tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post8457202916370079957..comments2024-03-18T16:51:10.406-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Curriculum Alignment MeetingsMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-6751639453910210002009-12-04T17:40:08.791-08:002009-12-04T17:40:08.791-08:00Dear Joan NE,
Drop me a line at:
dempsey_dan@yaho...Dear Joan NE,<br /><br />Drop me a line at:<br />dempsey_dan@yahoo.com<br /><br />I will hook you up with the local data king, Mr. Orbits, who has "Mined" incredible data for local school districts and produced great graphs and reports.<br /><br />I sent applicable ones to the board as did Mr. Orbits. Mike DeBell got it but Sundquist, Chow, Maier, Carr decided to live in Admin fairyland instead on the High School math adoption decision.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see if the Jan 11, 2010 court hearing gets any of the public more involved.dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-59152596680921684842009-12-03T17:57:24.320-08:002009-12-03T17:57:24.320-08:00This is Policy E20.00, entitled "Communicatio...This is Policy E20.00, entitled "Communication with the Community." This pertains to community engagement. There may be community engagement requirements embedded in other policies. I will post those when I find them.<br /><br />"It is the policy of the Seattle School Board to provide the public with timely, accurate information and to solicit community input. Because it believes that the strength and success of the schools are tied to the knowledgeable support of the public, the School Board expects staff members to stimulate two-way communications with all District employees and the Seattle community."<br /><br />http://www.seattleschools.org/area/policies/e/E20.00.pdfJoan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-46994185943893724942009-12-03T16:54:02.512-08:002009-12-03T16:54:02.512-08:00Some good research on K-12 math materials can be f...Some good research on K-12 math materials can be found at Laurie Rogers' blog "Betrayed"<br /><br />http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2009/11/hs-math-curriculum-adoption-research.htmlSPS momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07868844486562389924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76988323633344467722009-12-03T15:33:00.094-08:002009-12-03T15:33:00.094-08:00SC I certainly can use some coaching on how to be ...SC I certainly can use some coaching on how to be more effective. I am pretty new at activism. In this regard, are you referring to my plan to use the instructional materials complaint process to try to get the district to revisit its math adoptions?<br /><br />I bring up the idea for a commmunity engagement policy because I saw that Board policy is that parents can make suggestions for policy. <br /><br />Yes, there is already a community engagement policy, and the Superintendent is following it. So you see, the problem is the policy doesn't call for meaningful engagement. <br /><br />So I am suggesting that a parent -even better a large group of parents - draft a suggestion for a new policy, and ask a Board member to sponsor it. It would be best to find a Board member - perhaps chair of the appropriate committee - to give us some feedback on a draft policy suggestion.<br /><br />This group would address the problem of finding an appropriate formula and procedure for getting appropriate membership. I am thinking that this could then be a model for membership composition of an ongoing Advisory and Oversight Committee for Meaningful Community Engagement, whose job would be, at minimum, to monitor District compliance with the spirit and the requirements of the community engagement policy.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12093088134872920722009-12-03T15:07:24.598-08:002009-12-03T15:07:24.598-08:00Joan NE,
