1.

Racial breakdown of schools:

Source: philasd.org

Southwark Andrew Jackson

Racial breakdown of neighborhoods:

Source: factfinder.census.gov

Southwark Andrew Jackson

Southwark Elementarys demographic is predominantly Latino (39%) and Asian (34%). In

comparison, Andrew Jackson has a larger white student population at 24% versus
Southwarks 8%. Similar to Southwark, Andrew Jackson also has a large Latino student
population at 33%. Andrew Jackson also has a large African American population at 23% -
Southwarks is only 12%.

Looking at the neighborhood of the schools, we can see from the graphs above that it shows a
very dierent picture than the demographics of the respective schools. The neighborhood of
Southwark is predominantly white at 63%, followed by Asians at 19%. As for the neighborhood
of Andrew Jackson, 70% of the population is white, followed by Asians at 12%.

2. English Language Learners:

Source: philasd.org

Southwark Andrew Jackson

Majority of both Southwark and Andrew Jacksons student population are English Language
Learners at 59% and 77%, respectively.

3. Students to Teacher Ratio:

Source: ocrdata.edu.gov

The graph above represents the number of students per teacher at Southwark, Andrew
Jackson, as well as the district as a point of comparison. Southwarks students to teacher ratio
is 17.5:1, Andrew Jacksons is 17:1 and the district of Philadelphias is 18:1.

4. Teachers in First Year of Teaching:

Source: ocrdata.edu.gov

Among the teachers at Southwark, 2.6% are in their first year of teaching. In comparison, no
teachers at Andrew Jackson are in their first year of teaching. In the district of Philadelphia,
1.4% of teachers hired are in their first year of teaching.

5. School Progress Report - Overall Performance:

Source: philasd.org

Southwark
Andrew Jackson

In their annual school progress report, Southwarks overall score is at 37%, which categorizes
as watch as outlined in the performance tiers shown above. As for Andrew Jackson, they are
also in the watch category, although with a higher score of 49%. They are one percentage
point away from reinforce.

The graph also shows progress from previous school years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.
Southwark experienced a 6% decrease in overall performance from 2013 to 2014. From 2014
to 2015, their score stayed the same. For Andrew Jackson, performance has increased steadily
over the years, going from 40% in 2013 to 47% in 2014 and 49% in 2015.

6. School Neighborhood - Foreign Born Population:

Source: factfinder.census.gov

The neighborhood of Southwark has a foreign born population of 11,761 whereas the
neighborhood of Andrew Jackson has 6,376.

7. School Neighborhood - Educational Attainment (percent high school graduate or

higher):
Source: factfinder.census.gov

In the neighborhood of Southwark, 74.4% of the residents have attained at least a high school
degree. In comparison, that figure is 89.6% in the neighborhood of Andrew Jackson.

8. School Neighborhood - Median Household Income:

Source: factfinder.census.gov

The median household income in the neighborhood of Southwark is $44,098. In the

neighborhood of Andrew Jackson, the median household income is $67,007.

9. School Neighborhood - Individuals Below Poverty Level:

Source: factfinder.census.gov

21.4% of the population living around Southwark is living below the poverty level. The
percentage is nearly half of that In the neighborhood of Andrew Jackson at 11% living below
the poverty level.

10. School Neighborhood - Housing under $150,000:

Source: socialexplorer.com

Southwark
Andrew Jackson

Looking at these two shaded maps, it can be inferred that the neighboring area of Southwark
has a higher percentage of homes valued at under $150,000. On both maps there are dark
shades of red (75-100%), but on Andrew Jacksons map there are shades of beige to orange
(0-15%) whereas the vast majority of Southwarks map is colored in darker shades of the
spectrum.

11. School Mission Statement:

Southwark
Source: https://beta.phila.gov/media/20160801105021/fall-2016-community-school-profile-
southwark.pdf

Southwarks mission is to develop leadership in our students and educate them so

they are on grade-level and beyond in reading, writing and mathematics, in
a safe, clean, and caring environment.

Andrew Jackson
Source: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/j/jackson/about-us

The Andrew Jackson School is a hard-working, multi-cultural family with a

purpose: to achieve proficiency in all areas. Our stable, dedicated sta is
committed to providing an instructional program that is standards driven, rigorous, and
relevant in a structured, safe environment.

We maintain high expectations for all students; we believe in our students and we expect
success. To insure that all learners achieve, we provide a bilingual program,
instructional modifications, special needs accommodations and
individualized attention whenever necessary.

Another high priority at Jackson is the appreciation of cultural diversity, which is

evident in all aspects of our school program. Students understand and respect the variety
of cultures represented at Jackson, and have the opportunity to celebrate this unique gift.
Southwarks mission statement is simple and direct: they aim to develop leadership in students
and ensure they are at least on-grade level in reading, writing and math while maintaining the
school as a safe, clean, and caring space.

Andrew Jacksons mission is a bit more extensive than Southwarks. They acknowledge their
community as being multi-cultural and celebrates their diverse student population. For their
diverse community of students to succeed, they provide a bilingual program, instructional
modifications, and special needs accommodations.

