Friday Open Thread

Very disturbing study from Georgetown Law's Center on Poverty and Inequality:
Adults view young black girls as less innocent than white girls of the same age, a new study has found, indicating that children’s race may affect how their actions are perceived.

“This new evidence of what we call the ‘adultification’ of black girls may help explain why black girls in America are disciplined much more often and more severely than white girls – across our schools and in our juvenile justice system.”
Speaking of better understanding, summer reading ideas for your woke kid from NPR.

What girls want have come a long way since The Spice Girls asked that question 20 years ago - good for Victoria Beckham.  Girls and women want equal rights to men and for some men to quit abusing/exploiting/holding down women and girls.  (Although Cindi Lauper was right - girls do just want to have fun.)

Want something free and fun to do with the kids this weekend?  Try the Goatalympics in Monroe.

What's on your mind?


Comments

Anonymous said…
There is a nice article about Leschi in the paper this morning.

http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/at-leschi-elementary-equity-conversations-are-common-among-teachers-parents-and-increasingly-students/

It seems that things are working out there and that kids are benefiting from the Montessori and contemporary mix.

HP
Anonymous said…
Here's an interesting article from the Arizona Republic on teachers working two or more jobs:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2017/07/05/teachers-arizona-work-multiple-jobs-make-ends-meet/413110001/

DWE
Anonymous said…
I've seen some petitions and Hamilton PTSA sent an email asking for a 3rd high school to be built in Magnolia. I agree that more high school capacity is needed. But given that the school district is re-opening Lincoln and also has said it will build a new full scale high school at Seattle Center, I'm wondering if a 3rd high school is really needed. I'm hoping people more knowledgeable about enrollment projections than me will jump in.

And I'm not trying to start a debate about what should happen with the Fort Lawton site in Magnolia - I'm genuinely curious about whether two additional high schools will be enough - or if a 3rd is needed. And if a 3rd high school is needed, is Magnolia the right spot given that the district is planning on opening schools opening in Wallingford (Lincoln) and lower Queen Anne (Center).

Jane
We are now calling Gen Ed "contemporary?" Good to know. I have not seen the district notice on this one. I would point out that, unlike HCC, this "divide" was purely parents' choice on what program they wanted for their child. Interestingly, the black parents said the Montessori program really helped her child and that was even before the blended program.

I'll have to try to find out what department the "University of Washington seminars" came from. Kind of odd that isn't clear in the story.
Anonymous said…
oops - I just now noticed the post on Thursday about the Magnolia high school and Fort Lawton. So you can ignore my comment above.

Jane
Watching said…
What is going on with Seattle's levy cap? Does anyone have details?

Inslee vetoed the section of the budget that would prohibit teachers from increased pay related to advanced degrees. Not sure how Seattle is going to make up for loss of levy dollars for special education which amounts to $44M, either.
And some legislators are saying the state property tax won't be that high (as the Times is saying) because levies amounts will be lower. Quite the shell game.
Jane, FYI, the high school question is whether a new high school should be at Memorial Stadium or at Fort Lawton, not if there should be a third high school.
Anonymous said…
Curious to know if anyone has been contacted by enrollment about the waitlist after the board's approval to move siblings.

C3
Sandy said…
There was a lengthy article in the Seattle Times about disproportionate discipline a couple years ago.

In the 2013-14 school year, which is what the article discussed, about 3.8% of Washington state students were suspended or expelled.
That year there were 1,140,601 students and 3.8% of them (or 43,275 students) were suspended or expelled.

Of those suspensions or expulsions the percentages of the suspended/expelled students who were:
Black 8.6%
Special Ed 7.4%
Low income 5.7%
Hispanic 4.5%
Multiracial 4.3%
White 3.2%
Asian 1.3%

The district has taken some steps to improve equity on this front, but it is a pernicious national problem and not easy for one school district to just up and fix.
Owler said…
We are now calling Gen Ed "contemporary?"

I've only heard the use at Leschi and Daniel Bagley, both of which have Montessori programs. My guess is using "Gen Ed" when the other school option is Montessori made it feel like one program was better than the other. I have to admit that I think of Gen Ed as the high school option to AP coursework, and I would bet that I'm not alone in that unfair comparison. Bagley (as I remember) tries to emphasize that there isn't better or worse, just a different approach between the two programs and a right fit for the student.
Anonymous said…
WOwW If you plug in SPS HCC scores and correlate them to discipline scores, EUREKA! Why do they match? I'll look it up...That's what they taught me to do in college... back in the day. But, once I had kids, I now have to rationalize after the fact. I want to be a good parent, but I am liberal and live in Seattle. Life is hard!


IQ scores sychronize, too. Shocking...I am sooo shocked. Thanks, MW, for your Part One gifted thread that brought my blood pressure down. I can't even respond since you told me not not to mention HCC. I have always been a good follower. I was a good student and still am.

I love it because it confirms why this blog's readers (and I know more than a few of the regular posters) are sooooo tired of "those people's" historical traumas and the way they slow. our. progency. dowm. Thanks for saying FWIW has a stick up "their" ass, MW. What a loser! Sad! Teaching for decades and hasn't learned squat. LOL!!!

Some of us were in our late thirties and forties and all that when we had kids. LOL! TMI!!! Watch "South Pacific" if you are hopeless. Seriously...

Believe me, it is possible. And they will be in HCC if you are not in the one percent, live in "privatized school" Seattle families (Lakeside is a sore spot, esp. with Gates' thing about diversity or whatever), and/or have the poor misfortune to be reading this blog right now. Or, especiaaly, if you are Black or Hispanic or the wrong type of Asian. But MW's gifted percentages will give you a good night's sleep.

ChrisK
Gibberish said…
Huh? Care to translate that?
Anonymous said…
Interesting article on Leschi Elementary. When I toured schools this past fall for my incoming kindergartener one of the many schools we visited was Graham Hill Elementary in Seward Park. We were quite shocked at the racial divide that exists at this school between the Montessori and "contemporary" programs. It sounds like it is identical to how Leschi Elementary was five years ago. I think the problem is many parents don't know what Montessori education is and the district requires filling out additional paperwork (and you have to go through the lottery to get in). Why aren't these improvements like Leschi Elementary made district wide? Seems like this kind of racial divide in education should not exist in one of the most diverse zip codes in the nation-98118.

-NEW SPS MOM
Go Pre-K! said…
Great article on pre-K. To summarize:

• Half of the school-readiness gap between poor and affluent children is already evident by age 2, before most kids ever get to preschool
• While all kids benefit from preschool, poor and disadvantaged kids often make the most gains.
• Pre-K programs today can also do a better job reaching out to low income families dealing with stress and mental health issues.
• Children who are dual-language learners "show relatively large benefits from pre-K education" — both in their English-language proficiency and in other academic skills.
• Another major hurdle is the disconnect between pre-K and elementary education. Rather than building on the skills that kids arrive with, researchers have found lots of redundancy with kindergarten and first-grade teachers repeating a lot of what pre-K teachers do. This results in what researchers call "dead zones" that squander hard-won gains.
Wondering said…
There is a group called For Racial Justice in Seattle Schools. Is this another name for Seattle Equity Educators? They seem to promote same initiatives.
New SPS Mom, Graham Hill parents are pretty aware of the issue. But this district seems to go its own way on what principals should do so I don't know if things will change at that school. However, Montessori is open to all and maybe the issue is education of parents to the system, not necessarily blending.
Anonymous said…
A new article on Common Core and the resistance to it.

Is there anything Common Core gets right?

-- Dan Dempsey
Anonymous said…
@Gibberish

Guessing, day drinking?

Numerous Non de Plume

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