaul its structure, its curriculum, its staff, its leadership, or all of those.
"Student Growth" is a category in which Dunn Middle School does much better than in career readiness. In fact it is still categorized as having a "Lagging Performance" but it is given a 35 percentile when compared to peer schools; it has a 25 percentile ranking statewide, and the best news for Dunn is that it has met 100% of its targets in student growth (www.state.nj.us).
When it comes to Language Arts Literacy (7th grade) the rankings by ethnicity show that only 14% of African-American middle school students at Dunn are proficient (but 86% of African-Americans are "Partially Proficient"). Twenty percent of Hispanic students are "Proficient" in Language Arts Literacy, but 79% of Hispanics are "Partially Proficient" (www.state.nj.us). School wide just 18% of all students are "Proficient"; and 18% of "economically disadvantages students" are Proficient." In math, when all students are taken into account, 32% are Proficient and 61% are Partially Proficient (http://education.state.nj.us). As to the faculty at Grace A. Dunn Middle School, the State of New Jersey reports that 66% have a Bachelor's degree and 34% have Master's degrees (http://education.state.nj.us).
Crime in Trenton
An article in the Jersey Journal reports that citizens are very concerned about the high crime in the city, and they have recently protested against the police department's "…now-disbanded anti-crime unit" (http://www.nj.com). Crime in Trenton "…is not getting better," said Rev. Lee Ingram, "it's just not getting reported" (http://www.nj.com). Statistics presented by neighborhoodscout.com show that last year there were 1,209 violent crimes per 1,000 residents; and 2,684 property crimes per 1,000 residents (http://www.neighborhoodscout.com).
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