Wherever you can get community/parent sup...Joan NE,<br />Wherever you can get community/parent support and assistance in SPS is a good thing. A Board Policy around comunity engagement? There might already be one.<br /><br />1) to be powerful, "community" must be powerful: numbers, law, research...whatever give the community power to be effective. I don't know that policy creation is in the communities purview, but they might be able to influence it.<br /><br />2) Collaboration: <br />Who wants to work with someone who is coming from an oppositional approach? Not to say you, but if any power is to be successfully wielded, it needs either a lot of strength or a lot or collaboration - unless one can MAKE the institution do something, one has to work with it.<br /><br />So approach it as a collaborative and positive mission. If it's done as a piece of opposition, all those who are OF the institution (and there are thousands) will be either caught in the middle or knee-jerk reactionaries to the challenge.<br /><br />Yes, I like the idea of board policy around collaboration. Your weighted system strikes me as a good idea, but I wonder which parents will have power and say, and which won't. If the system is heavily influenced by SOME parents, who speaks for the others? I believe that "good" institutions can stand as the voice for the powerless...seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-47223155482601718882009-12-03T11:55:18.945-08:002009-12-03T11:55:18.945-08:00Dan - thanks for responding to my question. Good a...Dan - thanks for responding to my question. Good answer. You and SC make lots of good points and raise many important questions about this data. I think it is very constructive to look at the data very closely as you are. <br /><br />If you think it would help to prepare graphs of the data (might make it easier to visualize the data and to ascertain the important information contained therein), I can help you with that.<br /><br />If these reports that you cite are peer reviewed and are compelling, then these reports are really important. They prove the District's rigid commitment to reform math is not justifiable scientifically. (The fact EDM is one of the only curricula that IES What Works Clearinghouse recommends is weak support for this curriculum, since there are many problems with the way IES-WWC assesses curricula.)<br /><br />Please keep us informed of how the court case progresses.<br /><br />I just found a Board policy that might be helpful as another route for inducing the District to reconsider its entire K-12 curriculum. This policy allows individual parents to file an Instructional Materials Complaint with their principal, and then appeal all the way to the Board. If many parents do this - especially if simultaneously - the more effective the strategy would be.<br /><br />The policy is C32.01 "Instructional Materials Complaint Procedure" [http://www.seattleschools.org/area/policies/c/index.dxml]<br /><br />I have children at two different schools. I intend to file complaints at both schools not later than Monday.<br /><br />If enough people did this, then the PI-online and other local newspapers might carry a story on this.<br /><br />I am thinking that it might help a lot with both the math curriculum problem and with many other issues in this District, if the Board would adopt a policy that the District and the Board must make a reasonable effort to conduct meaningful community engagement (which in my mind means a number of specific activities, and would entail a strong role for an Advisory and Oversight Committee) and must use the data to inform District and Board decisions, so that the decisions appropriately and to the fullest practical and legal extent reflect the values and preferences of the primary stakeholders (parents and students). I would want teachers (secondary stakeholders) to be given a little less weight, and for tertiary and quartenary stakeholders to have the least influence. <br /><br />Do you, SC, or anyone think this would be much help?<br /><br />In my view, we have seen little to no genuine, meaningful community engagement from this administration and Board, nor can any of us have confidence that this administration's and Board's decisions and priorities reflect the values and priorities of the community, much less have confidence that this Superintendent has any idea or even interest in learning and knowing what are this community's values and priorities.<br /><br />In my view, the District shows almost no accountability to the public, and a new policy along this line could go far to address this problem.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-20763952194210174312009-12-03T10:54:56.833-08:002009-12-03T10:54:56.833-08:00On to Court: HERE
