tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post303435546581335464..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: That Was ShortMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12783124703394034682017-02-16T06:57:16.613-08:002017-02-16T06:57:16.613-08:00Kellie, it is utterly irrelevant that HCC "l...Kellie, it is utterly irrelevant that HCC "looks like Seattle" in terms of whiteness. It absolutely does not look like SPS. And that is a problem . Only an HCC parent defending an ever growing, maximally segregated system would ride that dead horse. You are out of your depth. Segregation is not cheaper. Differentiation is. Segregation is expensive for those hurt the most. So in a less than perfect system, nobody should get a "Cadillac " even if it is perfect for them. But nobody should be stuck in classrooms that are disproportionately minority, disabled, impoverished, or English language learners. Clustering those issues together doesn't somehow save money.<br /><br />Special education is required to serve students in private schools. HCC does not and isn't required to serve gifted students in private schools. We do not know the level of giftedness in private schools so we can not use that to defend policy that exacerbates greater inequity. The 2007 APP audit rejected that excuse. It was given then too. So this gifted claim of equity over a city is really a dead horse too. We don't know the percentage of giftedness, or HCC eligibility in the privates. People like you with a dog in the show, proclaim that all gifted black students are actually fine and good in private school. So, no problem that there are none in HCC. The companion claim made by HCC proponents is that white gifted students don't go private. This is also used to delegitimize disproportionality. Most other people think the opposite. Private schools are full of gifted students since they can be selective. Of course they choose the students with the highest potential. Most of them advertise that. Yes they must also have coin. But doesn't stand to reason that in a city wher there is so much wealth derived from intellectual capital that our private school population is likely to be more gifted as a whole than public schools? If that is the case, then our HCC should be way less racially segregated than it is. You might even assume that the number of white students in HCC should be less than in the percentage in SPS. <br /><br />The fact is we don't know the racial or intellectual makeup of private school participants. We can only make claims based on what we actually must serve. In order for the program to be both more effective and more equitable, it will absolutely need to be smaller and more targeted.<br /><br />readerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91446614065737829162017-02-15T16:18:24.300-08:002017-02-15T16:18:24.300-08:00Everyone's entitled to an opinion. Doesn't...Everyone's entitled to an opinion. Doesn't make yours correct. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-26296345102419015102017-02-15T11:01:15.658-08:002017-02-15T11:01:15.658-08:00Correct. Director Jill Geary is a Rockstar!Correct. Director Jill Geary is a Rockstar!PAA Membernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-43311013034310663762017-02-14T22:57:26.467-08:002017-02-14T22:57:26.467-08:00Not sure why you not name the director that you ar...Not sure why you not name the director that you are talking about - it's Director Jill Geary.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-62644962413218504922017-02-14T22:47:08.719-08:002017-02-14T22:47:08.719-08:00Clarification:
Has Stop DeVos not noticed that on...Clarification:<br /><br />Has Stop DeVos not noticed that one of our wonderful school board members served as an Administrative Law Judge at OSPI? She served to assure needs of special education students were met. This director is passionate about special education. She has spent years working to improve the lives of special education students and will fight tooth and nail for these kids.PAA Membernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-907655841738926152017-02-14T22:38:00.846-08:002017-02-14T22:38:00.846-08:00Stop DeVos said:
'SPS is trying to standardiz...Stop DeVos said:<br /><br />'SPS is trying to standardize the curriculum and eliminate all forms of differentiated learning - HCC, SpEd, option schools, language schools, etc"<br /><br />Has Stop DeVos not noticed that one of our wonderful school board members served as an Administrative Judge at OSPI. She served to assure needs of special education students. This director is passionate about special education, spent years working to improve the lives of special education students and will fight tooth and nail for these kids.PAA Membernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-66284635229007102412017-02-14T22:32:17.190-08:002017-02-14T22:32:17.190-08:00Stop Devos is late to the party!!!
