Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Washington State Passes 24 Credit Graduation Requirement
More Things that Make You Go, Hmmm
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Washington State Passes 24 Credit Graduation Requirement
I'll let Representative Gerry Pollet - who worked his ass off to make sure this law was fair to Sped students - tell you about it (written on March 12th):Earlier today we did something terrific for our children and schools. We were faced with a punitive Senate bill to require every student to finish 24 credits to graduate from high school even if they were sick or homeless for some period of time,
More Things that Make You Go, Hmmm
It appears that the Washington State legislature NOT voting to change the teacher evaluation law doesn't entirely mean the issue is done. Apparently Duncan is still mulling options and talking to Washington State officials. Superintendent Randy Dorn is still willing to talk but apparently doesn't think the waiver will be granted. We'll probably hear something by next week.I received an odd press
Smarter Balance (Common Core) Pilot Testing Cancelled at Ballard; Who Else?
Update: well, this is interesting. So SPS is not going to field test any students in grades 3-10. The only schools that were participating were Ballard and Roosevelt. Ballard has bowed out for 11th grade and that leaves Roosevelt testing some 11th grades in the math test. It's a bit confusing because we here at the blog know - from reading newsletters at Hale - that Hale wanted their students
New York Times Story on Later Starts for High School
The story even throws in a nod to efforts here in Seattle. (Update on SPS and this issue to come.)The takeaway?“Even schools with limited resources can make this one policy change with what appears to be benefits for their students,” Dr. Miller said. And who is getting the most traction? A civic-minded (and tired) Missouri teen named Jilly Dos Santos. Jilly Dos Santos really did try to get to sc
Legislatively Speaking
Well, that teacher evaluation law change - the one Arne Duncan was using as something of a blackmail stick - went down with a whimper, not a bang. I attribute this to a couple of things. One, there seemed to be confusion about what the money was for and how much any district actually used (and therefore might lose). Two, Duncan had not given any guarantee for the waiver if the law got changed. T
Friday Open Thread
The Florida legislature will be considering a bill to meet grad requirements for high school students by substituting computer science for ...PE. Yes, that makes sense with childhood obesity. The rates of childhood obesity have leveled off but this doesn't seem to make sense. I would think allowing anyone in a sport to not take PE but high school PE is a way to teach kids about the importance o
MAR 13
One Mom's No-Nonsense Attitude on Opting Out
As the nation gets into its standardized testing season, the number of parents, in districts throughout the nation, that are opting their children out is growing. In a story from Chalkbeat Colorado, one mom was very clear on her wishes for her daughter. When the school ignored them - placing her daughter in an office with adults who were talking to her about the test and refusing to allow that ch
Google in Big Trouble for Data-Mining Student E-mails
I will be writing a thread about what I learned at the Work Session on data privacy yesterday. Some is good, some not-so-good (with Director Carr asking the best questions). But I can say that SPS has NOT done enough. From Education Week:As part of a potentially explosive lawsuit making its way through federal court, giant online-services provider Google has acknowledged scanning the contents
Fireworks Coming as Parents/School Staffs Clamor for Attention
Tonight is the second of the Superintendent's regional meetings about the Strategic Plan at 6:30 p.m. at Hale High School.I suspect that this particular meeting - coming on the heels of pushback from staff on later start times AND the brewing rebellion by schools over cuts to their budgets - might prove to be larger and more contentious than the one earlier this week. And Hale - having had a late
"Redshirting" Kindergartners
From Ed Week:The youngest kindergarteners in any class are about five times more likely to be retained in school compared to their older peers, a new study states.Moreover, educators don't tend to modify their teaching to include a variety of age groups present in kindergartens—but they should make such accommodations, wrote Francis L. Huang, assistant professor in the University of Missouri Colle
MAR 12
McCleary Decision Budgeting Looming Large
From my old fav, Horsesass.org (welcome back, Goldy):The indisputable mathematical truth is that we simply cannot meet McCleary and maintain existing government services at constant levels, without raising new revenue. It can’t be done! And anybody who tells you otherwise is either a liar or an idiot. Washington state has a structural revenue deficit. There is absolutely no way we can magically fu
Seattle Schools Education Updates
Thank you to my readers; I can't be everywhere and these are important updates all parents should know.First,Ingraham staff just voted down their budget, 58-1 and released the following statement: " We reject the budget on the grounds that it forces us to compromise basic student and staff safety, requires us to compromise building and community standards for a comprehensive high school and r
Last Hours for the Teacher Evaluation Bill with Duncan Threat Hanging Over It
Update from another Rosenthal tweet today at 9:25 am:House ldr Sullivan on TVW seems to deem teacher evals dead: "In the end, you have to do the right thing regardless of the (feds') threat"The Washington State Legislature will adjourn their session tomorrow (unless a special session is called by the Governor).Among the last lame duck bills is the one that would change the wording of th
Ed News Roundup
Think it's just teacher evaluations that Arne Duncan wants to manipulate? Nope, according to this op-ed on Obama and American public education that appeared in the Huffington Post,This past week, as the deadline approached for states to make their submissions to Arne Duncan's Department of Education requesting monies appropriated under the Race to the Top initiative, we were reminded that the DOE
Big Data - The New Coin of the Realm
My predictions for the new coin of the realm for the next 25 years for both business and government? Data and lots of it. And now, we have "digital data backpacks" so that your child's data can be "carried" around AND made use of anywhere your child goes. From The Atlantic (with the what-should-be-troubling-to-you title, Your High School Transcript Could Haunt You Forever, th
MAR 11
Duncan Blinks....for California
From the Washington Post:The U.S. Department of Education is allowing California to bypass federal requirements by giving standardized tests in math and reading to millions of public school students this spring without publicly reporting results or using them to hold schools or teachers accountable.This is for this year only.Duncan had been threatening to hold on to up to $3.5B in federal funding
Homework - Is it Worth It?
