tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4375276261039264081..comments2024-03-18T16:51:10.406-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: If I had a million dollarsMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-74398550278751325802016-02-21T15:53:05.803-08:002016-02-21T15:53:05.803-08:00Seems to me the simple solution to this is to cut ...Seems to me the simple solution to this is to cut the administration and move more funds to the schools. These grandiose plans that repeatedly fail to work suck down resources that obviously would be better used in the classroom.Bloatednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-21595357838401061022016-02-18T10:38:49.772-08:002016-02-18T10:38:49.772-08:00Here are the official SPS procedures on MTSS, appr...<a href="http://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/Migration/Families&Communities/2163SP.pdf" rel="nofollow">Here</a> are the official SPS procedures on MTSS, approved in 2012. Has anyone seen any of this actually occur?<br /><br />Half FullAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-37499798123972250772016-02-18T04:38:09.566-08:002016-02-18T04:38:09.566-08:00In most systems "Differentiated Instruction&q...In most systems "Differentiated Instruction" is little more than a convenient fairy tale to believe in. It allows convenient scheduling as capabilities and prerequisite knowledge of students can be ignored in scheduling as "Differentiated Instruction" will take care of it.<br /><br />It is extremely difficult to find any quantitative research on the efficacy of "Differentiated Instruction"<br /><br />-- Dan DempseyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-35442021510160865592016-02-17T22:08:48.512-08:002016-02-17T22:08:48.512-08:00Charlie -
This was an excellent piece. I'm su...Charlie -<br /><br />This was an excellent piece. I'm surprised it didn't get more comments.<br /><br />It seems to me that one of the hardest things about being a board member is making decisions when *no one* in the district will be straight with you. No one will acknowledge faults, programs that aren't working, systems that are failing, etc. <br /><br />Yet, everyone knows, based on what happens in the district that its a mess. <br /><br />I'd really love to see some senior leadership stand up in front of the board, in front of the public and say "you know what, this isn't working. And we're going to put metrics in place to measure our successes and failures, and then go and fix them."<br /><br />northwesternerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-11056372688553890772016-02-17T19:36:57.555-08:002016-02-17T19:36:57.555-08:00But the document seems to indicate differentiation...But the document seems to indicate differentiation for ALL students and I perceive this as their answer to Spectrum. <br /><br />We'll see.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-18618110696565493892016-02-17T16:01:42.996-08:002016-02-17T16:01:42.996-08:00Melissa --
The simplest form of differentiation i...Melissa --<br /><br />The simplest form of differentiation is to just vary the pace in covering the exact same materials. It doesn't require complicated systems or heroic effort by teachers. Seattle teachers don't do it because they are <b>forbidden</b> (so they tell me.) They are required to teach the exact same material to every student in every classroom in the city on a given day. That seems to be the SPS policy. Spectrum was the only exception, and now they seem to be removing acceleration even from Spectrum.<br /><br />SPS seems to be strongly opposed to differentiation as you describe it. One can hardly say they failed to achieve differentiation when all of their actions have been oriented to eliminating it.<br /><br />When they speak favorably of differentiation in some documents it seems to mean only for a subset of students who are struggling or disadvantaged. It seems to mean the equivalent of having an individual tutor for every struggling student who can exactly diagnose where that student is stuck and devise a personalized teaching plan. Since personal tutors are too expensive, and teachers can't be a personal tutor to every struggling student, Plan B seems to be some sort of quasi-computerized data-driven system where struggling students are continuously assessed and the computer tells the teacher exactly what they need next. That mostly a guess on my part. But it's the only way to make sense of the fact that SPS has mostly been stamping out differentiation in recent years as it applies to most students, but calls for differentiation in documents about MTSS for disadvantaged students.Outsidernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76620728380884183242016-02-17T11:55:34.399-08:002016-02-17T11:55:34.399-08:00It means the teacher will adjust teaching/curricul...It means the teacher will adjust teaching/curriculum to serve the learning needs of students. So if a child is a good reader, assign them a higher level book. If a child is struggling in math, give them more basic questions until they achieve mastery. <br /><br />But that takes a lot of planning and, with a large class size, can be very difficult. <br /><br />I'm not a teacher so this is just a basic answer. In the end, teachers generally teach to the middle because that's all they have time for if they don't have professional development in how to differentiate or the materials to do so.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-44186419649887185172016-02-17T11:03:29.940-08:002016-02-17T11:03:29.940-08:00Why is differentiating instruction considered hard...Why is differentiating instruction considered hard? The elementary school I attended from grades 2-5 was relatively low-funded by national standards, but they differentiated instruction with ease. No grand theories or powerpoint (which did not even exist then.) Just common sense and they did it.<br /><br />What does SPS even mean by differentiating instruction? On one hand, they seem to want every classroom to be doing the same lesson on the same day across the whole city; and yet the phrase "differentiated instruction" appears in their working documents. What does it even mean?Outsidernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-48927674175156544632016-02-17T10:33:36.274-08:002016-02-17T10:33:36.274-08:00Utterly frustrating. Wouldn't it be nice if f...Utterly frustrating. Wouldn't it be nice if for every 5 years of service in the headquarters, staff would be required to spend one year in the classroom? Let them experience first hand the difficulties in implementing these policies with a class size of 28 and minimal planning periods. <br /><br />-NW MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com