tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post7289536864040497834..comments2024-03-28T23:38:22.511-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle School Board Meeting for October 21, 2015Melissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-41567405406949993332016-01-28T21:18:01.973-08:002016-01-28T21:18:01.973-08:00Many of the speakers are addressing bell times and...Many of the speakers are addressing bell times and transportation and school staffing cuts. One speaker stands out - Jane Broom who is the Director at Microsoft Community Affairs and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Education who will be speaking on the topic of the Alliance. <br /><a href="http://ibkschool.com/" rel="nofollow">The Investment Banking School</a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09766620015364650393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-55394680998701284722016-01-07T03:23:04.435-08:002016-01-07T03:23:04.435-08:00Such a very nice meeting and i also attend this ty...Such a very nice meeting and i also attend this type of meeting and its give us good info how to chose child career and also what they want thanks for sharing <a href="http://www.paraphraseservice.org/paraphrase-generator/" rel="nofollow">paraphrase generator free</a> .Allen jeleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312119051975318074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-21821871257452976642016-01-07T03:04:31.895-08:002016-01-07T03:04:31.895-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Allen jeleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312119051975318074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-1853729920412245152015-10-26T13:10:34.977-07:002015-10-26T13:10:34.977-07:00I think they're saying that sometimes they'...I think they're saying that sometimes they'll allow students to stay at their current school and sometimes they won't. It's yet another detail staff will now be able to decide without board approval,Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88216124679824714282015-10-25T10:41:43.418-07:002015-10-25T10:41:43.418-07:00I find the new paragraph regarding grandfather of ...I find the new paragraph regarding grandfather of student assignments affected by boundary changes confusing.<br /><br />"Grandfathered Assignments<br /><br />Enrollment growth and levy-funded construction occasionally result in a need to adjust school<br />attendance area boundaries. As growth boundary changes are implemented, students and their<br />families may elect to stay at their current school, through a grandfathered assignment, <br />if available. All students enrolled with a grandfathered assignment who stay at the school are continued (grandfathered) at that school through the highest grade served by the school, as long as the school offers the services the student needs; no application is required." <br /><br />What do they mean by grandfathering "if available?" How is the availability of grandfathering determined? <br /><br />I didn't see anything about the "availability" of grandfathering in the current assignment plan.<br /><br />-North-end MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30501813738641816812015-10-25T08:07:22.175-07:002015-10-25T08:07:22.175-07:00@mirmac1
"Stiggins said use tests that serve ...@mirmac1<br />"Stiggins said use tests that serve to encourage students. He said many teachers don't know how to devise assessments like this. And he was down on standardized tests that $uck the life out of district's and kids."<br /><br />I hear what you say about Stiggins dislike of standardized assessments, but you should know that the district doesn't share that belief. The district continuum of assessments includes exit tickets, formative assessments, benchmark assessments(Amplify, MAP, TC) and summative assessments (SBAC). As you can see we are not decreasing assessments, we are just codifying more assessments into the process. I don't have anything against formative assessments. I think they are helpful. My problem is how they are being codified. <br />Elementary teacherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-29088350106935462442015-10-25T08:01:07.732-07:002015-10-25T08:01:07.732-07:00@Melissa
"But all of this baffles me because ...@Melissa<br />"But all of this baffles me because we've paid $3.5M for an assessment contract. Are we paying for Mr. Stiggins to help teachers learn how to create end of course finals? How many assessments do we need?"<br /><br />The district is now focused on all grade levels developing formative assessments for ELA and math. It goes with the new scope and sequence. The scope and sequence contains the standards and the sequence in which the standards are supposed to be taught in all grades in the district. The ELA document also includes mandatory grade-level themes such as Courage and Growth, Imagination and Innovation, etc.<br /><br />Each building grade-level team is now required to develop and use common formative assessments that are aligned with the scope and sequence. Formative assessments are assessments you give students throughout a course to determine if they are learning what is being taught. If students are not learning, the teacher needs to determine what to do so that students learn. <br /><br />Most teachers have used some type of formative assessments for years. The district has now hired someone to teach a group of teachers how to develop better formative assessments that get at more complex understanding. <br /><br />There are a few problems with this; TIME being the biggest one. Where are teachers supposed to get the time to develop all of these assessments? It is a lot of work even if you did it yourself and now you have to spend time coming to agreement about these assessments with all of the other grade-level team members. It is time-consuming doing things in committee. <br /><br />I also question the rigidity of needing so many assessments. Don't get me wrong, I definitely think it is important to know before the unit test whether or not your students are understanding what is being taught, but this top down demand for common formative assessments feels like the newest wave of micro-management from downtown. It seems sometimes that all they do downtown is sit around and think up more work for teachers to do:)<br /><br />This is on top of developing your own ELA and math curriculum. We've always had to develop our own ELA curriculum, but now we are developing our own math curriculum too since MIF is out. It's crazy! Teachers are overwhelmed and exhausted.