Seattle Schools Community Forum:
To Note about Asperger's Syndrome and Violent Behavior
Seattle Schools Community Forum
To Note about Asperger's Syndrome and Violent Behavior
Asperger's Syndrome is a higher-functioning form of Autism. In 2012 it was reclassified in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder. Some have called it "autism lite" but the change may signal issues in how children receive services for this condition. Autistic author and activist Temple Grandin expressed a
Important Reading on Teaching and Outcomes
Saturday News
The first comes from an interview in the American Psychological Association with psychologist Daniel Willingham, PhD who has a new book coming out called, "Raising Readers in the Age of Distraction."The interview, though, was about education and teachers and what works. I do not think that anything he says will come as ANY surprise to teachers. I find it all basic, reasonable and, as he
Saturday News
KING-5 did a report on our growing district. (And, if you hadn't heard, Seattle is apparently the fastest growing big city in the country. It is the 21st biggest city in the country.) KING reported that the district expects to have 60,000 students by 2020. That's just five-and-a-half years away. In a very sad story from The Charlotte Observer, a charter school in Charlotte, NC, is closing imme
Friday Open Thread
Naturally, in Seattle, the first "summer" holiday and it's raining. At the Columbus College of Art and Design, two anonymous students create art for all to enjoy. Something to show the artist in your home.New names to look for in, say 2019, in SPS classrooms:And once again, Game of Thrones rules. There were 1135 Aryas, 241 Khaleesis and 67 Daeneryses born in 2013. As well, for girls the
MAY 22
Public Education in the News
First up, from The Columbian (via Associated Press) which is reporting that the lead attorney for the McCleary case, Thomas Ahearne, told the Washington State Supreme Court that they should hold the Legislature in contempt for not complying with their orders.“We’re asking the court to at least hold the Legislature in contempt, to prohibit any more unfunded or underfunded mandates on our schools, a
Guest Post by Ballard High Student on Dress Codes
Tian Qing Yen, a senior at Ballard High School, submitted an op-ed, "My Clothing Does Not Define Me" to this blog:In the past few weeks, the Ballard administration has sent more girls home because of the way they dress than ever before. During class elections, the administration went around to all the students and explained that in order to avoid harassment students must pay attention t
State Releases Audit of Seattle Schools' Federal Programs
State Auditor Troy Keller released his office's report on SPS's "financial statements and compliance with federal laws and regulations."It's a lengthy report but that is because it contains page after page of district financial reports. It makes for interesting reading if you have the time. Page 49 has the investments that the City puts into SPS. There were no major issues with financ
MAY 21
Portable Usage in Oregon and Washington State
Earthfix and Investigate West had an excellent series, with data and graphics, on the use of school portables in Oregon and Washington State.InvestigateWest sent a survey to the 20 largest school districts in Oregon and Washington about its portable classroom use, policies and perspective. The survey asked each district how many portable classrooms it has and what percent of its total classrooms a
Math Adoption: Food for Thought
The Tampa Bay Times published this article in March 2014 about math textbooks not aligning to Common Core standards.As with much of Common Core, the issue is - what's the rush? Meaning, many of these textbooks do not fully (or even by half) align with CCSS because they had to rush into production in order to get them out for consideration. A lot of this "alignment" is WILL have to happ
Math Adoption Threatens Math Waiver Schools Experiencing Success
A letter from the Schmitz Park PTA was sent this week to the Board, the Superintendent and other district officials:Dear Seattle Public School Board Directors and District Staff,On behalf of the Schmitz Park PTA, we write this letter in opposition to the Math Adoption Committee’s recommendation to implement the enVision Math Program as the new math curriculum for all elementary schools in Septembe
Wilson-Pacific; DPD Comments due Today
The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development deadline for receiving comments is today, May 21st on the Wilson-Pacific project about zoning requests from SPS. Consider writing to them about any issue of concern: traffic impacts, loss of open space, and/or height.Here's a link to comment via e-mail, include the project #3015479, the address 1330 N. 90th and your mailing address. The D
What's going on at Highland Park?