Anyone that wo...Stop Devos is late to the party!!!<br /><br />Anyone that would accuse board members of having "deer in the headlights who have no clue what is coming" hasn't been around.<br /><br />Multiple members of the board have been actively opposing Gates and the corporate model of education reform- for years. If you think the board is unaware of Gates and the corporate model of education- think again.<br /><br />Where was Stop Devos when the board pushed back to restore Middle College and spoke out against the social justice curriculum replaced by an online curriculum, or the various times they’ve supported option and alternative schools and advanced learning and funding IB? Their efforts to invest in curricular materials instead of online learning? Stop Devos must have missed the various times directors have spoken against a one to one computer purchases, or against the SBAC, the first fully computerized assessment. Yes, various board members are aware of these profit-making trends and the forces behind them. Where were you when this board questioned a $6 million Cloudbook request? <br /><br />To suggest President Peters has a "deer in the headlight" look is nothing less than absurd. For years, before joining the board, Peters worked on the national and local level to call attention to the corporate model of education, and to fight privatization of public education. Stop Devos probably missed the fact that Peters ran against a corporate backed candidate. Peter's opponent was provided hundreds of thousands of dollars by Ballmer, Raikes and the billionaires that seek to privatize education. The privatizers knew Peters wouldn't go along with their scheme.<br /><br />Melissa has a rule: Provide a basis for your "facts". It is a good rule!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />PAA Membernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-67858838595731736932017-02-14T11:11:15.401-08:002017-02-14T11:11:15.401-08:00I have been a public school activist for about 16 ...I have been a public school activist for about 16 years. Every so often someone will ask me how I could possibly stay angry that long. I had to clear up the misconception. I wasn't <i>still</i> angry; I was angry <i>again</i>. For about twelve years, week after week, without a break, Seattle Public Schools did something <b>new</b> to make me angry.<br /><br />I got very close to hanging it up once. I had decided to put it all behind me. On that day I gathered up all of the meeting handouts I had been keeping to put them in the recycling and I found something in there that relit the flame - yet again. I absolutely understand how Melissa could want to set it all aside, and I absolutely understand how it could drag her back in.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-72198644642287000012017-02-13T19:17:06.856-08:002017-02-13T19:17:06.856-08:00HCMom, really appreciate your comments and insight...HCMom, really appreciate your comments and insights. -NPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-32365268960930823402017-02-13T19:04:28.553-08:002017-02-13T19:04:28.553-08:00Wise words Deepest.
-MissingSpectrumWise words Deepest.<br /><br />-MissingSpectrumAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-41833751504495005552017-02-13T17:36:43.474-08:002017-02-13T17:36:43.474-08:00My moniker comes from the Department of Education&...My moniker comes from the Department of Education's <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/02/12/devoss-education-department-misspells-name-of-naacp-co-founder-in-tweet-and-gets-hit-on-twitter/" rel="nofollow">mistake-ridden tweets</a> from yesterday. <br /><br />I'm afraid, HCmom, the blood still flows to my brain even when I lounge around. Still making neural connections... And I know plenty of medical doctors with super messy handwriting. That's actually a thing. Plus airheaded PhDs. Totally a thing.<br /><br />Obviously earning a PhD doesn't "prove" smartness or privilege. But it's sure a heck of a lot easier to complete one if you're smart and privileged than if you're neither. A PhD program isn't a good fit for everyone nor is there any point for a lot of careers. And having a PhD doesn't make a person better than not having one. I, for example, am the same person now as I was before I had the PhD. Just better educated now. But no more or less worthy of love or respect than before. And no more valuable than my kid's school bus driver or the prep cook at the local pizza place or the mom with the broken tail light who passes me every morning. People are intrinsically valuable for being people. <br /><br />The thing is, it's not just smartness/giftedness/intelligence that's hard to prove--a lot of invisible things are hard to prove. How do you prove to someone that your mom speaks Farsi to you at home? It's a lot easier to prove to other people who speak Farsi, I'll tell you that. But at some point you have to wonder, why would you ever need to prove to school employees that your mom speaks Farsi? What business is it of theirs? What does it matter to them? Obviously if you were being required to take Farsi 101, suddenly it would matter very much. Or if you were being required to pass a class in Dari or Tajiki. If you have diabetes, presumably you would have a note for the school nurse and that would be enough proof. Hopefully. It can be hard to prove that you're gay. But we've come a long way on that front as a society lately. And again, it's not really the place of the public schools to be demanding proof of that. On the other hand, since giftedness (whatever you call it) affects education, it behoves the schools to figure out what they're doing and get it right.