Brief Filed in Court Challenge ...On to Court: <a href="http://mathunderground.blogspot.com/2009/12/brief-filed-in-court-challenge-of.html" rel="nofollow">HERE</a><br /><br />Brief Filed in Court Challenge of Seattle High School Math Text Adoptiondan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36667047422471237592009-12-03T09:43:41.628-08:002009-12-03T09:43:41.628-08:00Seattle Citizen,
I just ran gaps for low income 4...Seattle Citizen,<br /><br />I just ran gaps for low income 4th grade students.... you can now extend your observation to 8 for 8.<br /><br />Low Income Students Gaps for grade 4 <br /> <br />4th Grade Math <br />Year District LI District Wh<br />2001-02 35.30% 70.00%<br />2002-03 37.80% 71.80%<br />2003-04 40.30% 78.00%<br />2004-05 37.50% 79.60%<br />2005-06 39.30% 76.00%<br />2006-07 40.00% 79.80%<br />2007-08 33.70% 73.90%<br />2008-09 36.20% 78.80%<br /> <br />White-Low Income GAP <br />4th Grade Math <br />Year <br />2001-02 34.70% <br />2002-03 34.00% <br />2003-04 37.70% <br />2004-05 42.10% <br />2005-06 36.70% <br />2006-07 39.80% <br />2007-08 40.20% <br />2008-09 42.60% <br /> <br />4th Grade Reading <br />Year District LI District Wh<br />2001-02 50.90% 80.60%<br />2002-03 49.30% 82.60%<br />2003-04 55.70% 87.50%<br />2004-05 61.20% 90.90%<br />2005-06 67.00% 90.50%<br />2006-07 66.60% 90.20%<br />2007-08 58.50% 87.80%<br />2008-09 57.60% 89.80%<br /> <br />White-Low Income GAP <br />4th Grade Reading <br />Year <br />2001-02 29.70% <br />2002-03 33.30% <br />2003-04 31.80% <br />2004-05 29.70% <br />2005-06 23.50% <br />2006-07 23.60% <br />2007-08 29.30%<br />2008-09 32.20%dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-23618065002080946462009-12-03T09:29:17.250-08:002009-12-03T09:29:17.250-08:00Seattle Citizen,
Nice observation about all the g...Seattle Citizen,<br /><br />Nice observation about all the gap increases last year. Perhaps it was just random chance that 6 measurements all got worse.<br />That is a 2^6 chance. Hey 1 out of 64. <br /><br />The entire neglectful approach of ignoring "What has been shown to work" in order to continue with "Fairy-tale" projects is my beef.dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88814894417921194892009-12-03T09:22:52.439-08:002009-12-03T09:22:52.439-08:00Dear Joan NE,
Thanks for taking a look at the dat...Dear Joan NE,<br /><br />Thanks for taking a look at the data. The thing I find the most shocking about the school board is that year after year they continually buy into the Central Admin's bogus reasoning and keep going with the Party Line (as spewed forth by UW ED and other marketeers of Nonsense).<br /><b><br />Hattie's "Visible Learning" says it all. Education is NOT an evidence based profession. Until the public revolts against this ED NONSENSE we will be stuck with moronic decision making.<br /></b><br />Project Follow Through (at a cost of close to 1 billion carried out over 28 years) that specifically looked at the best models for teaching educationally disadvantaged learners in grade k-3 is completely ignored by the SPS. Same goes for the National Math Advisory Panel report "Foundations for Success", which is also strongly data based. SPS could care less. The high school math adoption committee did not even reference NMAP. Only Ms. de la Fuente brought it up in her presentation, with two meaningless quotations from it.<br /><br />The evidence is there to make good decisions ... but decisions are made to be in the politically in "Club Ed" good graces.<br /><br />{I believe that Ms. de la Fuente, with a BA in English, is now a PhD. candidate in Math ED at the UW.}dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-13767805762200221562009-12-03T09:18:59.917-08:002009-12-03T09:18:59.917-08:00What I find rather strange is that the percent gap...What I find rather strange is that the percent gap between district and Blacks seems to have gone down in every grade and subject until the year before last, when all grades/subjects swung back up.<br /><br />I wonder why this is: were all lessons less effective that year, in math and reading?<br /><br />hmmmseattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-2471071587309136992009-12-03T09:08:58.564-08:002009-12-03T09:08:58.564-08:007th Grade Math
Year District Blk District Wh