<br />Elementary school teacherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-33990050120526196822015-10-24T01:39:17.402-07:002015-10-24T01:39:17.402-07:00Stiggins said use tests that serve to encourage st...Stiggins said use tests that serve to encourage students. He said many teachers don't know how to devise assessments like this. And he was down on standardized tests that $uck the life out of district's and kids.mirmac1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10183460709639638172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76008866027783035452015-10-23T11:28:41.521-07:002015-10-23T11:28:41.521-07:00The assignment plan is in effect once the board ap...The assignment plan is in effect once the board approves it. Ms. Davies said at the board meeting that they want it in place before open enrollment for next year begins.Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-48074936386970251962015-10-23T11:18:19.950-07:002015-10-23T11:18:19.950-07:00Lynn, would this change go into effect next year? ...Lynn, would this change go into effect next year? I'm concerned about the middle schoolers at Broadview Thompson, Madrona, and SouthShore who are being put into the first tier for bell times (potentially) despite the overwhelming evidence that later start times are beneficial for adolescents.<br /><br />On earlier threads, there was discussion that families at these schools who wanted a later start for middle school could just switch to the local comprehensive MS. But now it seems that they will only be allowed if there is space.<br /><br />I'm sorry to all the proponents of the latest bell time plan, which keeps "only" 13 schools on the third tier and "only" 4 groups of middle schoolers on the first tier (the 3 above plus all of Denny). I understand why some are okay with this ("the perfect is the enemy of the good"). Yet, I have ethical qualms about denying a later start time to the adolescents at Denny, BT, Madrona, and SS. If we want to see evidence-based policy enacted and if we truly believe that later starts improve academics and physical health and safety, denying those benefits to a subset of kids seems wrong to me. And this change restricts these families' options.Lorihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777580098975083499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-68527457061359902732015-10-23T11:16:21.005-07:002015-10-23T11:16:21.005-07:00I'm really quite concerned about this:
"...I'm really quite concerned about this:<br /><br />"* Students entering 6th grade who attend a K-8 school no longer have a designated middle school. They are assigned to 6th grade at their K-8 and may apply to any other school with space available. So - a 5th grade student attending Madrona this year will not be guaranteed a spot at Washington Middle School next year. The rule affects students at attendance area K-8 schools and option K-8 schools."<br /><br />First, for students in a K-8 who are in it as an assignment school K-5, they didn't actually choose the K-8 actively - they had no choice. Shouldn't they be able to be guaranteed a spot in a comprehensive middle school? To force them to stay in a K-8 for middle school seems unfair considering they didn't make the choice to attend there originally.<br /><br />I have less trouble with students in option K-8's only being able to access comprehensive middle schools on a space available basis, but it seems that there should be one point in 9 years where a student would be guaranteed a spot in their local assignment school and the transition point to middle school makes sense. Thinking that all families can determine before Kindergarten what services, activities and courses a student will need 7 years later is a stretch. I would presume most K-8 option students would opt to stay in their option school, but there should be one opportunity to switch and this should be it.SPS Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00753456189315452834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-90336469046409807522015-10-23T10:32:40.922-07:002015-10-23T10:32:40.922-07:00Here's a link to the proposed Student Assignme...Here's a link to the proposed <a href="http://sps.ss8.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Enrollment%20Planning/Student%20Assignment%20Plan/Proposed%20Student%20Assignment%20Plan.pdf" rel="nofollow">Student Assignment Plan</a> and another to the original <a href="http://sps.ss8.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Enrollment%20Planning/Student%20Assignment%20Plan/New%20Student%20Assignment%20Plan.pdf" rel="nofollow">Student Assignment Plan</a> for anyone curious about the differences.<br /><br />Differences I noticed:<br /><br />* Students entering 6th grade who attend a K-8 school no longer have a designated middle school. They are assigned to 6th grade at their K-8 and may apply to any other school with space available. So - a 5th grade student attending Madrona this year will not be guaranteed a spot at Washington Middle School next year. The rule affects students at attendance area K-8 schools and option K-8 schools.<br /><br />*There is a new "designated transfer period" mentioned on page 2 but not defined.