SPS School-Family Partnerships Advisory Commitee
From SPS Communications:
Seattle Public Schools is seeking nominations for its School-Family Partnerships Advisory Committee to the Superintendent.
The
committee will be composed of parents/families/guardians who reflect
the diversity of Seattle Public Schools families. The committee advises
the Superintendent on the implementation of
School-Family Partnerships Policy and Superintendent Procedure (4129
and 4129SP),
while also
providing support and technical assistance to District schools in using
family and community engagement national best practices to increase
student success.
The
School-Family Partnerships Advisory Committee to the Superintendent
will consist of up to 35 parents/guardians and family members
representing the diverse population of the District. Consideration
will be given to involve those community members and groups who have
not historically been active or represented in District decision-making
processes, as well as representation by individuals of differing gender,
ethnicity, race, age, geography and stakeholder
interest groups.
The
initial term of membership to the committee is September 2013 to
September 2014. The committee’s work involves one to two meetings a
month, a presentation of the School-Family Partnerships
report to the Superintendent and a presentation to the School Board.
To
be considered for the School Family Partnerships Advisory Committee to
the Superintendent, parents, guardians or family members should complete
and submit a nomination form by Friday, Sept.
13. The invitation
letter, nomination
forms and a complete
description of the committee are available on the
School-Family
Partnerships website. Nomination forms will also be available at school offices.
Comments
If you want to email Mr. Banda and the school board about this, use this link.
I think I hyperlinked that right...
Teacher
Class Size Matters
(sorry for hijacking the thread...)
--FedMomof2
Class size is fundemental. It relates to how much time and attention and care a teacher (who is, after all, only human) can give to our children. Really, do we need evidence for this, or can we all, given the basics of common sense, understand that class size fundentally matters?
Please give it a spot. Loads of folks, like me, or only 'skimmers', and just read your headlines & posts, and skip comments altogether because of he frequent non-productive vitriol, that, and my time constraints.
And, the task force will be a joke. Lots of hand wringing, little actual input and impact. If SPS already treats stakeholders, say, sped families and their PTA with disdain at worse, empathetic yet insincere and/or ineffectual head nodding at best, why bother with another task force or advisory group?
-skimmer
Dear Mr. Banda,
I am surprised and chagrined to hear that your administration wishes to increase class size for grades 4-12. This ill-advised move will, most assuredly, negate the myriad of approaches and experiments currently underway to improve student achievement. Reams of research supports the advantages smaller class size provides. Furthermore, how could this change be put in place without the promised MTSS, PD, PBIS and other acronyms we keep hearing about but don't see. I expect this is just the first step towards the latest experiment - blended learning - but without the blend nor the learning.
As is very evident from your own MAP data (see link), the "opportunity gap" takes a precipitous turn at fourth grade. That is when the FRL, ELL and special education student is "left behind". By 8th grade these students are performing up to six grades below grade level.
How is increasing student-teacher ratios going to prevent this? Obviously, it will exacerbate it. These students will be the most impacted. Who will take the place of the teacher in their education? Instructional assistants? That failed miserably with ICS and ELL. Parents? No amount of Mr. Ruiz's work will guarantee that. Technology? Perhaps slightly, if we had some (the PTA can't buy everything). I can guarantee you no amount of STEM or language immersion will reach these students because they, for the most part, have absolutely no access to it.
Mr. Banda, I urge you to be mindful of the mark you wish to make in our fair city. I know that, as an educator, you know what works.