Sanislo Supports Garfield Teachers
...but they are not boycotting the MAP test. Their letter to the Superintendent is both alloquent and heartfelt.
From the West Seattle blog comes this report about a letter sent to Superintendent Banda from the teachers at Sanislo:
From the West Seattle blog comes this report about a letter sent to Superintendent Banda from the teachers at Sanislo:
We the staff at Sanislo Elementary, by a unanimous vote, write to express our support for Garfield High School’s decision to not administer the MAP test. We share many of their same concerns, including the impact on a struggling student’s esteem and the lack of usability of the results when given the current text adoptions. We similarly decry the loss of instructional time, the loss of computer lab access and the loss of instructional assistants who are used as test proctors, in addition to the financial costs of the subscription itself and the tech support for implementing it.
Garfield and all high school teachers find themselves in a Kafkaesque situation in which their employment (including career ladder and termination) will be determined by a test which district officials told them is invalid, since the margin of error can exceed the expected growth score. The collective bargaining agreement allows teachers to be put on ‘improvement plans’ if their test
Washington State Teacher of the Year Finalist for National Title
I knew it.
I met the Washington State teacher of the year, Jeff Charbonneau, last week. He was so impressive and I told him I wouldn't be surprised if he were one of the four national finalists. And it was announced today that he is a finalist. The National Teacher of the Year will be announced in April.
Jeff teaches physics, chemistry and engineering at Zillah High School in Zillah, Washington (outside of Yakima). They have 400 students.
After years of perseverance, he was able to offer college-level classes. In his classroom alone, students can
I met the Washington State teacher of the year, Jeff Charbonneau, last week. He was so impressive and I told him I wouldn't be surprised if he were one of the four national finalists. And it was announced today that he is a finalist. The National Teacher of the Year will be announced in April.
Jeff teaches physics, chemistry and engineering at Zillah High School in Zillah, Washington (outside of Yakima). They have 400 students.
After years of perseverance, he was able to offer college-level classes. In his classroom alone, students can
In Advance of Today's Operations Committee Meeting
I am blessed to know people who also work hard to understand our district. Many of these sources have analytic skills far beyond mine and I am so glad they are willing to share their knowledge and understanding with me. What I put forth comes from conversations with a couple of these people. (But we don't all agree.)
In terms of capacity management for 2013-2014, here are a few things to consider as the Board has its Operations Committee of the Whole meeting today where they will be discussing this issue. (Also, keep in mind that as we have been discussing the NE middle school region a lot here, there will also be capacity management happening in West Seattle. For some reason West Seattle folks haven't weighed in much on that and I would guess they feel what the district has put forth for their region is reasonable.)
Let's flesh out what is the cold, hard truth - big change is coming to enrollment patterns in the NE. For elementary, for middle, for high school. BEX IV already reflects that with the addition of the new middle school
In terms of capacity management for 2013-2014, here are a few things to consider as the Board has its Operations Committee of the Whole meeting today where they will be discussing this issue. (Also, keep in mind that as we have been discussing the NE middle school region a lot here, there will also be capacity management happening in West Seattle. For some reason West Seattle folks haven't weighed in much on that and I would guess they feel what the district has put forth for their region is reasonable.)
Let's flesh out what is the cold, hard truth - big change is coming to enrollment patterns in the NE. For elementary, for middle, for high school. BEX IV already reflects that with the addition of the new middle school
Michelle Rhee is coming to Seattle
Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public schools from 2007 to 2010 and strident education reformer is coming to Seattle to speak at Town Hall and you can attend for free.
Location:
Location:
Town Hall, Great Hall
1119 Eighth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Program: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. including book signing