For this project, I compared two school districts. Danville school district was a more impoverished school district, while Loudoun County school district was the wealthiest school district in Virginia. I created the infographic to document contrasts between the two districts. One fact that may be surprising about the comparison is that the two districts had a similar per pupil expenditure. Due to federal and state funding received by Danville City school district, funds were available. However, an important distinction to be aware of is that Danville City schools are located in a rural area, and the schools have fewer students than schools in Loudoun County. This means that the budget is much, much lower in Danville City, and the per pupil expenditure doesn't reflect this because the funds are divided among fewer students. However, a school bus costs the same whether it is full or only partially full. Teachers still have to be paid their wages when their classrooms aren't full. Danville City schools provide free breakfast and lunch for every student, through federal funding which is counted towards their per pupil expenditure, while Loudoun County schools provide meals only to certain qualifying students. These instances and others help explain why per pupil expenditure between the two districts is similar, but student outcomes are different. The more impoverished district does not have the same spending power for teachers, instruction, materials, and programs that directly impact student learning and engagement, as the wealthiest school district has. Additionally, levels of parental involvement were higher in the wealthy school district, positively impacting student outcomes.
I used Canva to create the infographic contrasting just a few takeaways from the two financially different school districts.
The Danielson Framework Domain 2, Learning Environments, must be considered here. Component 2b, Fostering a Culture for Learning, is a necessary task for every teacher. The need does not change based on the budget. While greater parental involvement in one school district led students to be more eager to learn and establish a culture of learning, teachers in the more impoverished school district creatively provided opportunities for parents to engage with the school, too. Teachers in both school districts presented students with the value and importance of their learning and emphasized skills that accelerated their social, emotional, cognitive, and academic development.