Highland Park is an elementary school at the south end of West Seattle. The attendance area, between Roxhill's and Concord's, is bordered by Highway 509 on the east, by White Center on the south, and by Delridge on the west. The school report says that the school population is 78% FRL, 27% ELL, and 14% SpEd. Only 33% of the third graders passed the state reading proficiency test last year. You kno
MAY 20
Tuesday Open Thread
From SPS:The Source will be unavailable on Friday, May 23rd from 5:00pm - Tuesday, May 27th 6:00am for maintenance. This planned outage is required to upgrade PowerSchool to a newer version and improve performance and reliability. We apologize for any inconvenience. What field are incoming UW freshmen picking when they pick Engineering? Number one (hugely) is Computer Science. What's on your m
Spectrum is Dead
A reader sent in this letter - from View Ridge's principal, Terri Skjei - and frankly, it's all I need to believe that Spectrum is dead. But the letter also makes me wonder about this slow death. What is the point? A few thoughts on the contents:1) quite calm and thoughtful, almost the epitome of "we want your input" except that there really is no need to give any. The fix is in.2) The p
MAY 19
Seattle Schools Leadership Update
I'll print this in its entirety. From Superintendent Banda:Today we are announcing several leadership changes that will improve our ability to support our schools and students.Our Strategic Plan outlines a series of goals we must achieve over the next five years to improve academic success for our students. To meet the objectives outlined in the Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. strategi
Words Have Meaning (Redux)
On this blog you cannot (partial):- swear (beyond the occasional BS because we seem to have some readers with delicate sensibilities)- name call- leave racist, sexist, homophobic or likewise undeserved or irrational personal comments- make statements that you cannot back up unless you state it as an OPINION and/or use the words "it is alleged" or "it is my belief" when making c
What's the Math Summative Assessment?
I had no idea yet another test was happening in SPS but apparently it is true. It's a two-day test called the Math Summative Assessment.The window for testing started May 12th and is to finish May 23rd.From SPS (partial to first and second grade teachers):Seattle Public Schools will administer a summative mathematics assessment this spring to all first and second graders. The purpose of this ass
MAY 18
Stats on People Who Push Making Money Off Public Schools
From Diane Ravitch: The trade journal Alpha recently reported that the hedge fund industry’s top 25 earners collected $21.15 billion, a whopping 50 percent over their total the year before.A hedge fund manager in 2013 needed to take in $300 million just to make the top 25. Ten years ago, in 2004, an aspiring hedge fund kingpin only had to grab $30 million to enter the industry’s top 25 elite. But
More Ed Reform, Same Pattern - Direction, Down
A fairly amazing week in national ed reform news. Common Core.- the Chicago Teachers Union issued a resolution against Common Core that was brilliant.- in NY state, a former Regent spoke out against Common Core, mostly because of the work that had gone into developing NY State standards (only to see them tossed aside). - from the right, came Peggy Noonan (formerly President Reagan's speechwriter
School Road Safety Public Input Workshops
From the City of Seattle:Simply THE most important road safety meetings you can attend this year @SeattleDOT School Road Safety. Why? Starting in 2015, the School Road Safety Plan will prioritize millions in safety improvements every year around our schools. **Tuesday, May 20 at 6 PM to 7:30 PM SW Southwest Branch Seattle Public Library, 9010 35th Ave SW **Tuesday, May 27 at 6 PM to 7:30 PM Nor
Mapping Student Progress
Useful map from Education Next on how U.S. students perform vis a vis each other and students in other countries. Massachusetts comes out #1 in three out of the four percentages of students and 6th in the world.Washington State comes out in the middle of the pack internationally and 12th overall for the U.S.
Seattle Schools This Week
A very quiet week - for some reason - with just one event. There are no director community meetings (and again, why can't they space them out so that there is at least one every Saturday - there's three next Saturday).Wednesday May 21stSchool Board meeting. AgendaI note that the recognition this meeting is not for staff or students but for a departing Alliance for Education staff member.Under Su
MAY 17
Seattle Schools Odds and Ends
I actually have a pretty busy Saturday (and hey, I see sunshine so I want to take advantage of that as well) but I wanted to put up a few items for your viewing.One item is from Mirmac 1 - the Seattle Schools photo archive. I had never seen this archive (but I have been to the archives) and it's fun viewing. The second item is from next Wednesday's School Board meeting agenda. There is the trans