<br /><br />Many people claim smartness isn't a thing and often (as you did, HCmom) hurry to add that there are lots of other kinds of intelligence. Gifted people are used to hearing that. And usually: who cares? It's like believing what language my mom speaks. Why do I care if anyone believes that? But educators are the exception. They're supposed to educate. Giftedness affects education. So if educators don't understand what giftedness or deny its existence, that's harmful.<br /><br />It's estimated that 20% of the prison population is composed of gifted adults. If their educational needs had been better met, well, that would have been far better, preferable and more humane to everyone. <br /><br />SPS could get this right. They don't have to get this wrong. Melissa is totally right about this (and so many other things): someday our district will grow up and it would be nice to see the district decide to educate all children and challenging them all. As human beings they all deserve that.Deepest Apologizenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-27339822533943660572017-02-13T15:21:12.612-08:002017-02-13T15:21:12.612-08:00Yes, very good, Deepest Apologies, and your voice ...Yes, very good, Deepest Apologies, and your voice will be needed in the time ahead as this district continues with its quest of trying to decide what kind of district it wants to be when it grows up.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-6527071986838346692017-02-13T15:08:33.790-08:002017-02-13T15:08:33.790-08:00Deepest Apologizes, not sure what your moniker mea...Deepest Apologizes, not sure what your moniker means, but your reply confirms what I meant. Thanks! Yes, if you rested on your sofa all day, your brain would not be stimulated. Same as our kids who aren't challenged. Yes your brain would not get blood flow to areas to make neural connections. Giftedness, in my opinion does not continue to apply directly to adults. My personal opinion. I know some PhDs who couldn't separate recycling from garbage when they moved out after four years. They may have been trying to find a cure for blood cancer but don't know the difference between garbage and recycling. So a PhD does not prove smartness.... Maybe the student loan bill proves something. I think there is some giftedness to social intelligence too. That is something we learn by doing.<br />HCmomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-4431916236072785492017-02-13T14:40:51.925-08:002017-02-13T14:40:51.925-08:00If we all set out today to become the best footbal...<br />If we all set out today to become the best football players we can be, we train, we practice, we drill, we eat right, etc. Most of us still wouldn't make it onto a professional football team. (especially not those of us who are female or walk with a leg brace). Probably none of us would. It takes so much more than just hard work. <br /><br />And it's OK for the school district to acknowledge that reality. If a kid is a concert pianist, you don't make them take beginning piano. It is OK to recognize that education is a combination of natural abilities and hard work and great teaching. All those things affect learning. The school district gets nowhere by telling all kids they're just like Matt. And that he got ahead solely by working hard. He worked hard, but not at his school work. He worked hard in his step dad's small business. That man didn't cut him any slack. They needed his work hours to make ends meet. Conveniently Matt didn't need to study to beat the rest of us academically. If there'd have been more kids in our graduating class, he'd have beat them all. <br /><br />Giftedness by whatever name is a thing. And we get nowhere by insisting it doesn't exist. It's cruel to make kids who don't have Matt's "gifts" feel like they need to compete with Matt. Back in high school I competed with Matt. I worked so hard and I lost every match up. Matt is just smarter than me. And it's OK. I get that now. Being the smartest doesn't make people the best. All people are valuable for who they are. You know what I am grateful for? That Matt was there for me to compete with. All kids deserve a challenge at school and some healthy competition. Learning shouldn't be a cakewalk. All the kids should be welcomed to learn and grow. And it has to be OK for Matt's parents to talk about Matt's educational needs with Matt's teachers. There has to be a word for talking about Matt.