Reflection on Data Summary

I attended school (K-12) in Hong Kong, and from initial research it was dicult to find direct

comparisons between my elementary school and my fall placement school, Andrew Jackson.

My summer placement school, Southwark Elementary, is in a dierent neighborhood than

Jackson so I ended up comparing the two schools and neighborhoods for this project.

What stood out most to me from the data summary was the racial breakdown of the school

compared to the breakdown of the surrounding neighborhood. The demographic of the

neighborhoods is not an accurate representation of the demographic in either schools. I knew

both Southwark and Andrew Jackson had a diverse student population with majority of the

students being children of color. Southwark is only 8% white, with Latinos and Asians making

up 73% of the student population. Andrew Jackson has more white students at 24% but there

are more Latino students at 33% as well as a large African American population at 23%.

However, the residents in both the neighboring areas of Southwark and Andrew Jackson are

predominantly white - Southwark at 63% and Jackson at 70%. Latinos and Asians combined

in the neighborhood of Southwark only make up 29% of the population, this is a stark contrast

to the 73% of Asians and Latinos attending the elementary school. In the neighborhood of

Andrew Jackson, African Americans only make up 9% of the population and Latinos 8%, also

a stark contrast to the respective 23% and 33% at Jackson.

The vast disparity of the racial demographic between the schools and neighborhoods

reminded me of the article from our readings, Gentrification doesnt fix inner-city schools by

Nikole Hannah-Jones. I cant tell by these facts and figures if the neighborhoods of Southwark

and Jackson have experienced gentrification and thats why theres a large white population,

but we know from these graphs that white families living in the area are not sending their
children to either schools. Instead, they might be sending their children to choice public

schools, private schools or charter schools. There might also be white families without children,

but Ive learned from our reading that there are significant negative consequences to families

not sending their children to neighborhood schools. If lower income families are being

displaced, that may lead to more and more students being pulled from these public schools -

because of per-pupil funding, that would lead to resources being cut and teachers being laid

o in these neighborhood schools.

As we can see from the graph representing housing value under $150,000, the area of Andrew

Jackson has more higher valued real estate compared to the area of Southwark. The median

household income in the Jackson area is also higher than Southwark ($67,007 vs. $44,098).

This data lets us know that there are likely more middle class families living in the Jackson

area. A few things can be correlated to this, as shown by some comparison points in the data

summary - more middle class families correlate with higher education attainment, less

individuals living under the poverty level, and a smaller foreign born population in the area. As

there are more middle class families living in the Jackson area, we can also infer that there are

likely more children from middle class families attending Andrew Jackson.

Our reading from Public Education Under Siege by Maia Cucchiara stated that when more

middle and upper-middle class children attended a specific public school, the school was able

to receive more resources, including a new playground, high-tech library, and an additional

kindergarten teacher. A few comparison points in the data summary allows us to believe that

Andrew Jackson meets a higher standard than Southwark Elementary. Jackson has a slightly

lower student to teacher ratio, no teachers in their first year of teaching were hired at Jackson -

whereas 2.6% of teachers at Southwark are in their first year of teaching, and Jackson also has

a higher overall performance score (49%) compared to Southwark (37%) in their school

progress report. Southwark has also experienced a decrease in their overall performance score

from the past two years while Jackson has seen a consistent year-to-year improvement. This

data only shows us correlation rather than cause-and-eect, but it is aligned with the common

trend that the more middle and middle-upper families there are in a school, the more resources
a school has, and therefore the better the students there will perform and the more they will

achieve.

Lastly, the mission statements from the two schools are very dierent. Although both

Southwark and Andrew Jackson have a diverse student population, it is only mentioned in

Jacksons mission statement which is centered around multiculturalism and celebrating

diversity. Southwarks mission, as mentioned in the data summary, is very simple and direct -

they hope to develop leadership in their students and educate them so they are all on-grade

level or beyond in reading, writing, and math. I found it interesting that they only specifically

called out those three academic areas and it made me wonder if they dont value other

subjects in their curriculum like science, social studies, music or art. Not to say that Southwark

doesnt have these programs in place, but Jackson makes it a point to include in their mission

statement an emphasis on helping their diverse students achieve by providing bilingual

programs, instructional modifications, special needs accommodations, and individualized

attention to students who need it. This reminded me of the book that I read in our book groups

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood by Christopher Emdin. The book explains that in

urban classrooms, we as teachers will always have to teach students from a dierent culture. If

we can go into a classroom with an embracing mindset of dierent cultures and eagerness to

learn from our students - whether its what they do outside of school, what their families are

like, what music they listen to - and adjust our teaching styles to best fit with our students, the

more likely students will be engaged in class and reach their full potential to learn. Based solely

on their mission statements, it seems like Jackson is more likely to be hiring teachers who

share the same value as the school, who also embrace multiculturalism and teaching methods

that accommodate students of color. This could also be attributed to why Andrew Jackson has

a higher performance score in their progress report compared to Southwark - among other

factors mentioned earlier, including household income, real estate value, and education

attainment within their neighborhood.