Go See This!

Race to Nowhere
Tuesday, 10/26
6:30 Film; 8:00 Community Discussion
@ Nova
300 20th Ave E, 98112
tix at: racetonowhere.com

This film shines a light on the high-stakes testing that has replaced
meaningful teaching and learning.
 
Race to Nowhere has been featured on CNN, Oprah and last week the
Washington Post said “the film is playing as a quiet counterpoint to
the better-known Waiting for Superman."

Comments

Charlie Mas said…
And while you are there, take note of The NOVA Project, one of the best-kept secrets in Seattle Public Schools.
10/22/10, 12:28 PM
Chris S. said…
Would you recommend bringing a middle-schooler to the movie? Totally relevant to their next 4-6 years but give me some selling points here...
10/22/10, 1:29 PM
owlhouse said…
I think it is an appropriate film for MS and definitely for HS kids. Of course, I think we should be engaging our children in the the conversation. What is education? Why is this valuable or not? How do you take care of yourself under stress, how do you help others? How do you set goals, recover from failure?

The film speaks to the stress kids are under- the pressures from schools, families and from themselves. We hear from a cast of characters who both manage and fail under the expectations. We hear from experts about the risks of such developmentally inappropriate practices as 1 hr homework per night/per class. We see kids from upper end private schools and urban center public schools talk about what's at stake for them, for their futures.

It's powerful, affirming, and energizing. It's also painful, frightening and concerning. I don't want to say too much- but the the trailer on the website paints the picture.

http://www.racetonowhere.com/node/4494
10/22/10, 2:43 PM
GreyWatch said…
Villa Academy is also showing the film on Nov. 4:
Event Info
10/22/10, 3:46 PM
Unknown said…
A couple of years ago I either read a book or watched a documentary about the games many kids play to burnish their college applications -- including subjecting themselves to incredible punishment by participating in everything (whenever possible in a leadership capacity), doing whatever it takes to earn A's ideally in all-honors courses (and much of "whatever" sounded pretty unethical to me), and completely sucking up to get excellent letters of reference. I tried about 10 searches but couldn't' find the title. But if I ever find it I will post it. It was eye opening.

NOVA is a treasure in our system. It has its own flaws (an intolerance of kids who, for example, decide to enter the military), but its a terrific place that fits many interesting, creative, smart, often-non-conformist, kids incredibly well.
10/22/10, 3:49 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
I LOVE Nova and its supporters. During Closure and Consolidation, those people worked like crazy to give us information and history about Nova. Their graduates were crazy about their high school (and you don't see that a lot). There has to be a Nova in every school system for different kinds of learners and thinkers.
10/22/10, 4:41 PM
Sahila said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
10/23/10, 7:05 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, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more