<br /><br />part 2<br />Deepest Apologizesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-11774588923235427922017-02-13T14:39:47.945-08:002017-02-13T14:39:47.945-08:00I don't care what you call it (giftedness by w...I don't care what you call it (giftedness by whatever name). Arguing about the name we call a group of people by is a silly, fruitless waste of time. Adults can most certainly be gifted, whatever you choose to call it. It does not take "stimulation, life-long learning, etc." as HCmom claims above. I could lounge around on the sofa watching soap operas all day and still be a scary-smart freak who doesn't fit in. Can I learn new stuff without trying very hard? Why, yes, I can. I have the two masters degrees and the PhD to prove it. Do I also have privilege? Yes. How else could I have afforded the PhD program? Did the one thing cause the other? How is that possibly the business of a school employee to determine? How is that any of their business at all? It is not a put-down to others to say that I'm gifted. The only thing that would make that a put down is the erroneous belief that smarter is somehow better. Which is ridiculous. The smarter the kid, the more prone to anxiety and existential depression and not fitting in and self-medicating and all the other risks that come with an extremely high IQ. If your neighbor has a really smart kid, much smarter than your own, no one would go trade kids with their neighbor. That's crazy. People are not rushing out to trade their kids in for smarter ones. People want their own kids to do their best, to be happy. They want schools that will teach their kids. They want their kids to be encouraged and mentored and educated. <br /><br />The thing is, in order for all kids to be challenged and educated at school, parents need a way to discuss kids who are not being challenged. They need a way to discuss kids who have already achieved the year's learning goals before the year has started. <br /><br />Hard work does pay off. Hard work will get you ahead. But it won't get you ahead of everyone. I was salutatorian of my high school class. I worked really hard. No amount of work on my part could have made me valedictorian. Because in order to be valedictorian, I would have had to best my friend Matt academically. And that is never going to happen. Matt ended up going to Harvard. He's an ivy league professor now. He got a perfect score on the SATs. And it's OK. There is nothing wrong with Matt being smarter than me. He's not worth more than I am. He's a great guy. The rest of my high school class was also made up of great people. Super nice people who have gone one to be amazing adults. Not ivy league professors. But better than that in our own ways. They run bookmobile programs and create cool cyber art and are civil rights lawyers and work in biotech research and preach and fix cars and teach. All great people. Not all gifted. Or whatever you call it. But no less valuable. They all deserved a chance to learn and be challenged. Our parents didn't rush out and trade us in for Matt. Matt has cholesterol problems and a weak chin. He's had to spend $100k sending his sons to private school (in another state) because the public schools where he live couldn't challenge his gifted kids. <br /><br />part 1Deepest Apologizesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-75960628643936326982017-02-13T14:05:55.027-08:002017-02-13T14:05:55.027-08:00Not really, though. It is like this: all students ...Not really, though. It is like this: all students have the right to FAPE. All students have the right to LRE. All students have the right to have a continuum of services to meet their individual needs. That is where the specific definitions arise from for SPED, where they are enshrined in federal law through IDEA and through litigation. But those definitions only apply to SPED students, which is why nonSPED students cannot complain about their LRE under IDEA. Other students wanting to assert those same rights, which they also have, would need to sue under different statutes, and which use different definitions. Especially when the right arises from the very different world of state law. I agree with HF. It is better in states that have elevated gifted students as a classification and have IEPs for gifted students, meaning many of the terms take on the same meanings. In most ways I would like if we had what you would like here. We have not done that, though. We define continuum as k-12, as in no "skips" in the services. Not an array like SPED has dependent on your level of need. The Garfield honors for all classes are definitely skirting riiiiiight at that line of noncompliance, though as of now there are still honors humanities classes at IHS, so maybe that is what "counts." Opt in is certainly fine (and in high school probably pretty appropriate, the way it always was at Garfield before they got rid of them).<br /><br />-sleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-51052151400620614592017-02-13T13:43:43.416-08:002017-02-13T13:43:43.416-08:00Kellie, stating that Seattle is 70% white doesn...Kellie, stating that Seattle is 70% white doesn't provide cover for SPS:<br /><br />"The district identification process must apply equitably to all enrolled students and families from every racial, ethnic and socio-economic population present in the public school population they serve. Districts must review identification procedures to make sure student selection reflects the demographics of the area they serve. These specific requirements for compliance — and related activities — appear here in the WACs we list below."