Running head: INQUIRY TO MID-TERM WORK 1

Inquiry to Curriculum Project

Mid-Term Work
Sarah Ebright
Miami University















2

Literature Review
During my field experiences this semester, thus far, at Wildwood Elementary in
Middletown, Ohio, I have found that many district wide meetings are centered on the fact that
the district is roughly 2 years behind. As I hear the staff members and faculty discussing this
issue, I cant understand why so many students spend much of their time out of the classroom.
Many schools, not just Middletown, focus on these pullout systems that seem to do much more
harm than good. Students who are pulled out 2, 3, and 4 times a day lose so much valuable
instructional time.
More specifically, many of the students that are in urban schools that qualify and receive
free breakfast and lunches, spend a lot of the same valuable instructional time eating their meals
(mainly breakfast) in the classroom. For instance, in my 1
st
grade field placement, my students
spend 35 minutes, give or take, eating their breakfast every morning. As important as it is that
students feel nourished and have an adequate meal before the day begins, it is also important to
think about how much instructional time is lost during the day, week, and year, when it all adds
up.
Although much of the research supports students eating breakfast at schools, specifically
in the classroom, the question still stands as to what is the best practice for students to eat a well-
balanced breakfast, without cutting into valuable instructional time. According to Basch (2011),
Allowing students to eat breakfast in the classroom in the morning, as opposed to in the
cafeteria before school starts, has been found to be an acceptable and effective strategy for
increasing participation in school breakfast. This alternative makes it easier for youth to
participate. In-class breakfast has been shown to be both feasible and acceptable. This article
supports students eating breakfast in the classroom, so it is evident that impoverished schools
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and communities need access to Free and Reduced Lunch Programs. However, it is important to
also acknowledge that even though the research supports eating breakfast at school, it is apparent
that some work be done to design a more rigid and effective schedule for students specially in
the Middletown School District (at Wildwood Elementary). With the low test scores and district
meetings indicating that the district is roughly 2 years behind on the national average, then more
work needs to be done in order to eliminate wasted instructional time in the classroom.
Students and teachers cannot afford to lose this time, just so students can have a 30-40 breakfast.
As research shows, students in urban school settings are less likely to eat breakfast before
they come to school. Disparities in breakfast consumption among urban minority youth may be
influenced, in part, by lack of time and appetite in the morning, as well as by economic factors
that affect household food security (Basch, 2011). As a result, many schools, including
Wildwood Elementary implement programs so their students are afforded the luxury of eating a
well-balanced breakfast everyday (5 days/week) since all the students receive free breakfast,
regardless if they already ate breakfast at home. If a majority of the schools are allowing their
students to eat their breakfast in the classroom, then how much of the instructional time is lost
daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly?
According to Meier (2003), There are five propositions about schools. One being that
schools need focus. With regards to the classroom instruction, how much focus is taken away
daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, when so much time is spent on students in urban settings
needs. These could range from hunger pains, hygiene concerns, emotional/social needs, and
academic needs (pull-out programs for reading interventions, math interventions, etc.). This
focus needs to be on what the students need, but also about the hows and whys the deeper
thinking that surrounds these issues. For instance, it is apparent that students in urban schools
4