199...7th Grade Math <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1997-98 2.30% 35.00%<br />1998-99 4.70% 46.50%<br />1999-00 6.30% 48.20%<br />2000-01 5.10% 48.40%<br />2001-02 6.80% 45.80%<br />2002-03 7.30% 50.00%<br />2003-04 15.00% 64.10%<br />2004-05 17.40% 65.10%<br />2005-06 17.70% 67.60%<br />2006-07 24.10% 73.40%<br />2007-08 24.20% 72.80%<br />2008-09 23.10% 74.40%<br /><br />White-Black GAP <br />7th Grade Math <br />Year <br />1997-98 32.70% <br />1998-99 41.80% <br />1999-00 41.90% <br />2000-01 43.30% <br />2001-02 39.00% <br />2002-03 42.70% <br />2003-04 49.10% <br />2004-05 47.70% <br />2005-06 49.90% <br />2006-07 49.30% <br />2007-08 48.60% <br />2008-09 51.30% <br /><br /><br />10th Grade Math <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1998-99 5.40% 41.30%<br />1999-00 8.30% 48.50%<br />2000-01 6.10% 52.70%<br />2001-02 8.10% 53.80%<br />2002-03 7.00% 52.50%<br />2003-04 11.30% 58.70%<br />2004-05 12.90% 57.10%<br />2005-06 21.70% 72.20%<br />2006-07 19.60% 70.80%<br />2007-08 16.00% 68.30%<br />2008-09 16.30% 69.90%<br /><br />White-Black GAP <br />10th Grade Math <br />Year <br />1998-99 35.90%<br />1999-00 40.20%<br />2000-01 46.60%<br />2001-02 45.70%<br />2002-03 45.50%<br />2003-04 47.40%<br />2004-05 44.20%<br />2005-06 50.50%<br />2006-07 51.20%<br />2007-08 52.30%<br />2008-09 53.60%<br /><br /><br />Now for Reading <br /><br />4th Grade Reading <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1997-98 30.60% 72.30%<br />1998-99 33.50% 77.00%<br />1999-00 40.30% 81.40%<br />2000-01 41.30% 82.30%<br />2001-02 43.40% 80.60%<br />2002-03 47.70% 82.60%<br />2003-04 55.70% 87.50%<br />2004-05 61.60% 90.90%<br />2005-06 61.60% 90.50%<br />2006-07 64.90% 90.20%<br />2007-08 56.80% 87.80%<br />2008-09 53.60% 89.80%<br /><br />White-Black GAP READING<br />4th Grade Reading <br />Year <br />1997-98 41.70% <br />1998-99 43.50% <br />1999-00 41.10% <br />2000-01 41.00% <br />2001-02 37.20% <br />2002-03 34.90% <br />2003-04 31.80% <br />2004-05 29.30% <br />2005-06 28.90% <br />2006-07 25.30% <br />2007-08 31.00% <br />2008-09 36.20% <br /> <br /><br />7th Grade Reading <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1997-98 12.20% 53.10%<br />1998-99 16.70% 62.60%<br />1999-00 15.40% 58.10%<br />2000-01 15.90% 57.80%<br />2001-02 20.10% 63.60%<br />2002-03 21.40% 66.40%<br />2003-04 30.50% 73.60%<br />2004-05 39.30% 78.90%<br />2005-06 33.80% 78.70%<br />2006-07 48.90% 82.50%<br />2007-08 43.60% 78.40%<br />2008-09 37.30% 76.10%<br /><br />White-Black GAP <br />7th Grade Reading <br />Year <br />1997-98 40.90% <br />1998-99 45.90% <br />1999-00 42.70% <br />2000-01 41.90% <br />2001-02 43.50% <br />2002-03 45.00% <br />2003-04 43.10% <br />2004-05 39.60% <br />2005-06 44.90% <br />2006-07 33.60% <br />2007-08 34.80% <br />2008-09 38.80% <br /><br /><br />10th Grade Reading <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1998-99 15.90% 54.70%<br />1999-00 25.40% 70.50%<br />2000-01 26.50% 67.70%<br />2001-02 23.20% 71.20%<br />2002-03 24.20% 72.50%<br />2003-04 31.50% 75.40%<br />2004-05 47.20% 80.30%<br />2005-06 61.40% 92.90%<br />2006-07 61.40% 88.00%<br />2007-08 66.60% 88.30%<br />2008-09 66.80% 91.30%<br /><br />White-Black GAP <br />10th Grade Reading <br />Year <br />1998-99 38.80%<br />1999-00 45.10%<br />2000-01 41.20%<br />2001-02 48.00%<br />2002-03 48.30%<br />2003-04 43.90%<br />2004-05 33.10%<br />2005-06 31.50%<br />2006-07 26.60%<br />2007-08 21.70%<br />2008-09 24.50%dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-41775697625028081002009-12-03T09:08:09.593-08:002009-12-03T09:08:09.593-08:00Dear Joan NE,
Nice observation on WASL Black math...Dear Joan NE,<br /><br />Nice observation on WASL Black math performance but wrong conclusion about the district choice of instructional materials being responsible for anything positive.<br /><br />Until very recent math adoptions (a year ago) The states schools were over 90% reform math grades k-5. In 6,7,8 65% used Connected Math or Connected Math 2. Seattle's gains I believe were due to increasing instructional time to 75 minutes daily from likely 45 to 50 minutes and NOT the materials.<br /><br />Take a look at White Black WASL gaps over the last decade for the district and you will better understand my point about poor instructional materials and poor instructional methods.