<br /><br />sleeper, you are preaching to the choir. I said that HC isn't covered by IDEA because it isn't. I did say that the term and definition of continuum of services comes straight from I SpEd law because it does, as you also know.<br /><br />NE Dad, the problem with arbitrarily separating advanced students from the general population is that it creates clusters of general education students that leads to violations of ELL law and LRE for SpEd, as well as continuing to leave out historically underrepresented populations. That is why the state law is so carefully crafted to make sure that students are identified legally and fairly and that demographics reflect the area of the district.<br /><br />FWIW Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30579000574209486612017-02-13T13:27:02.863-08:002017-02-13T13:27:02.863-08:00I have two “gifted” kids both in HCC. Personally,...I have two “gifted” kids both in HCC. Personally, I think the terms “gifted” and “highly capable” are misleading and insensitive given the actual eligibility criteria and program. <br /><br />The only thing we can say about the kids that don’t qualify in elementary school is that they are not dual domain advanced in both reading and math. You can have a first-grade national chess champion that knows algebra not qualified for the program simply because they read in the 90th percentile instead of the 95th percentile. That’s less than six month's difference in reading ability when many of the kids are tested in kindergarten. <br /><br />No one in Advanced Learning is running brain scans to determine these kids somehow think differently or have bigger brains. Instead, the criteria the district uses for eligibility involves scoring better than what other students that are the same age and grade. The reason some kids score higher as compared to other kids maybe because they have “bigger” or “different” brains. Or it may be because they have more “balanced” brains that can score well across the domains being tested. Or it may be because they have “average” brains and someone has spent a lot more time working with them. No one knows the answer.<br /><br />Regardless, I believe that the district and families are well served by having an Accelerated Progress Program (APP) because if kids are way ahead why not group them together for efficiency and teach them more advanced materials. But the district should go back to calling it what it is (APP) instead of giving it a name that is misleading and insults everyone else (HCC).<br /><br />NE Dadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-67291479482213920802017-02-13T12:48:34.790-08:002017-02-13T12:48:34.790-08:00What Deepest Apologies says is crucial. Children l...What Deepest Apologies says is crucial. Children learn at different rates, speeds, and in different ways. They also bring different life experiences to the classroom. Not every child is the same. This is a fact and there's nothing wrong with it. <br /><br />Effective education involves giving those children the type of education they specifically need, rather than forcing them all into a one-size-fits-all curriculum. But that is what the ed reformers, including Bill Gates, Betsy DeVos, and the SPS leadership want. <br /><br />Their plan is to eliminate all forms of differential learning so that they can instead have kids learn on iPads. The articles PAA Member shared above help explain what the end goal is. Parents will be told that their kids will get the differential learning they need via computerized instruction in mixed classrooms with 40-50 kids each. This is a bald-faced lie, of course, but it is exactly where SPS is heading if parents don't do something about it right now. <br /><br />(I'd suggest our board members do something about it, but all of them - including Sue Peters - are do-nothing deer in the headlights who have no clue what is coming and even less clue how to stop it.)<br /><br />Stop DeVosAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30375687556115993112017-02-13T12:27:49.690-08:002017-02-13T12:27:49.690-08:00Humm... about Local Control of schools and Betsy ...Humm... about Local Control of schools and Betsy DeVos<br /><br />ESSA hardly appears to be a restoration of local control.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/02/betsy_devos_to_state_chiefs_ESSA_full_speed_ahead.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-RM" rel="nofollow"> <b>Betsy says full speed ahead on ESSA </b></a><br /><br />============<br />Good Luck with any actual local control... <br /><br />Here is the start of DeVos's letter=><br /><br /><i>Dear Chief State School Officer:<br /><br />Thank you for the important work you and stakeholders in your State are engaged in to develop new State plans and transition to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). I am writing today to assure you that<b> I fully intend to implement and enforce the statutory requirements of the ESSA.</b> Additionally, I want to provide you with an update on the timeline, procedures, and criteria under which a State Educational Agency (SEA) may submit a State plan, including a consolidated State plan, to the Department. <b>States should continue to follow the timeline for developing and submitting their State plans to the Department for review and approval.</b> </i><br /><br />============<br />Well so much for the Donald and his campaign speak about local control.<br /><br />Wonder what might cause a plan to not be approved?<br /><br />-- Dan Dempsey<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-44125302449240566202017-02-13T11:27:45.125-08:002017-02-13T11:27:45.125-08:00Deepest apologizes,