and other schools, as well need to eat a nutritious breakfast in order to be at their utmost
potential. That is evident. However, by spending so much time on earing in the classroom, is that
saying that we value eating over learning? That we value pulling students out of the classroom to
check off that students name for intervention, instead of utilizing instructional classroom time?
It seems as if there has been a sudden sense of helplessness not only from the students, but from
the parents and families of these students, as well. For instance, at Wildwood Elementary many
of the students and families just become accustomed to getting free stuff and almost expecting
it because of these programs offered in the district. Some students whose parents feed them
before school, also eat breakfast when they get to school either because it is better than what
they had at home or because they dont want to be the only student not eating. This in turn
doesnt help the childhood obesity issues either, as most of the so-called well-balanced
breakfasts they are serving are sugary-coated cereals or chocolate muffins.
In my field classroom, several students have said that they wanted to pack their lunch for
school, but their parents have refused because they get free lunch at school. They say, Why
would I pay for a Lunchable at the grocery store, when you can get free pizza and corn at
school? Another example of how some parents just expect the school to cover the costs of their
students, is the idea of school pictures. In the past, the photograph company has sent everyone
home with the pictures and expected the parents to send money back, which is not a good idea, if
many of these parents think that these pictures are free. Again, why would someone pay for
something, when they already received the pictures, even though that is not the right thing to do?
What kind of messages are we sending our youth by doing this? Are we enabling students?
Parents? Are we ensuring that students are being fed AND that we are utilizing instructional time
wisely and appropriately?
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In the Teacher Education (473) course that I am currently taking as a pre-service
educator, I have learned how seeing the student is an integral part of being a caring, competent,
and transformative teacher. Ayers (1993) states that Teaching is an interactive practice that
begins and end with seeing the student. It is ongoing and never completely finished. The student
grows and changes, the teacher learns, the situation shifts, and seeing becomes an evolving
challenge. As layers of mystification and obfuscation are peeled away, as the student becomes
more fully present to the teacher, experiences and ways of thinking and knowing that were
initially obscure become the ground on which an authentic and vital teaching practice can be
constructed (p.12). As teachers, it is important to see a students needs what they need
academically, socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc. In urban school settings, this
sometimes seems to take precedence over instruction. In a society that is driven by test and
assessment data, how can urban educators find the balance between these issues?
Overall, it is important for future educators to recognize that sometimes instructional time
is lost in urban school settings, when other outside problems take priority. However, it is up to
the teacher to see her students and determine what is best for them at that point in time. Is it that
they take 5 extra minutes as a class to eat breakfast together to build a community of learners? Is
it to jumpstart the day with journaling to discuss their feelings or issues? Or is it to acknowledge
the curriculum in a way that is open for interpretation? The point is to develop a curriculum that
engages kids, challenges them, encourages them, activates them, and invites them to think
seriously and deeply over a sustained period of time, (Ayers, p.99). As Ayers indicates, it is
important for teachers to not only see their students, but to acknowledge what they need at any
given point in time. In doing this, it is also important to eliminate the unnecessary content or
time-wasters in the classroom. By utilizing every ounce of the day, will foster learning in
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meaningful and purposeful ways that will improve the way the students see and view their world
around them.
Context
QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION about Middletown, Ohio:
Economic
o Unemployment:
As of the last census, the Middletown, OH unemployment rate of 11.1%
was worse than the 7.9% national average. [USAcityfacts.com]
o Income
Median household income is $35,607. [USA.com, 2014]
White people make $39,168 on average, this is the highest paid group.
[USAcityfacts.com]
Middletown, OH has a poverty rate of 17.4%. [USAcityfacts.com]
Occupational [USAcityfacts.com]
o Middletown, OH workers work 39/hours per week on average.
[USAcityfacts.com]
o The break down for commute times in Middletown, OH is: 64.3% under 25
minutes, 25.9% 25-45 minutes, and 9.8% above 45 minutes. [USAcityfacts.com]
o Sales and office occupations - 26.2%
o Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 20.7%
o Service occupations 19.4%
o Management, business, and financial occupations 9.8%
o Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations 9.1%
o Education, legal, community service, arts, and media occupations 6.8%
o Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations - 5.0%
o Computer, engineering, and science occupations 3.0%
Demographic
o Middletown, OH has a population of 48,694. [USAcityfacts.com]
o The city's population is 98.1% native born and 1.9% foreign born.
[USAcityfacts.com]
o The city's residents are 48.7% married and 51.3% single. [USAcityfacts.com]
o Population by Race: [USAcityfacts.com]
The most prevalent race in Middletown is white, which represent 83.3% of
the total population.
Black or African American - 11.7%
Hispanic - 3.8%
Two or more races - 2.7%
Asian - 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native - 0.2%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander - 0.0%
o Population by Gender: [USAcityfacts.com]
Female - 52.5%
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Male - 47.5%
o Population by Age: [USAcityfacts.com]
< 25 - 33.3%
25 44 - 28.4%
45 64 - 27.1%
> 64 - 14.9%
Housing
o Median price of a house is $104,300. [USA.com, 2014]
o Median year that a house was built is 1959. [USA.com, 2014]
o Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2011:
$1,808 (1.6%) [City-Data.com]
o For homes with mortgages, owner costs average $1,184/mo. [USAcityfacts.com]
o 34.7% of the homes are rentals and 51.1% are occupied by their owners.
[USAcityfacts.com]
o Homes have 5 rooms on average. [USAcityfacts.com]
Crime
o The Middletown crime rate is much higher than the Ohio average crime rate and
is much higher than the national average crime rate. [USA.com, 2014]
o There are 118 registered sex offenders living in Middletown, as of April 4, 2014.
[City-Data.com]
Education
o The average Middletown education level is lower than the state average and is
lower than the national average. [USA.com, 2014]
o High School or Higher: 81.8% [City-Data.com]
o Bachelors Degree of Higher: 13.8% [City-Data.com]
o Graduate or Professional Degree: 4.8% [City-Data.com]
o Unemployed: 12.9% [City-Data.com]
o Colleges: [City-Data.com
Miami University Middletown
Carousel Beauty College