<br /><br />The Gaps for Math <br />grades 4, 7, 10 <br /><br />4th Grade Math <br />Year District Blk District Wh<br />1997-98 14.20% 52.50%<br />1998-99 12.00% 55.10%<br />1999-00 17.20% 62.90%<br />2000-01 15.00% 65.60%<br />2001-02 22.30% 70.00%<br />2002-03 31.10% 71.80%<br />2003-04 36.40% 78.00%<br />2004-05 33.10% 79.60%<br />2005-06 31.30% 76.00%<br />2006-07 32.00% 79.80%<br />2007-08 27.60% 73.90%<br />2008-09 29.10% 78.80%<br /><br />White-Black GAP <br />4th Grade Math <br />Year <br />1997-98 38.30% <br />1998-99 43.10% <br />1999-00 45.70% <br />2000-01 50.60% <br />2001-02 47.70% <br />2002-03 40.70% <br />2003-04 41.60% <br />2004-05 46.50% <br />2005-06 44.70% <br />2006-07 47.80% <br />2007-08 46.30% <br />2008-09 49.70%dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-43942797412586605642009-12-02T14:09:25.281-08:002009-12-02T14:09:25.281-08:00I followed Charlie's suggestion and went to a ...I followed Charlie's suggestion and went to a Curriculm Alighment event. I heard Dr. Enfield speak and field questions. Unlike Charlie, I am not at all re-assured about Curriculum Alignment.<br />The responses to many comments from parents were alarming. IT was clear to me that many popular core credits (as they currently are embodied)will be eliminated in order to achieve district-wide uniformity.<br /><br />Dr. Enfield mentioned the "eye" test. this is a pretty close paraphrase: "I have to be able to look parents [especially those contemplating private vs public] in the eye when I assure them that their child will be able to enjoy a certain level of experience regardless of what SPS school their child would be assigned to."<br /><br />Of course, Dr. E. can't pass the eye test so easily UNLESS the schools are uniform, nor can the resegregating Plan to Eliminate Choice (SAP) be justified if the schools are not all virtually identical.<br /><br />I doubt, if the parents were surveyed, that they would say they desire this uniformity, at the cost of eliminating the courses that their children have really enjoyed, especially since for many kids the unique courses are a hook to keep the kids interested in school.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60070817767866980172009-12-02T13:58:17.282-08:002009-12-02T13:58:17.282-08:00Seattle Citizen - I absolutely LOVE your suggestio...Seattle Citizen - I absolutely LOVE your suggestion for eliminating grade levels - it's BRILLIANT!<br /><br />Chris: What does LOL mean? Do you have a link for/copy of the EDM survey?Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-5915790959731570362009-12-02T12:24:44.480-08:002009-12-02T12:24:44.480-08:00All that said, my point is that various types of p...All that said, my point is that various types of programs, including alts, can exist successfully (and offer choice) but it would be helpful if they fit into the larger scheme, and the district taking responsibility for noting where students are, at what level, is part of this scheme: it's the district's job, and students should be served in ways that best suits their level and interest.seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60242869810297636202009-12-02T12:23:28.333-08:002009-12-02T12:23:28.333-08:00Joan said:
This is why the District in general wil...Joan said:<br />This is why the District in general will be strongly opposed to conducting customer satisfaction surveys on any question for which they are not certain they will get strong support.<br /><br />LOL: this totally explains the wording of the SAP survey...<br /><br />EDM satisfaction survey:<br />1) Do you believe the EDM curriculum has numbers in it?<br /><br />2) Do you believe the "M" in EDM stands for "math?"Chris S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17016898261120819596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-35121896342159681862009-12-02T12:23:05.763-08:002009-12-02T12:23:05.763-08:00Those who've read my comments over the years m...Those who've read my comments over the years might be surprised to hear this, but:<br /><br />There are many aspects of some of the current changes to the district that I like:<br />Consider this "package" - Common curriculum, MAP, RtI<br /><br />This is a big district, some 45000 students, 90 schools...There are certain things that we citizens want students to learn (as codified in policy). Do all classrooms teach what we citizens (Board) want taught? probably not. Is there rhyme or reason to the different content, pedagogies etc? Probably not.<br /><br />So how do we know what's going on? Trust?