Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

4-8-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:





Cliff Mass Weighs in on Seattle Schools Math Choices
From Professor Mass' weather blog:"After lots of complaints and the evident failure of Everyday Math, the Seattle School District began a selection process for a replacement, managed by a Math Adoption Committee.  After some deliberation and limited input from the community, they have narrowed the field to three books:Math in Focus - The Singapore Approach pub. Houghton-MifflinenVision Math  

Alliance for Education community engagement update
The Alliance for Education lists Community Engagement as one of their three primary missions.Towards that end they have a blog. Their last blog post was made on May 9, 2013, nearly a year ago.They have a Facebook page. Their Facebook page has 646 likes. The Facebook page has ten posts so far this year. Most of them are about the Alliance's annual community breakfast fundraiser. Those ten posts hav


WEA Supports Families Opting out of State Testing
I had heard about this vote this past weekend but couldn't find info on it at the WEA website.  From KUOW:The state’s largest teachers’ union has passed a motion to support parents and students who opt out of statewide standardized tests. The union also promotes opting out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium state test coming next school year to align with the new Common Core State Stand
Seattle Council PTSA Meeting Wrap-Up
Well, that was interesting.  I'm sorry there were so few people there (but my experience is that many people never go to SCPTSA meetings anyway, choosing to go to their school PTA meeting).As usual, they had food (so no one goes hungry) and welcoming faces.  I note that the Board is a multi-racial one.  (SCPTSA President Katherine Schomer later mentioned that they have been unable to find a rep fr


Prop 1 - Seattle Youth Commission Video Makes the Point
The Seattle Youth Commission is a group of 25 Seattleites aged 13-19 who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to connect youth to their elected officials. They produced this video to inform students about possible upcoming bus cuts in Seattle.They are clearly saying they are losing or will lose bus service and provide info for each high school's state reps. 

Tuesday Open Thread
From Bob Westgard of SPS Logistics/Transportation about what might happen if the Transportation measure does not pass:That’s a very good question. We’ve been in contact with Metro about the possibility of reductions in service. We expect that if the measure does not pass, there will be reductions in service, but at this point, Metro is not really prepared to give the District specifics. Metro has

Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee meeting notes
The Board Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee met yesterday (Monday, April 7). The agenda included an update on Creative Approach Schools, information on the application for a SIG grant by Rainier Beach High School, an update on Special Education program placement, and an update and further discussion on potential changes to the High School Graduation Requirements and High School Grade Mar
4-7-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Math Adoption InfoSeattle Public Schools is choosing new K-5 math textbooks for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, and you have a voice in the decision.The official selection process is being managed by the Math Adoption Committee, their website is here. They have narrowed the field down to three possibilities:Math in Focus - The Singapore Approach