Superintendent on Community Engagement
I... I... I'm speechless.
You simply have to read it for yourself. The superintendent's report to the Board on her community engagement efforts. Please pay special attention to the Q & A that appears at the end.
Goodloe-Johnson - great superintendent or greatest superintendent?
You simply have to read it for yourself. The superintendent's report to the Board on her community engagement efforts. Please pay special attention to the Q & A that appears at the end.
Goodloe-Johnson - great superintendent or greatest superintendent?
Comments
ROFL!
Hint to MGJ : Producing saccharine self-serving, congratulatory documents don't make you look better. They make you look worse.
Get a grip! This isn't helping anyone -- not even you.
I can hardly wait for more community engagement from her.
December 9, 2010
Dear Teachers and other Certificated Staff:
I want to thank you for your service to our students. As many of you know, my mother, a career educator of 42 years, is my inspiration. It was her passion for teaching and learning that led me to the classroom.
I still remember my first days in the classroom and the tireless efforts that went into honing and improving my skills. I also remember the late nights spent to ensure my lesson plans were just perfect; the deep reflections, sometimes at the expense of sleep, about how to teach a concept differently so that all students demonstrated mastery, and the frustration I felt with myself when students did not excel.
There is no question that our work as educators is difficult, but also critically important—in fact, quality teaching is the most important factor in determining outcomes for the students we teach and that is why I feel so fortunate to have such a strong teacher corps here in Seattle.
I am steadfast in the belief that teaching is the noblest profession. Becoming an educator means taking on very demanding work; but few other professions reap the same rewards. And as I walk through our classrooms, I experience firsthand the rewards of your work. I see the supportive environments that you have created, and the engaged and cheerful faces of our students working on tasks that are challenging them. I want these same opportunities for each and every child, and I am confident that together we can deliver on this promise to every student in our system.
I hope each of you finds time during the holiday season for rest and relaxation. You deserve it! The work ahead will continue to challenge us – but it is work that we will accomplish together.
I have enjoyed and learned a tremendous amount from my brown bag lunches with teachers and staff at multiple schools, and will continue to respond and act based on the feedback I have received. I look forward to continuing these lunch opportunities during the rest of the school year.
After we return from winter break, I will be forming a Teacher Advisory Council. The purpose is to provide another format where I can listen and learn from those of you engaged in the day-to-day work in the classroom. It will be an avenue to include your voices and ideas as we move forward. I will let you know more about how to get involved.
I wish you and your families a safe and wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year. I look forward to our continued partnership in 2011.
Best wishes,
Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D.
Superintendent Seattle Public Schools
" quality teaching is the most important factor in determining outcomes for the students we teach and that is why I feel so fortunate to have such a strong teacher corps here in Seattle"
First perpetuate the lie that teachers are more important than socio-economic status. Then tell this "strong teacher corps" a straight-up lie. If teachers are so strong why the need for TfA?
~gag
McGilvra, Rainer Beach, Highland [Park], Wedgwood, Cleveland, and Chief Sealth.
Now count the meetings with business groups. There were thirteen: Microsoft Roundtable discussion, National League of Cities, Seattle Foundation meeting with Norm Rice and Michael Brown, Chamber Board Roundtable, Alliance Board meeting presentation, met with individual legislators, Philanthropic Partners for Public Education presentation, JP Morgan Round table, Amgen Roundtable, Town Square, presentation (Gates—Q&A attached in appendix), met with Alan Golston and David Bley
(Gates), and the Superintendent Summit sponsored by the Alliance for Education. I also was
invited to present at the Community Development Roundtable.
Who is she listening to and learning from?
I am sickened that the central office is using their manpower on this drivel when I have a class of 28 first graders two with IEP's who are getting little to no support because the ICS model doesn’t have any money to pay for the promised IA personal.
I am drowning in paperwork, I haven’t worked less than an 11 hour day in more than a month (most days are 12 hours) and I have such little help in my classroom that I only have one chance to stop working long enough to pee in the six & ½ hours when kids are here. It’s a good thing I love working with kids as much as I do, or this would truly be a thankless job!
"Perfect" lesson plans?
Why isn't MGJ in charge of all teacher inservice & training?
( also- I want some of what she is smoking)
After we return from winter break, I will be forming a Teacher Advisory Council.
I have been told that she threatened teachers at one brown bag.
Listening and Regurgitating what you hear at Community meetings is not Family Engagment.
Taking heed and acting upon the input from families is Engagement.
MGJ seems to think that she has all the answers and will not admit when she is wrong.
She is human like the rest of us and could gain some respect if she would admit her mistakes and act to correct them.