I agree that all SPS students ...Deepest apologizes,<br />I agree that all SPS students need to be given curriculum that challenges them and helps them advance. I am in my 13th SPS year as an HCC(formerly APP) parent. I was IQ-tested also as a young child, and was precocious with high IQ. What I think as an adult is that no longer can we call ourselves "gifted". It takes stimulation, life-long learning, etc. etc. Also, people can be differently gifted, like some of my brothers who know how to build things. I find it a bit off-putting to say, as an adult, that we wouldn't know we were gifted if we hadn't been tested as a child. Yes, I was precocious and bright, and I do my best to achieve my current potentials, but I think it is a bit of a put-down to others to say that I am gifted, in fact I don't think it. It is a matter of what we do with our abilities that determines how our life turns out.<br />HCmomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-18156629569704234572017-02-13T11:14:17.027-08:002017-02-13T11:14:17.027-08:00And every breath that's devoted to attacking g...And every breath that's devoted to attacking gifted kids and their academic needs is a breath not spent addressing the academic needs of the majority of the district, the kids with test scores in the 0–98% range. The district is responsible for the education of every single child at every single school in Seattle (except for the 28% in private school). And the district is failing to be child-focused. So much time is wasted arguing about which kids are where and not on raising them all up and mentoring and educating them all to be successful, contented, engaged adults. Educate them all! At every school! Make sure they all learn something! Spark all of their curiosity! Engage them all! Make every school great!<br /><br />Teach these kids how to use MS Word and how to avoid being duped by credit card companies and how to spot deceptive marketing and how to read nutrition labels and help them get enough exercise and a good night's sleep and learn to navigate their city on their own when it's age appropriate and learn about music and art and science and writing effectively and athletics and how to affect the institutions they find themselves a part of and how to get along with all different kinds of people and how to use a library effectively and how to find a safe adult to talk to if they need help or guidance and how to write a cover letter and speak a foreign language and use a calculator and resolve a dispute and avoid unwanted pregnancies and understand the scientific method and how to agitate for change effectively and about all of history (not just Eurocentric history) and the dangers of too much screen time and how to meditate or exercise or find a healthy approach to stressful situations and how to prevent bullying and speak up effectively against injustice and how to express their own unique view points and experiences effectively in writing...<br /><br />SPS needs to educate all 52,824 kids. Stop pitting little groups against each other. Why can't we educate them all? Make sure they all learn and progress in every class in every year at every school? <br /><br />Power to children! They could really use a political lobby. It's great that AARP gives older American a lobbying voice and that so many older people vote. Wouldn't it be great if more people advocated for kids? <br /><br />DeVos isn't going to do it. The majority of state legislators don't want to do it. Jay Inslee showed right up at the airport to address the attempted immigration ban. Wouldn't it be nice if anyone showed up for kids that fast? FOR ALL KIDS.<br /><br />Part 2Deepest Apologizesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-4147862396150066332017-02-13T11:13:40.100-08:002017-02-13T11:13:40.100-08:00What Melissa said about teachers not believing gif...What Melissa said about teachers not believing giftedness is a thing is precisely the problem I had as the parent of a gifted kindergartener. It was really hard to have a conversation about the educational needs of my child and the teacher's need to have my child not acting out. The answer would have been so simple: give the child something to learn that the child did not already know. This would have cost nothing--the school building was full of things to learn. An interesting book would have been enough. That would have allowed my child to learn something, keep himself engaged and stopped him from acting out so the teacher could have more effectively used her time teaching the kids who needed to learn the list of things kindergarteners are supposed to learn. But for some reason that was strictly forbidden and it wasn't even possible to discuss giving my child something to learn. My child was expected to sit quietly for a year and pretend not to be bored. Totally not age appropriate for a five year old, people!