<br /><br />More importantly, there are students behind and ahead who aren't having their needs met or their levels addressed. How do we do THAT?<br /><br />First, identify need: where is a student at, what do they need? This can be general or specific. So how does the district, our publicly run school district, ascertain need? MAP, HSPE, and classroom assessments. None of these is effective on its own, but each can lend a hand in helping identify where students are.<br /><br />Many whose children are doing "okay" might not see the need for this - they can SEE their kid is getting a good education: They might talk to the kid, they might have the education themselves to both augment instruction and check progress at home...but many parent/guardians don't have these abilities, so who sees where THEIR kids are at? The district.<br /><br />Common curriculum: So we have a district that is supposed to teach certain things. How does the district know students are being taught these things, how does district know where students are at on these things....Trust? Is that fair to the student? So MAP, a common assessment around common curricular mandates, helps inform that, and to use that you need some common pieces of curriculum.<br /><br />I've argued long and hard that it's impossible to use these tools to evaluate a teacher, and I still stand by that to some degree, as it is not precise - students assess differently etc. But a common tool can provide some understanding of student need, and common strategies (not a scripted curriculum, but common tools such as mind maps etc) can help 1) teach things that are expected; 2) allow students to be exposed to these strategies in similar ways over time, in ways that show common understanding and use.<br /><br />RtI: Finally, this piece takes the information gained from MAP, HSPE, classroom assessments and observation, and addresses student needs on the fly: Student is given higher or lower level lessons (differentiation), student receives in-class support of issues, student then receives out-of-class support, finally, if student is still behind or ahead or whatever, if classroom/building is not enough, some other building might be utilized: Re-entry, another learning environment ("option"..."choice"..."alternative"..."academny...")<br /><br />So the district becomes more organized, due to some commonalities. It has the responsibility to do this, and for the benefit of students should do some of this (to a degree...we DON"T need scripts)<br /><br />Whither goest the alts? In this new paridigm, the district supplies transportation to a variety of programs: Maritime Academy, Language Immersion, Altertnative, Music...To meet the identified needs of each student. Students might self-select such a program, or be identified as benefiting from such a program...<br /><br />Me personally, I'd be happy to do away with "grade level" entirely and change to system that used proficiency levels to advance students: They might take LA9, MA10, SCI12 and HIS08 during any given quarter if that's the level they test into, just like in community colleges. In fact, I'd streamline it INTO comm colleges, so a 15-year-old can take college-level courses when they reach that levelseattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-19598456966602129442009-12-02T11:53:19.283-08:002009-12-02T11:53:19.283-08:00Just want to let you all know that with the help o...Just want to let you all know that with the help of a former Board member, I am writing up a voters pledge. Please write to me at joan@mathascent.org if you can help with settinp up a website, circulating pledge forms, reviewing the draft pledge, or other small tasks. <br /><br />you can reach me at joan@mathascent.orgJoan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79746177357815389682009-12-02T11:49:06.048-08:002009-12-02T11:49:06.048-08:00Chris - it is easy to make a research-based case t...Chris - it is easy to make a research-based case that best practices in assessment is to allow for multiple forms of assessment, and to avoid reliance on student scores on a single standard test as the basis for assessement and critical decisions.<br /><br />Anyone who says that high stakes testing is valid, reasonable, and best-practice, is either lying or is ignorant.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-73570990961231083722009-12-02T11:44:30.716-08:002009-12-02T11:44:30.716-08:00Chris - You make great points.