And...what to do about the School Board members who are not acting as leaders over this woman who seems to be out of control?
I also find it interesting that one of the members of the Goodloe-J Cheer Squad says "I hope you stay." (or something to that effect.)
Is MGJ thinking about leaving?
If you attended any of these events and asked a question, please send it and her answer to the Board. They need a more complete picture.
I should know better than to doubt you all. Seriously. What the heck is "Town Square" and why do we get 5 pages of Q and A from that? Really, what audience asked those questions?
I did appreciate the "do you have a plan for building trust with teachers? question. Her answer, not so much.
Please note, MGJ's to-be-formed Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) will include "20 teachers (four teachers from each region representing pre-school, elementary, K-8, alternative schools, middle, and high schools)". Any volunteers??
Central Mom
This quote: "I see the supportive environments that you have created, and the engaged and cheerful faces of our students working on tasks that are challenging them. I want these same opportunities for each and every child, and I am confident that together we can deliver on this promise to every student in our system."
How often is she actually in the Classroom? Does she actually believe in teachers autonomy and creating a supporting environment and differentiating OR is it all about falling in line? How about ALL OF THIS DAMN TIME WE TAKE PREPARING FOR TESTING? I cannot use the Library at all next week due to MAP testing, I need to use up time to do HSPE prep when it should just flow naturally from the curriculum, like the New York State Regents Exam.
I have to say I automatically deleted the Super's email. I just drips insincerity, especially when I've met her in person and seen how she interacts with teachers. The ultimate slimy politician.
McGilvra, Rainer Beach, Highland [Park], Wedgwood, Cleveland, and Chief Sealth."
Count how many were south of the Ship Canal: Five. How many were north: One. How many were south of Jackson: Four
So when might we expect to see brown bag lunches at Roosevelt? At Whitman? Greenlake? Salmon Bay?
improvements you are trying to take in the district? How do we address the huge gap in the value teachers provide to our society relative to the compensation they receive?
Answer from Dr. Goodloe-Johnson: One cannot put an actual value on a teacher who inspires and expects the best from students - his/her value is priceless. The Our Schools Coalition...is a
diverse group of organizations throughout the city who agree with this and are taking action to influence policy
change on this issue. SPS is leading the state and the country on this issue. Our new Collective Bargaining
Agreement (CBA) identifies the most effective teachers in our schools based on multiple measures - including the
impact they have on student academic growth. These top performers will now have access to career ladder
opportunities that can significantly increase their salary, provide stipends to our highest performing teachers
working in our underachieving schools, and identify them as individuals that will mentor others.
So...To address "the huge gap in the value teachers provide to our society relative to the compensation they receive" we have OSC selling teachers on the idea that they can earn up to $1500 more (about 5 percent raise, not the "significant" increase in salary)....AND they have to do more work (the mentoring they need to do to get that $1500.)
And, as somebody noted, why on earth is the superintendent still citing Our Schools, repeating the lie about how they represent all parts of the city, and saying they are advocating for teacher pay increases when, apparently, they haven't done anything since their "survey" a year ago? Their website has barely changed since a few months ago, when they TWICE changed their mehtodology of the survey, to delete SPS as the source of the teachers' and students' private information, and when they changed the contact information from "Karen Waters @ strategies 360" to "info@ our schools...."
Somebody has to call BS on the superintendent's continued reference to this "organization." They are either moribund or operating in back rooms no community there) and they are NOT representative of the city. I'm sure teachers don't want Strategies 360 addressing their wage issues.
Skeptical in Seattle
"I see the supportive environments that you have created, and the engaged and cheerful faces of our students working on tasks that are challenging them. I want these same opportunities for each and every child..."
If she really wanted each and every child working on tasks that are challenging, she would STOP RESTRICTING KIDS FROM MOVING A GRADE AHEAD IN MATH JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE IN THE APP PROGRAM! There, that feels better.
It's discriminatory. The Math Placement Contract is supposed to be for ALL kids, not most kids.
I am thinking that if these are "real" comments at all, they came not from a "real" community meeting, but from some foundation/business group meeting of the ed reform faithful.
On the other hand -- as we all make "gagging noises," it is important to evaluate what the city -- overall -- thinks of MGJ. On any blog that leans toward a position, one runs the risk of thinking more of the public is "with" you than is actually the case. I worry about how many parents/Seattle voters just don't know how bad things are. They hear the constant reform rhetoric. They don't know the reality of the destroyed or damaged programs, the broken promises, the management failures, and the misspent or wasted funds. The things that we see as tips of large icebergs (the audit, the 17% and 66% numbers, the internal auditor leaving, etc. etc. etc.) they either don't see at all, or perceive as "mere blips."