<br /><br />When parents use the word "gifted" to discuss an academic situation, many teachers' eyes glaze over. Which makes it hard to discuss the child's needs.<br /><br />Arguing that giftedness doesn't exist is like arguing that homosexuality doesn't exist or autoimmune diseases don't exist or that all families speak English at home. It's offensive and inappropriate and wrong. And it's not the place of teachers. Just as you can't look at a person and tell if they have diabetes or if their mom speaks Farsi, you can't look at a person and tell if they're gifted. It's an invisible minority. But I assure you that gifted adults are walking around the city, having kids, shopping for groceries. You can say that giftedness doesn't exist, but you sound ignorant and it doesn't make us stop existing. It does make it difficult for us to talk to our children's teachers about meeting their academic needs. But it doesn't make us not exist. We come in all demographic varieties, too. And quit blaming us for SPS not being able to find us all. That is totally on them and only one of many things they're not doing very well at.<br /><br />Many of us gifted people only know our IQs because we got tested when we were in elementary school. And then flagged as outliers and made to go back a second time and take a more complete test. But no one ever told me I didn't exist as a child. That's a new low in the field of education.<br /><br />Part 1Deepest Apologizesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50514591182966122792017-02-13T10:51:59.068-08:002017-02-13T10:51:59.068-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.PAA Membernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-83130489486254859432017-02-13T09:19:12.418-08:002017-02-13T09:19:12.418-08:00FWIW, that OSP "fine print" document say...FWIW, that OSP "fine print" document says pretty clearly how the state defines the HC continuum of services. It reads: <br /><br /><i>WAC 392-170-078 Program services — defines the “continuum” as kindergarten through grade 12. Districts shall make a variety of appropriate program services available to students who participate in the district's program for highly capable students."</i><br /><br />That's it. The services need to be available from K all through 12, and they need to include a variety of services appropriate to highly capable students. We have both. Our services may not be ideal, but they meet the requirements--you can do GE (with possible differentiation), ALO/Spectrum, or HCC. If we renamed them with MTSS tier #s would they perhaps sound more like a continuum to you? <br /><br />While you are correct that I do not have a background in special ed law, I don't NEED a background in special ed law to talk about issues of HC services law... because they are not very similar at all. Even if our state's HC legislation did draw inspiration from federal special ed law--and I'm not convinced that's the case--it's very clear that our HC legislation falls far, far short of special ed law. The requirements are pretty minimal, individual student rights are pretty minimal, and there aren't any teeth. There's no requirement that each student have an IEP-like plan.<br /><br />As I stated before, to "periodically review services for each student to ensure the services are appropriate" does not require meeting with families or anything that intensive. I don't know what exactly you think it would take to meet that requirement. OSPI seems to be fine with the district annually (thus "periodically") reviewing the progress of HC-identified students (thus covering "each student") to make sure they are making expected progress (suggesting the receipt of "appropriate services"). By and large, HCC students tend to remain in HCC and do well on future progress reports and standardized tests, so the district concludes the services must be appropriate. OSPI seems to think that sounds reasonable. <br /><br />Perhaps if we were rolling in cash we'd be able to improve HC services by providing individualized learning plans for HC students and then offering a much more extensive array of tailored services. But I don't think anyone expects that anytime soon. In the meantime, the law does not seem to require that level of individualization or tailoring anyway. <br /><br />I don't know what more I can say. When I first read the HC legislation I saw words and phrases that led me to think I could successfully argue for a more individualized approach to my HC student's education, but upon further review and analysis it became clear to me that the district could meet the letter of the law through a much broader approach to all the requirements. But hey, maybe you can push everyone to provide more and better HC services, so go for it. Complain to OSPI, sue the district, or do something else that has a chance at making a significant change. Go for it. <br /><br />HFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com