<br /><br />*The old plan included specific language about schools offering Advanced Learning Services, Bilingual Services, International Schools and Montessori. This language has been removed and replaced with vague references to required services. We are directed to "the Superintendent's Procedures for Student Assignment or other supplemental documents for additional information about program and service offerings and locations." This handily removes these decisions from the board's oversight and allows (for example) the advanced learning office to change service delivery methods and locations without notice to the board or the public.<br /><br />*Early kindergarten entrance is no longer limited based on available space and so assignments to the attendance area school will be made as soon as eligibility is determined.<br /><br />Something else I've been thinking about is the rules related to students who move. As rents rise and stable housing becomes more difficult to find, families become more mobile. Is it right to require a student to change schools because their parents were forced to move outside of their attendance area? Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-687648970278898282015-10-23T08:38:25.650-07:002015-10-23T08:38:25.650-07:00Stiggins said the obvious - that assessments are i...Stiggins said the obvious - that assessments are important, there's more than one kind and oh yeah, teachers need PD around it. <br /><br />But all of this baffles me because we've paid $3.5M for an assessment contract. Are we paying for Mr. Stiggins to help teachers learn how to create end of course finals? How many assessments do we need?Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-25294922919536436222015-10-23T08:03:24.878-07:002015-10-23T08:03:24.878-07:00At the Board meeting two weeks ago, Ashley Davis (...At the Board meeting two weeks ago, Ashley Davis (new head of Enrollment Planning), with backup from Flip Herndon, introduced the assignment plan changes, and they mentioned that they were looking into dissolving the wait lists earlier, by the end of the preceding school year. I don't remember them saying that they planned for it to go into effect for next year, but maybe that was an assumption that wasn't made clear to the Board?<br /><br />Director Carr seemed on-board with dissolving the wait list earlier. Maybe a few other directors were, too. As for community input on any of this, there were a series of assignment plan/boundaries meetings, but since the only boundary changes for this year are in West Seattle, something tells me those meetings were not well-attended, and, since I wasn't able to attend the one in my region, I have no idea if changing the wait list date was even mentioned.<br /><br />At this week's Board meeting, some directors seemed shocked by the May 31st date, like they had never heard of the concept before, even though it was discussed at the preceding Board meeting, during introduction.<br /><br />There also seems to be confusion about what needs to be in the assignment plan document. Evidently, there are no set dates for when open enrollment will happen each year, just a general time frame. Did the previous assignment plan document state when the wait lists would be dissolved? The new Enrollment Planning director seemed to think that the wait list date was similar to that of the open-enrollment date (not set in stone?). <br /><br />I agree that Enrollment shouldn't shut down in the summer, especially if that is what is driving the May 31st date.<br /><br />-North-end MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-86471972306301555302015-10-23T05:52:29.607-07:002015-10-23T05:52:29.607-07:00MW I'm curious what you think of Stiggin'...MW I'm curious what you think of Stiggin's talk? mirmac1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10183460709639638172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-47517568974908538592015-10-22T17:13:02.899-07:002015-10-22T17:13:02.899-07:00@ Half Full,
I really don't know what they ar...@ Half Full,<br /><br />I really don't know what they are working on behind the scenes. I think that is in essence the problem, there are very few public meetings and direct communication about proposed changes. <br /><br />AND it is clear to folks on the ground that many things just can't continue (Hamilton's feeder pattern) so something has to give. <br /><br />Per Melissa's Post, the change to dissolve the wait lists to May 31st was surprising to the board and it was a shock to me. <br /><br />kelliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01322661098626555834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-84219194185506626882015-10-22T16:48:17.224-07:002015-10-22T16:48:17.224-07:00@ kellie, you said "I doubt most families hav...@ kellie, you said "I doubt most families have any idea that this major revision to the assignment plan is being silently fast tracked." Do you know that they are actually working on this behind the scenes? How to we find out what sort of options they are considering? This is madness!<br /><br />Half FullAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-35424056205213263082015-10-22T16:26:09.102-07:002015-10-22T16:26:09.102-07:00I understand they want to stop the turmoil that ha...I understand they want to stop the turmoil that happened this year with all the cuts etc - Director Carr pointed out that each of them had gotten "800 or 900" emails from parents about that situation, and suggested the way to prevent that next year would be earlier end to the waitlist. But earlier doesn't mean May in my book. According to the presentation, most other districts end waitlists at the end of the current school year. Have no idea if that's true or not but even the end of June makes more sense than May. <br /><br />I'm still trying to figure out the reason enrollment shuts down over the summer? Does anyone know why? Maybe that isn't such a stellar idea if it impacts the waitlist etc so much.