Running Head: ASSIGNMENT THREE

Assignment Three
Nicole Van Iwaarden
Arizona State University

PPE 310
Professor Jessica Skipper
September 13, 2015

Step 1: School Assessment

Assessment Results
Overall Grade: F
During School: 60%
Keep going! You're already well on your way to an Active & Healthy Schools environment. Get
teachers and staff involved, perhaps introduce some additional activities, and you'll be looking
great!
Curriculum: 20%
Let's get to work. The Active & Healthy Schools Program is committed to creating programs that
schools can successfully implement and maintain. Let's look at some possibilities for your PE
program.
Recess / Lunch: 50%
Room for improvement. Help students get more out of your recess and lunch programs by
providing additional information and resources, or by rescheduling recess time for after lunch.
After School: 60%
Outstanding! Adding one or two after-school activities or a take-home newsletter can make your
school an Active & Healthy center in your neighborhood!

Step 2: Questions
1. What are at least two strengths and two weaknesses of your school?
Strengths: We provide a lot of after school programs such as robotics, NJHS, student
council and a plethora of sports. Our school also has a recycling program.
Weaknesses: There is a lack of diversity and students do not get much physical activity
outside of P.E.
2. Describe each strength and weakness based on your observation/experience as well as your
results from the School Assessment Tool.
Strength one: students that are involved in after school programs tend to be more
invested in their classes because their grades effect whether they can participate in sports
and other activities.
Strength two: the recycling program promotes sustainability and environment
awareness.
Weakness one: lack of diversity does not allow students the opportunity to work with a
variety of different mindsets and can create a challenge for them later on.
Weakness two: students sometimes get to move in the classroom when Kagan
cooperative learning structures are incorporated; however, most of the time, students do
not have an opportunity for movement outside of P.E.
3. What are at least two ways to improve the policies in place at your school? Explain detailed
information for each way and what you expect from each way.
Teachers can have students move for at least five minutes in the middle of class either as
a brain break or as a cooperative learning structure to ensure students are moving in
every single class. This will help with student engagement and also ensure that students
are moving and being actively engaged each day outside of P.E.
The school should send home a monthly newsletter with ideas on how to live a healthy
lifestyle. This could give a healthy (and cheap) recipe for families to use each month,
tips on how to be more active, and statistics showing how serious obesity is in Arizona.
In informing parents and students of these subjects, parents will hopefully be inspired to
live a more healthy lifestyle and to help their child(ren) to do so as well.
4. What are at least two ways that you can you use this information to engage administration,
teachers, parents, students and the community in promoting more healthful
behaviors? Include a specific description for how to use the results from the School
Assessment Tool as well as your ideas for improvement.
Madison Meadows does not seem to have a health curriculum. Instead of implementing
a full curriculum, teachers can encourage students to be healthy. This can be done by
leading through example. Teachers should be active and eat healthy foods while
stressing the importance of health to their students.
Another way to encourage healthy behavior is for teachers to reach out to parents to
stress the importance of being active. For example, a way to encourage healthy behavior
could be writing a monthly newsletter to parents with important physical activity facts
and how to encourage their child(ren) to be more active.

5. How can the information obtained be used to support your potential topic for the Signature
Assignment?
For my signature assignment, Im looking at physical activity and academic
performance. In having students move more in the classroom using brain breaks and
active learning, I can see firsthand whether having students move in the classroom
increases their engagement and academic performance.

Step 3: School Breakdown

1. School Name, District, Enrollment
Madison Meadows
Madison
811 students
2. % free/reduced lunch
10% in 2014
3. Enrollment
811 students
4. Proportion ELLs
Approximately 2.8% in 7th grade
5. Average class size and grade levels
Approximately 30 students per class for each grade level
6. Urban/rural/suburban
Suburban
7. Ethnic makeup and any demographic information of the surrounding community
infrastructure
Mainly Caucasian
White: 68.9%
Hispanic: 22.2%
Black: 5.2%
Asian: 2.5%
American Indian: 1.2%
8. The School Letter Grade (A,B,C etc) or AYP status if applicable
A
9. Title 1
No
10. Public/Charter/Private
Public
11. Any pertinent information as it relates to your chosen topic for the Signature Assignment
Student to teacher ratio is 19:1
Absenteeism: approximately 6% a day
Reference
(2015). Madison Meadows School. Retrieved from http://www.schooldigger.com/go/AZ/
schools/0450000354/school.aspx