QUALITATIVE INFORMATION about Middletown, Ohio:
By talking to the local residents, I learned that many of them referred to Middletown as a
dying city. Most of them reminisced about how the Towne Mall used to be the it place and
now there are hardly any stores that will stay open within the mall. I also learned that this
eliminated a lot of jobs for many of the residents, as well as cutting back on hours, since the
volume of shoppers at Towne Mall has been declining over the years. In talking with several of
the parents from my field placement, I learned that there are a variety of types of backgrounds
and career placements for the families in Middletown. One of the mothers (of one of my field
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students) was in a homosexual relationship and she worked as an appraiser in and around the city
of Middletown. It was interesting to me that her daughter had told her 1
st
grade classmates that
she had 3 moms, as she lived with 2 of them and the other mom was gone.
While traveling in and around Middletown, Ohio, I noticed that the city looked really run
down. On Breiel Boulevard, there are nothing but fast-foot restaurants for miles. I also noticed a
lot of dollar stores (Family Dollar, Save-A-Lot, Dollar General), banks, and car/auto repair
shops. According to the data, it would make sense that 26% of the population falls in sales, with
the majority of the town being made up of restaurants and a mall in the center of town and 9% in
maintenance occupations.
I also noticed how many doctors offices and specialists are housed in Middletown,
particularly along Breiel Boulevard. It is interesting that there are so many offices; yet, the data
has healthcare practitioners and technical occupations at 5%. Therefore, it is apparent that most
of the healthcare professionals that work in Middletown do not actually live in town. Looking at
this from an educational perspective, it is almost discouraging that many of the role-models
that the students in the district see around them in their environments are employees (parents,
siblings, friends, neighbors, etc.) that work at these blue collar and minimally paid positions. If
our students of the future are not exposed to role-models that live in their environment, then how
do we as future educators prove that education is the bridge out of poverty? For instance, if a
student sees that his/her parent works at Burger King and has a good life, then will he/she want
to work to have a better lifestyle one with a higher paying position, possible? Or will the lack
of professionals out in the community or as parental support limit what students do and see for
themselves because thats what they have only been exposed to? Maybe they dont or wont see
themselves successful? On the other hand, I wonder if some students will be motivated
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intrinsically to break the cycle of poverty and to use education as a guide for success. All these
ideas were going through my head, as I drove through the town, seeing really young women
pushing a stroller of several young children or seeing parents in their pajamas picking up their
children from school. Although I dont know each familys circumstance, it is hard not to be
judgmental of the parents looking like they do, when you hear about parents being in jail, or the
drug busts, or even the rise of heroin usage in Middletown, Ohio.
**Specific Wildwood Elementary Data; (Mrs. Spaeths 1
st
Grade Class) There are 21 students in
the class. There are 8 boys and 13 girls. There are 3 ELL students 2 that work with an ELL
tutor and 1 who tested out. Many of the students are medicated for various reasons ADHD,
ODD, or some other health issue. Mrs. Spaeth does not have any students currently on an IEP,
but 6 are considered at-risk. Of the 21 students, 10 students (about 50%) are on grade-level or
above.
Findings
Question: How much time is spent eating breakfast in the classroom (in the morning) resulting in
instructional time lost in Kindergarten, in 1
st
grade, in 2
nd
grade, and in 3
rd
grade at Wildwood
Elementary?
How Much Time is Spent Eating Breakfast at Wildwood Elementary?
Kindergarten
(Mrs. Snelling)
1
st
Grade
(Mrs. Spaeth)
2
nd
Grade
Mrs. Million
3
rd
Grade
Mrs. Turber
35 minutes 35 minutes 20 minutes 15 minutes