<br /><br />reader47Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-34889327673428070592015-10-22T14:45:51.354-07:002015-10-22T14:45:51.354-07:00I think end of May is waaay too early. I can hear...I think end of May is waaay too early. I can hear former Enrollment head, Tracy Libros, telling me how many kids move on the waitlist in the first week of school. She said it was astonishing how fast it went as people either didn't tell the district they were leaving. <br /><br />I think the earliest should be 10 days after school starts.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36380179227232250202015-10-22T13:25:26.634-07:002015-10-22T13:25:26.634-07:00The Hughes discussion was interesting. Apparently...The Hughes discussion was interesting. Apparently Hughes will be renovated to serve as the new location for Roxhill, with future use of the Roxhill building "unknown" at this point. Hughes will be a capacity of 550, which might include the 9 portable classrooms that the current tenant (Westside Schools) placed onsite? Evidently, these portables are in good condition, with sewer and water. SPS is purchasing the portables and playground equipment from the current tenant for $525,000.<br /><br />It was stated that Roxhill had a capacity of 400, versus 550 at Hughes (with 9 portable classrooms?).<br /><br />I don't remember this being discussed at all during Growth Boundaries? From what Marty McLaren had to say, it sounds like the Roxhill community is not thrilled with the move to Hughes (I'm guessing there wasn't much, if any, community engagement around this?). They evidently want Hughes to serve as an interim site for a Roxhill building replacement.<br /><br />-North-end MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-83483658123016048592015-10-22T12:59:18.557-07:002015-10-22T12:59:18.557-07:00This is the post that I put together at the time o...This is the post that I put together at the time of the Growth Boundaries vote. The short version is that I urged the board to NOT create a SIX year plan, when there was ZERO possibility that a six year plan could be successfully implemented. <br />http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-support-kellie-larues-lets-hit-pause.html<br /><br />Because the BEX to BTA cycle is THREE year cycle, three years is the longest time horizon that can be reasonably created for boundaries while Seattle is experiencing so much growth. The problem with a six year plan is that staff feels that they can only deviate from the plan under exceptional circumstances and as such there are simply solutions that could be implements that are not even discussed AND families have false hope that something schedule to happen will happen. <br /><br />So now we are two year's into the Growth Boundaries plan and here are just a few of the "known-problems"<br /><br />* Hamilton is severely overcrowded and well over the projections. Some changes needs to be made to the feeder pattern. <br />* There is continuing serious concern about high school capacity<br />* There are several elementary schools that are lightly enrolled near elementary schools that are bursting at the seams.<br />* EC Hughes has been added to the plan, and as such there is now a domino effect in ALL of West Seattle. <br />* Geo-splits are being planned for the new Cedar Park elementary <br />* Another HCC geo-split is in the mix with multiple (implausible) outcomes. <br />* Future Eagle Staff Middle School families have been promised that they will be grandfathered at their current elementary school. A promise that is impossible to keep. <br /><br /><br />That is not a complete list. Can we pull this into a separate thread because I doubt most families have any idea that this major revision to the assignment plan is being silently fast tracked. <br /><br /><br />kelliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01322661098626555834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-22969710049445461532015-10-22T12:55:00.349-07:002015-10-22T12:55:00.349-07:00Sigh...you know you are officially "old"...Sigh...you know you are officially "old" when the Director of Enrollment Planning looks young enough to be your kid. And WOW May is sooo early for the reasons others have stated above...<br /><br />plus she's says part of the issue is Enrollment is closed over the summer - who's fault is that? That's hardly a fair reason to shorten the timeline. <br /><br />reader47Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-26734653597825722682015-10-22T12:34:01.126-07:002015-10-22T12:34:01.126-07:00We have TONS of changes over the summer. I can'...We have TONS of changes over the summer. I can't imagine knowing by May 31st what is going to happen in the fall. It makes more sense to me to dissolve waitlists after the first week of school in Sept.<br />EmployeeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12940469471698946132015-10-22T12:22:35.523-07:002015-10-22T12:22:35.523-07:00Assuming people move here over the summer, and mov...Assuming people move here over the summer, and move away over the summer, or delay informing SPS of their decision to attend private school until summer, or test into Advanced Learning over the summer, etc., May 31 seems too soon. And if those things don't happen over the summer, why haven't they been able to firm up rosters much sooner in every preceding year? Because those things DO happen over summer! Schools need time to fine tune class schedules and teacher assignments, true, but can't they do all that in August? Dissolve the waitlists more like Aug 1 or something. <br /><br />HFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-29592097098968912052015-10-22T12:13:18.646-07:002015-10-22T12:13:18.646-07:00May 31st seems too soon, unless the Enrollment off...May 31st seems too soon, unless the Enrollment office really makes an effort to move the waitlists early on. This year, no movement happened until September. I do believe that moving the date up does help in staffing planning, but enrollment seems to wait until the last minute to move these seats. <br />- NE parent<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com