In what is probably one of THE longest running discussions in the history of US public education, comes yet another study on the outcomes for student doing homework.From Stanford University News (Stanford is where the study was conducted):A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matt
States Starting to Grasp the Realities of Common Core
Two major stories have come across the wire in the last 24 hours about Common Core. One school district in Massachusetts, Worcester, says that parents can opt out of field testing for the Common Core assessment. (There are two groups creating assessments. One is PARCC and the other is Smarter Balanced; Washington State belongs to the latter.)From MASS Live:Thursday night, the Worcester School Co
Tuesday Open Thread
A reader let me know that his/her home got a call from Universal Survey (according to their phone message they do "marketing and political opinion" surveys. The caller said they were doing a survey for SPS. The reader did not continue the call. Anyone else? As well, the APP blog had a comment that one person had not received their scores and e-mailed AL. They received a prompt reply
MAR 10
SEA Fighting Back on NCLB Waiver
Update: good POV from a teacher on this issue. One interesting statement:Last week I attended a function at the University of Puget Sound where Bellevue Elementary Teacher Linda Myrick made an excellent point. She noted that some (certainly not all) of her students who fare well on tests have told her that they think some of their performance can be attributed to the extra tutoring their parent
AFT Severs Its Relationship with the Gates Foundation
From Politico:"The American Federation of Teachers ended a five-year relationship with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after rank-and-file union members expressed deep distrust of the foundation's approach to education reform. AFT President Randi Weingarten told Morning Education the union will no longer accept Gates money for its Innovation Fund, which was founded in 2009 and has rec
MAR 09
Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, March 10thCurriculum&Instruction Policy Meeting, 4:30-6:30 pm, AgendaOf interest:- an ask for a waiver for one school day for Lawton- update on Creative Approach schools- Math Adoption Progress reportThis week has two of the five Community Meetings for the Strategic Plan for each region. I would take this opportunity to ask ANY question you want because the Strategic Plan covers it al
Board Meeting/Retreat Wrap-up
I reported previously on the discussion of the issue of NW Center and Cascade as discussed at the Board meeting on Wednesday, March 5th. That, along with later start time advocates, was the bulk of public testimony. I note that it seems that a call seems to have gone out that at every Board meeting, there needs to be two non-profit groups working with Seattle schools that come and tell the Board
When There's Buck To Be Made (and Common Core is Tailor-Made for that)
Type in "Common Core" at Amazon - over 29,000 items.
Getting Organized for Public School Funding
Good article over at Crosscut by Lisa Arnold. I love the way she starts with a nod to all that parents do to raise money for their schools. Selling cookie dough is good. Widespread, ongoing citizen action directed at the Washington State Legislature is better. She quotes me and I probably could have stated it better about this issue. Parents have and do want to advocate for fully funded school
Just a Blogger
As Diane Ravitch said, when starting the Network for Public Education (NPE), We are many. There is power in our numbers. Together,we will save our schools.I felt very embraced at the 500-person conference. We were parents, teachers, bloggers, public education writers and activists. We want a bigger and more diverse tent. What was amazing was to heard many stories - from across the country - ab
MAR 08
Seattle Schools' Basketball Teams Advance to Championships
Update:Congratulations to the Cleveland High School girls basketball team - now the 3A state champions! They beat Bishop Blanchet High School, 54-45.Congratulations to Garfield High School's boys basketball team for winning the 4A state title overland Richland, 68-59!Congratulations to Rainier Beach High School's boys basketball team for winning the 3A state title over Eastside Catholic, 47-45!