As predicted, the younger the grade level, the more time was spent on eating breakfast in
the classroom. However, I would have expected that it would take this long at the beginning of
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the year, as younger students are being accustomed to school practices/routines, but I wouldnt
have expected it still in the middle of March/April. It is interesting that regardless of the grade
level, there is still a significant amount of time that is spent on eating breakfast in the classroom.
The 1
st
grade spends 30 minutes for Response to Intervention, which is LESS time than what
Kindergarten and 1
st
grade are taking to eat in the classroom. Even 3
rd
grades time spent on
eating breakfast is of an RtI session.
In field, I saw much of the same practices and routines in all the grade levels at
Wildwood Elementary. In Kindergarten, the students came into the classroom, grabbed their bag
of breakfast, and sat at their tables. I noticed how many of the items in the sacks were hard to
open, pre-packaged snacks. So many of the students had difficulties opening their orange juice
cartons and cheese stick wrappers, just to name a few of the items that were included in the
breakfast bags. First grade was much of the same, as students struggled opening most of the
packages and items in their bags. It seemed like the students were more concerned with actually
eating the food in the younger grades (Kindergarten and 1
st
grade), than in 2
nd
and 3
rd
grade,
where most of them just wanted to roam around the room and socialize with friends. I also found
it very interesting that depending on the breakfast served, varied the behaviors that I saw in the
classroom. For instance, if the students had chocolate chip pancakes and Teddy Grahams, they
were so focused on eating and asking for seconds. However, if the students had blueberry
muffins and frozen strawberries, they were less likely to want to eat and instead, play around and
socialize with their friends.
When observing in 2
nd
and 3
rd
grade, I noticed how it didnt take as long to get the
breakfast items opened and eaten. However, I did notice that the students in these grades wanted
to multi-task, while eating. For instance, some would eat and read, others would eat and play
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with a toy, bracelet, or something in their pencil boxes, while eating. It was very interesting how
the food the students were served also depended on the students behavior, even in 2
nd
and 3
rd

grade. Most of what I saw in from Kindergarten to 3
rd
grade was a loss of instructional time
because either students were not given a schedule or time limit for finishing breakfast. One of the
2
nd
grade teachers said that often the teachers will give the students extended time or will delay
the start of the day because the administration doesnt start the day with the morning
announcements and Pledge of Allegiance until 25 minutes after the school bell rings. Another 1
st

grade teacher said that she doesnt like to begin an activity or lesson while the students are eating
because they are so distracted. She also said that she doesnt like to be interrupted by the
morning announcements or Pledge, since the administration comes on over the Intercom at
varying times in the morning. This teacher said one day announcements will be at one time and
the next time they will come on 5-10 minutes later.
This tension among many of the teachers and the administration definitely has an impact
on a loss of instructional time in the classroom. It seems as if the teachers have given up waiting
for the administration to have a more rigid schedule for morning announcements, because it in
turn affects classroom instruction.
Discussion
Although some tensions in the school setting cannot be changed for various reasons,
coming up with a consistent and structured time and schedule for morning announcements could
lead to better planning for teachers specifically in Kindergarten through 3
rd
grade. This planning
would result in better time management, so students could have an allotted time to eat their
breakfast in the classroom, as the research supports. This would result in less instructional time
lost in the classroom. In turn, this could ultimately change the outcomes for the district, as many
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of the meetings are centered on Middletown collectively being 2 years behind. Since the research
supports positive outcomes from having students eat breakfast in the classroom, it is important
for administration and teachers to be on board to come up with a solution for solving such a
pertinent problem and tension in the school. For a majority of the teachers, this tension results in
limited time to essentially cram more standards in, instead of creating a deeper understanding
of the material at hand.
As indicated in other Teacher Education courses, it is important for teachers to develop
and choose activities and lessons that are purposeful and meaningful. How can Wildwood
effectively and appropriately utilize a meaningful and purposeful type of a curriculum when so
much time is invested in just eating breakfast, socializing, and essentially beginning the school
day? These are all questions that will ultimately influence the way the students learn and grow in
an environment that is student-centered and focused on improving student learning outcomes.
For students in an urban school setting, it is important for the teacher to see exactly what
the student needs at any given point in time. As the teacher wears multiple hats during the
school day, it is critical for the teacher to provide opportunities for project based learning
activities and center instruction based on big ideas and divergent thinking. In an environment
that is focused on utilizing every teachable moment, the student will ultimately acquire the skills
needed to be successful in such a competitive world. In conclusion, urban school teachers should
be aware of the needs of students and understand that utilizing instructional time throughout the
day is critical for achieving student success, since so much time is often invested in outside
curriculum what the students home life is like, what the student is going to eat for dinner, if
the student is and feels safe at home, etc.

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References
Ayers, W. (1993). To teach: the journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press.
Basch, C. E. (). Breakfast And The Achievement Gap Among Urban Minority Youth. Journal of
School Health, , 635-640.
Meier, D. (). So what does it take to build a school for democracy. Democracy and Civic
Engagement, , 15-21.