Janie Layne

EDUC 215-01
Dr. Harris
24 October 2013
School and Community Diversity Profile Analysis:
Smithland Elementary v. Harrisonburg, Virginia
As an educator, it is crucial to not only understand content material but to also understand
students cultural identities. Each student will come into the classroom with unique cultural traits
that could affect the learning of the child. Some key characteristics that are necessary to consider
include students race, ethnicity, parental educational attainment, exceptionalities, socioeconomic
status (SES), gender, and language usage. These factors are multifaceted and difficult to visibly
detect at times, but as an effective multicultural teacher, such knowledge about ones students
can ultimately help create a positive learning environment in which all students feel appreciated
and open to share in the learning process. Consequently, I analyzed the demographics of my host
school, Smithland Elementary and compared the results to parallel data of the neighboring City
of Harrisonburg, Virginia. My analysis focused on four central pieces of data: SES, gender,
race, and language.
Based on the data collected, Smithland Elementary provides a fairly good representation
of the City of Harrisonburg. For instance, the residents of Harrisonburg consisted primarily of
working to lower-middle class families. These levels of SES are socially constructed and
determined according to ones access to economic, political, cultural, and social resources. Such
lower SES levels are very evident when compared to Smithland Elementary. Nearly of the
student population is eligible for free and reduced lunch. The comparison between the City of
Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg City Schools concerning languages is also comparable as the
dominant language (excluding English) is Spanish. Language is simply a way that individuals
communicate both verbally and nonverbally. Other shared languages between Harrisonburg and
Smithland include Other Indo-European and Asian/Pacific-Islander. Despite similarities in
SES and language, the gender ratios (the comparison of socially constructed associations with
masculinity and femininity) are contrasting. The City of Harrisonburg consists of more females
than males (53.4% females: 46.6% males), whereas Smithland Elementary possesses a more
male-dominant student population (47.7% females: 52.3% males). To further, Harrisonburg and
Smithlands racial diversity percentages were interesting as they presented contrasting
characteristics. Race can be defined as the socially constructed physical characteristics of a
specific group of people (normally on the basis of skin color). While Harrisonburg consists of
approximately 75% whites, 15% Hispanics, and 7% African Americans, Smithlands student
population includes more diversity with 34% whites, 43% Hispanics, and 13% African
Americans. The gathered results allow gaps to be filled through further analysis that all teachers
must contemplate to effectively construct a multicultural learning environment.
The City of Harrisonburg has been a refugee resettlement site for the US State
Department since formally recognized in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter. Consequently,
Harrisonburgs immigrant population has continued to grow. Such growth has resulted into
decreased job availability as immigrants relocate and find jobs closer to the city. The jobs
provided for immigrants tend to be blue-collar jobs that involve little pay for manual labor, like
factory, construction, or maintenance work. This reality results into the percentages of low SES
in the City of Harrisonburg and Smithland Elementary as the parents incomes affect eligibility

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for free and reduced lunch. Due to the refugee resettlement community, the city has become
more diverse in spoken Native languages, too. In fact, Harrisonburg City Schools have students
from more than fifty language backgrounds. The prominent languages in Smithland (English
and Spanish) are slightly due to the aesthetics of the schools Dual-Language Immersion
program. This program is constructed to promote both bi-literacy and bilingualism as students
experience 50% of their learning in English and 50% of their learning in Spanish. Gary Painter,
the principal of Smithland Elementary, encourages the Dual-Language Immersion instruction as
it allows students to become fluent after 5-7 years in the program, and it promotes a positive,
healthy multicultural education for all students. This model of English Language Learners
(ELL) contributes to the contrasting racial diversity percentages of the community and school as
the school requires applications and interviews before enrollment. The application and interview
process ensures that students are suitable for the learning environment as administrators work to
maintain a balanced English- and Spanish-speaking student population (consisting mainly of
whites and Hispanics). Several factors could contribute to the differentiation of gender in the
City of Harrisonburg and Smithland Elementary. For instance, the numbers could be
considerably different because the citys numbers are based on the entire population (ranging
from infants to elderly), whereas the gender of Smithland students is based on ages ranging from
5-10. Thorough analysis of demographic data allows teachers to decrease ethnocentrism, the
belief that ones culture is superior to all others, and increase the proponents of a culturally
responsive pedagogy.
Personally, I found the School and Community Diversity project to be very interesting
and beneficial in helping me develop my future classroom. Prior to the data collection and
analysis, I would not have understood the extent of understanding students cultures. This
project pushed me to dive deeper than just knowing the names and faces of students families by
knowing many facets of the students cultures in and out of the school. I plan to replicate the
data collection in my future school when I become a teacher so that I may be the best, culturally
responsive teacher that I can be. Information concerning my students SES, gender, race, and
language will allow me to accommodate my instruction to meet each students needs in the
classroom through strategies like additional assistance, time frames, and/or resources/materials.
Knowledge of students cultural identities will also allow me to occupy the role of teacher by
serving as each students guide, cheerleader, coach, role model, counselor, etc.
Students cultural identities are composed of many factors that may all affect the learning
process for students. Although identifying students cultural identities may be visibly
challenging and time-consuming at times, teachers must be aware of their students to
successfully maintain a culturally responsive, multicultural educational setting that uses diversity
as an asset rather than a liability.
Word Count: 977

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References
Harrisonburg Refugee Resettlement. (n.d.). Church World Service Harrisonburg. Harrisonburg
Refugees. Retrieved from http://harrisonburgrefugees.com/
(n.a.) (Oct. 2013). Smithland Elementary School Home Page. Harrisonburg City Public Schools.
Retrieved from http://web.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/smes/
(n.a.) (7 June 2013). LEP Student Enrollment. Harrisonburg City Public Schools. Retrieved from
http://www.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/Instruction/English-as-a-SecondLanguage/Enrollment-Statistics/2012-2013/6-7-2013-Birth-Countries-and-Languages
Virginia Department of Education. (24 October 2013). Smithland Fall Membership. Fall
Membership for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved from
http://bi.vita.virginia.gov/doe_bi/rdPage.aspx?
rdReport=Main&subRptName=Fallmembership