This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Comments
Enjoy the day and get far away ( even if not literally), from SPS.
http://thebubble.msn.com/#/video/?id=000651c7-2768-4df8-a2fd-3f8500e3c0d3
Meanwhile, I wondered whether everyone is receiving this survey via email from SPS.
--------------------
This is a web survey for parents and guardians of elementary students in Kindergarten thru 5th grade.
Your responses are very important to us, and all feedback you provide will be safeguarded to protect your privacy.
Important: Please answer all questions with only one child and one school in mind.
Please follow the link at the end of this email to participate in this survey. This link will only be active for seven (7) days.
Thank you,
Seattle Public Schools
I got that e-mail too, Shannon, but I haven't taken the survey yet.
First, each question had only 4 answer options, if I remember correctly, so there was no "mid-point" between "Agree" and "Disagree." Some researchers believe that 5-point scales are more accurate than this type of 4-point scale for survey questions. If you don't give a mid-point option where someone who is truly ambivalent can register their opinion, you tend to get skewed results because people are forced to choose between a totally positive or totally negative answer when neither applies. In many cases, people tend to skew positive because they think that's what the interviewer wants to hear or in a case like this, your email address may be tied to your answer, so you don't want to upset anyone at your local school who might be privy to what you said.
I would have liked for things to be less black and white. I think one question asked if teachers at your school are concerned about your child's academic progress or success. Well, how do you answer if most of them seem to be, but maybe one or two truly don't seem concerned for whatever reason? Do you "Agree" to recognize the majority or do you "Disagree" so that the powers that be are alerted to some potential problems? How about two questions: "Most of the teachers seem concerned" and "Some teachers do not seem concerned". That pair of questions would be a lot more useful, or at least one would think so.
What did others think about the survey? Has this been done in the past? If so, what happens with the results? Are they shared with the community? Are the data analyzed by school or cluster or just at the district level?
I'd hate to think that there's some designed reason that some parents are left out of the survey.