Wednesday, May 28, 2014

5-28-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:








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 Ma

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


5-27-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open ThreadFrom 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 pr