Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Saturday Open Thread
Thought I would put this up in case readers attend Director Community meetings and would like to let us know what was said.Also, from SPS, how feedback from the Strategic Plan Town Halls is to be used (see link for details):1. Additional translations of District communications. Many families said they want to receive more translated versions of our communications. 2. Improvements to the District w
Math Talk in Friday Update
Update: the Board meeting agenda was finally posted at the end of the day. There is an amendment to the Math Adoption via President Peaslee and Director Peters. We move that the School Board amend the motion for adoption of K-5 Mathematics Materials to include a dual adoption of Math in Focus Singapore Math and enVisionMath Realize for the K-5 curriculum, and that the BAR be amended and upd
Can You Speel? Not Me
All the winning words from the National Spelling Bee since 1925 via Washington Post. (Surprise the kids this weekend with "Pop quiz!" Then ask them to define the words, just kidding.) But I say, with no shame, that from about 1995 on, I'd have to guess what most of those words mean. The winner was 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali from New York with knaidel, a type of dumpling eaten especial
Troubling Talk
An article in the Seattle Times today troubled me deeply. Tough Talk (from the left) on race and Seattle Schools described a recent meeting in Columbia City called “Race, Class and Education”. The meeting acknowledged the wide difference in academic performance between affluent White and Asian students and minority students from low-income homes. That fact is troubling in itself. The school distri
Math Adoption - You Can Influence the Outcome
We are now at the nth hour for the Math Adoption. I say that because by Monday, Tuesday - it will be too late. This is the weekend that any waivering directors will make up their minds. There are three Director Community meetings tomorrow morning. Their e-mail isschoolboard@seattleschools.org - put "math adoption" in the subject line. The phone number to leave a message is 252-0040.By
MAY 29
All Charter New Orleans raises an interesting question
The Washington Post reports that the New Orleans school district will be all charter next year.No matter what you think about charter schools, think about this:What is the role of a school district when it does not actually operate any schools?In this situation, the district pretty much becomes a charter school authorizer.The Board could continue in its role as a policy-making body. They can still
Education Funny of the Day - No Cursive for You!
From an article in Linkara, about different experiences with learning and teachers.The American school system is not here to educate us or to encourage us to learn; it’s here to keep us in line and silent. It’s here to keep us from deviating and being our own people and forming our own ideas. Don’t let it win.There are plenty of amazing teachers who go the extra mile, in public or private schools
Now THAT'S What the Court Should Do about McCleary
Kudos to Peter Callaghan at the News Tribune for his column on what the Supreme Court should do to nudge the Legislature along to enact McCleary. (If you read the column, you'll see I'm being sarcastic about "nudge.") Out the gate:“Do we look stupid? We may have faults individually and collectively, but we’re not stupid. We ruled unanimously in January 2012 that the state is in violatio
Last Three Days for GET
Washington State's GET program (Guaranteed Education Tuition) is in its three final days for this round of enrollment. Now, thru the end of May, they will be waiving the $50 enrollment fee.June 30th is the last date to add to your account if you are already enrolled.
Friday Open Thread
Tomorrow sees three Director Community Meetings - if you want something to change in the math adoption, you might want to drop in on one. Patu - 10 am - noon, Cafe VittaMcLaren - 10 am - noon, SW Branch Public LibraryPeters - 11 am - 12:30 pm - Queen Anne library, first hour for students (according to SPS website)I was unable to attend the DPD meeting for Wilson-Pacific last night but I hear it wa
MAY 28
Washington State Democrats' Platform on Education has Changed (in a big way)
I have been made aware that the Washington State Democratic platform for 2014 - at least in the education section - has seen some major changes. The last platform's education area is quite different from 2012's platform. There is no mention of ELL students, class size, full inclusion of all students, counselors/nurses/librarians, career training, music and fine arts, foreign language, civics, par
Follow Ups
Still waiting for information on the Math Summative Assessment. The questions I posed on this mystery assessment were not that hard so I'm puzzled as to why it is taking so long to answer them.As you may recall, the Superintendent recently promoted/created positions within SPS. I had wondered (as did a few of you) what the salaries for these positions are:Barbara Robbins, Director of Project Man
Seattle Schools Math Adoption: Apples to Apples?