So while we gag and ROFL over the disconnect between this report and what we see -- we need to be grateful for the reminder that there are people (who wote for board members, vote for levies, vote for bonds) who don't get it. Some may be of the Martin-Morris persuasion -- and are lost causes. But we need to credibly reach as many of the rest of them as possible, before the next Board election.
I thought they tested APP kids in math anyway (at least at middle school and beyond), and placed them wherever they tested (except for the failure to have enough kids at HIMS to support an Algebra II class -- and the problem there isn't the math contract, it is the broken promise of how the split would not degrade academic opportunities). Am I wrong?
discouraged. However, in extremely rare cases, available data may not reflect the best math placement for the student. In that unusual situation, a parent/guardian and student may choose to opt up one course level from the current course, if room in the course is available, through this Placement Contract. In all other situations, students will take the district‐recommended course. Our mathematics program allows for 6th grade students in those rare situations to “opt up” from 6th Grade Math to 7th Grade Math, or from 7th Grade Math to 8th Grade Math. Students may not skip two course levels."
There is NO provision for students assigned to 8th grade math to skip to 9th, even though it is only one level up from their assignment, not two. That affects primarily students in APP, but would also affect any other child who'd been assigned to 8th grade math in 6th and wanted a 9th grade placement.
As for students actually being assigned to 9th grade math in the first place -- doesn't happen any longer, not at Hamilton. They actually kicked kids out of such a placement last year. There is, as far as I have heard, flat-out active hostility toward students being more than two years ahead in math at Hamilton ... despite the district promise that three years of high school math would be available at both locations after the split.
Helen Schinske
I don't have any first hand knowledge of the APP math situation, but it's shown up several times on threads here and on the APP blog
Here is a summary of the situation from a parent with more direct experience with the situation.
The most egregious part of the math situation that I've heard about is that several highly qualified 6th graders were in a algebra class at Hamilton for sometime, were doing fine in the class where there was room for them when they were removed from the class against their wishes.
I've asked around, but I've never really heard a reasonable explanation for this. It seems like the district just doesn't want 6th graders taking algebra anymore whether this class would best meet their academic needs or not.
If someone has an explanation from someone in the district, I'd love to hear it.
But we've now descended to a new level in bizarro-world.
The left hand doesn't know that the right hand has left the building.
The notes from the APP Advisory Committee meeting stated that Hamilton instituted a new policy requiring all students to be in the building for six periods. Some students don't take a full schedule because they decided to take one or two courses online. Yet, these students still have to be at school for 6 periods. Students can't do their online courses at school. The school doesn't have the computer space nor the staff to supervise. So they are assigned to classrooms as TAs during periods when they do not have a class.
Are these students taking math classes online?
Baffled Parent
The problem with allowing them to leave the building is that their schedules would have to have either 1st period or 6th period free, so they could come late or leave early - be hard to monitor them if they left, say, 3rd period and came back, and their would be liability concerns for the school, I would suppose. Scheduling might be difficult. But as an innovative district ahead of the curve, this should be a priority in getting it figured out: What can students take online? When? How? etc etc. Online course can be beneficial (they can also be shallow and an end-run around the whole idea of public education, but that's another thread.)
Wow! (to quote Dan :>)) THAT is ripe for some parent to put their foot down and just say -- no. I refuse to make my child stay in the building while you fail (after promising otherwise) to have a class that is appropriate for his/her math needs. My middle school child deserves to take math. It is a core subject. He/she is entitled to instruction that is meaningful (i.e. -- not stuff they already know and can demonstrably test out of). Frankly, I have half a mind to sue you for not providing it! But, in the meantime, if you cannot provide a meaningful math class, we (my child and I) will take our marbles and go elsewhere for an hour a day -- and if you don't like it, I will see you in Olympia/the Mayor's office/Randy Dorn's office/[fill in the blank] to discuss this further -- oh, and reporters will be invited! Hell, I'll invite Bill Gates. Do you have even the slightest CLUE what the Gates's (or the Seattle Foundation) would think of this?! This District is squandering the time and talent of its kids (not just the APP ones, either, though their wasted time is what is being discussed here).
When my kid was at Washington's APP program, the Integrated III kids all just up and went to Garfield every day if there were too few to actually hold a class at WMS. They need to either teach, or get out of the way!
Charlie said: "Actually the school can't make this rule. There is a Policy on part-time homeschooled students and the schools are supposed to follow it."
Are you talking about an SPS policy, or the RCWs regarding home-schooling? If SPS policy, can you post a reference?
There is definitely push-back from staff about this, and regardless of the legalities they can make it difficult, if not impossible, in a practical sense.