Odds and Ends

FYI,
  • Board Work Session on High School Math Adoption, Wednesday, March 12, 4-5:30pm at JSH.
  • For you uber-planners, here's the school calendar likely to be approved at Wednesday's Board meeting.
  • University of Washington Adolescent Brain and Behavior Project (This is not sponsored nor endorsed by the RHS School or PTSA): Are you the parent of a 13-17 year old boy? Does your son have trouble paying attention in school, sitting still, or completing chores? -OR- Is he fidgety, restless or hyperactive? -OR- Has he been diagnosed with ADHD? If you are the parent of a 13-17 year old boy whether or not your son meets any of the symptoms above, we may be interested in inviting you to participate in a new research study on information processing in adolescent boys. Your child must be male, right-handed and not adopted in order to participate, and participation will take about 3-hours total. If the study is right for you and your son, your son will have a chance to earn up to $50 for participating. For more information, please contact the Adolescent Brain and Behavior Project at (206) 616-8647.

Comments

dan dempsey said…
This should be most interesting:
* Board Work Session on High School Math Adoption, Wednesday, March 12, 4-5:30pm at JSH.

The legislature is done around March 13th I think. Any chance there will be anything to listen to? If there was would JSCEE listen? How are we ever going to get out of the mess we are in???

Dr Rich Semler said.....
"Math fluency in multiplication, division, addition, and fractions is straightforward and easy to learn."

A friend I teach with said>>>
The above topics could be learned if the wizards at OSPI wanted these things taught. Looking at the most aligned TextBooks with the WASL as posted by OSPI over the last few years -- like TERC/Investigations, Everyday Math, Connected Math Project, Core-Plus, and Interactive Math Program -- makes it quite clear that OSPI would prefer we not teach arithmetic competence.

And so it also goes for the SPS under the failed math direction of the last decade.

So for most of the last decade the topics Dr Rich Semler mentions as straightforward have not been easy to learn - because neither OSPI nor the SPS math gurus downtown thought they needed much teaching.

Let the Blundering continue on March 12th.

Unless by some odd chance the School Board cares to exercise some rational thought processes. We shall find out on Wed Feb 27th - if the board has any interest in doing anything other than floating like a leaf down the stream doing so with out a wake or any evidence of existence. Why require or enter into a rational decision making process? I hope the promised effective new leadership arrives soon.
2/25/08, 11:26 PM
Anonymous said…
I can't start a thread on this blog, but here's news from our superintendent:
Staff recieved an email frm Dr. G-J announcing the work on the strategic plan, and announcing completion of some of the analysis of the "Pyramid" (nee McKinsey) survey conducted with staff. 28 percent of staff participated in this on-line survey and the results are posted now on the Strat Plan website:
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/strategicplan/information.xml

Interesting read, would love to see this as a separate thread and see what people, both staff and stakeholders, think of the staffs' perceptions of their jobs in SPS.

Gordon
2/26/08, 9:48 AM
Anonymous said…
Gordon -
Could you plesase clarify the link for the strategic plan on-line? I was unable to get there from your
link.
2/26/08, 10:49 AM
Anonymous said…
Anonymous 10:49, here is the way to get to it through district website:
Go to www.seattleschools.org
In left menu, go down to
School Board and click on that, which brings you to:
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/index.dxml
Go to last paragraph of that page of description, and the first hyperlink in that last paragraph is “Current Issues” (blue hyper-link words) Click on that, which brings you to:
Media Resources
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/media/index.dxml
The first thing in the list on that page is:
Strategic Plan Index
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/strategicplan/index.dxml
In left menu, find:
Findings/Draft Plans (in left menu) http://www.seattleschools.org/area/strategicplan/information.xml
2/26/08, 11:44 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more