A reader who is deeply concerned about the math adoption conducted a public records request to SPS for e-mail about the math adoption. She got about 237 pages of e-mails. I have not yet read all of them but the ones I have read do concern me about both the process and the outcomes.We all realize that, in our jobs, when we are asked to help formulate decisions on what direction to go or products
Advanced Learning Taskforce Update
There is a joint meeting of the Advanced Learning Taskforces tomorrow, Thursday the 29th from 4-8 pm in the JSCEE auditorium. They will be discussing their recommendations with an eye to presenting a combined recommendation plan to the Superintendent and Board in the future. The public is invited to attend but no questions or feedback will be happening as this is purely a meeting for the committ
This and That
The Times is reporting that the City will be installing speed cameras at five more school zones this summer. They are Roxhill Elementary (WS), Dearborn Park Elementary (Beacon Hill), Bailey-Gatzert Elementary (Central) and Eckstein Middle (NE). They will be used starting Sep. 2nd. For the first 30 days, you'll get a warning and then the ticket is $189. They will be used one hour in the morning
MAY 27
Next Time, Ask Teachers What Will Work
Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.credit: Fred Klonsky
2012 Public Education Finances, Census of Governments
A new report has just come out called Public Education Finances: 2013 (2012 Census of Governments). I'm just digging in but it makes for great comparisons to other states (and what it all might mean). For example for Public Elementary-Secondary School System Revenue Source by State, we see Washington in the upper middle with California on top and South Dakota at the bottom. For Public Elementar
Ed News Roundup
It's been a busy weekend and day for education news (as always).First, SPS Communications put out a press release about the continued growth in Seattle Schools. As I reported last week, the district projects to be about 60,000 students by 2020. School by school projections here.Seattle Public Schools has released its annual spring enrollment projections for the 2014-15 school year. An estimated
Tuesday Open Thread
From SPS Communications:Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of two Seattle Public Schools students included in the second group of winners in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are:• Anthony L. Bencivengo from Nathan Hale High School, whose probable career field is playwriting; and• Tara I. Mar
MAY 26
Seattle Schools This Week
Wednesday, May 28th - Exit Conference for Financial and Single Federal Audit from 4-5 pmGiven that the Auditor has already released this audit, I don't expect much new information to be revealed. - Work Session: Strategic Plan Scorecard & Targets from 5-6 pmNo presentation available. Saturday, May 31stCommunity Meetings with Board DirectorsDirector Patu - 10 am - noon at Cafe VitaDirector McL
MAY 25
You CAN Check into Your Child's Grades This Weekend
I missed this earlier so you can check into The Source, etc.From SPS:Due to new upgrade issues discovered this week, the PowerSchool Upgrade that was planned for Memorial Day Weekend has been cancelled. PowerSchool, PowerTeacher and the Source are all available on their regular schedules.Thank you.Department of Technology Services
Common Core Continues to Be on the Run
No matter how many tweets that DFER or ReadyWashington or any other group that supports Common Core send out saying that it's here to stay, the evidence is mounting that it may survive but not in exactly the way its end game was pictured.Update on CC across the country: Indiana has already bowed out of Common Core but only to replace it with their "own" standards which appear to be a cut
Have we seen this movie before? Did it star Shirley Jones and Robert Preston?
Please forgive me, but I'm old, and old people like to natter on about the past. It's just what we do. We like to imagine that our experience has value. We see things and we think "Hey, I've seen this before!" That's bad enough, but then we feel compelled to tell you about it.Back in 2000 Seattle Public Schools was on fire with a revolutionary idea. It was a change in perspective that wo
MAY 24
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
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