Harium said last n...Chris - You make great points.<br /><br />Harium said last night that has some control over board-review of the C54 policy, so we need to urge him to insist on meaningful cummunity engagement if the board ever contemplates modifying/etc C54.<br /><br />The fact that the Board is supporting the Sup's decision to not let Thornton creek exercise its right to curricular autonomy (accorded by C54) shows to me that the Board is not doing its job of insisting that the Sup uphold board policy.<br /><br />In response to my specific concern that the sup violated C54 when denied TC's math waiver request, Harium said to me after the mtg that to let every alt choose its own curriculum has certain problems. Later, after thinking about his answers, I realized that there is a valid counterresponse to every objection he raised. I don't think the Board/District can strongly defend their unwillingness to uphold the autonomy C54 accords to alt schools. <br /><br />Maybe we should say, "It is your duty, in general, to hold the superintendent accountable for upholding Board Policy, and to write policy that reflects the community's values and priorities. Specifically, we want C54, a very good policy and a popularly supported policy, upheld!" <br /><br />The danger of course is that the Board will suspend/revoke/alter C54to take away the essential priveleges of alt schools.<br /><br />Last night at a Curr. Align. engagement mtg, a parent raised the concern the district can err when it chooses a district-wide curriculum, resulting in adverse consequences for every student in the District. The parent went on to say that the District has a poor track record for picking strong curriculum - EDM cited as an example. Dr. Enfield (chief academic officer) countered by saying (effectively, IMO) that she doesn't believe that the math curriculum is widely disliked.<br /><br />I wish someone had thought to challenge Dr. Enfield to arrange for the district to pay for a disinterested third party to conduct - and then publicize the results of - a well-publicized parent and student survey of "customer satisfaction" with the math curriculum.<br /><br />The district always claims that the public generally supports whatever it is that the district wants to do. I'd like to see the DATA. The district loves data, but only that data which supports their (Broad Foundation) agenda. This is why the District in general will be strongly opposed to conducting customer satisfaction surveys on any question for which they are not certain they will get strong support.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79481459600571666092009-12-02T11:12:52.538-08:002009-12-02T11:12:52.538-08:00Dan dempsey: near the top of this strand, you supp...Dan dempsey: near the top of this strand, you supplied data on WASL Pass rates for Black students in math grade 3-8th & 10th.<br /><br />I didn't understand why you showed this data. To me it says that this district's black students have closed the achievement gap compared to the state-wide averages for black students, and that all of the closing occured after 2005-2006. This seems to suggest that the district-adopted curriculum has helped these students catch up.<br /><br />So I don't see how this relates to the point you were making within the comment in which the data was embedded.<br /><br />It could be though, that EDM is better aligned with the WASL than was TERQ, but this is not proof that either EDM or TERQ is a good math curriculum, only that it is aligned. <br /><br />I have no doubt that geniune math achievement would improve - especially for those students who do not have access to extra math support and who are currently not highly successful in math - if this district used a genuinely sound and strong math curriculumJoan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-49773925023361713422009-12-02T11:06:43.741-08:002009-12-02T11:06:43.741-08:00I would suggest alternative schools define the &qu...I would suggest alternative schools define the "good" version of curricular alignment: if our students can still <b>meet the same standards</b> then we should be able to choose whatever methods and materials we see fit. <br />The main difficulty would then be assessment of the standard-meeting in schools that choose to use alternative (other than standardized testing) assessments.<br /><br />And BTW Harium assured the Alt School Coalition that C54 is "alive and well" last night - so we do have some grounds on which to base these kinds of requests.Chris S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17016898261120819596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-62451306522587894452009-12-02T11:04:25.653-08:002009-12-02T11:04:25.653-08:00I understand that Elaine Packard, a long-time (now...I understand that Elaine Packard, a long-time (now retired) principal at Nova and alt education advocate is not looking forward to the audit of alt school program. I don't know her reasons, but my impression is that she doesn't think it is going to help the alt school advocacy. <br /><br />You can find a short bio of Elaine at this url: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/m_news/altedcharge.pdf). I don't know her reasons for having reservations.<br /><br />By the way, it might be constructive to urge the board to create an Advisory and Oversight committee similar to the one described in the URL just cited.<br /><br />My expectation is that purpose of the audit will be to identify for the district how it can most effectively and efficiently complete its program of converting alt schools to traditional schools.<br /><br />This is based on a) patterns I have seen in the suite of review reports that have been prepared for the District, b) the wild discrepancy between the District-executive summary of the APP program review as compared to the Exec Sum written by the review authors, and c) the CSIPs for AS#1 and Pathfinder.Joan NEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810050976533673804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-31862235430768589362009-12-02T10:06:38.203-08:002009-12-02T10:06:38.203-08:00One of the reasons that we are all looking forward...One of the reasons that we are all looking forward to the Alternative Audit is for the clearer definition of the mission and operational freedom of Alternative Schools.<br /><br />It meant one thing in a context of site-based management but it means something else in the context of curricular alignment and more central contral.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.com