Assessment Task Force Members Sought

From the district:

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent José Banda is seeking parents and community members who are interested in serving on the Task Force on Assessments and Measuring Progress.

The task force will be composed of between 20 and 25 members that include central office staff, school leaders, teachers, parents and community representatives.

The task force will be charged with reviewing District assessment programs and making recommendations for next year and beyond. It will carefully review the MAP assessment, and also hear from subject matter experts on key topics, such as future Common Core standards aligned assessments, and the new statewide evaluation system for teachers. The task force is scheduled to meet 4-6 p.m., Thursdays on the following dates:

• Feb. 7
• Feb.  21
• March 7
• March 21
• April 4
• April 11
• April 25
• May 2

If you are the parent of a child in Seattle Public Schools or a community member interested in participating on the Superintendent’s task force, please submit a brief letter (1-2 pages) that explains your interest in participating.

Please verify in the letter your availability to attend all task force meetings and provide any relevant information about your background or experience that would make you a strong candidate. If a parent, please also indicate the grade level(s) of and school(s) attended by your children.

For additional information, please see the announcement. All letters of interest must be submitted by noon, Monday, Feb. 4. 

Please submit your letter to the following email address: emanderson@seattleschools.org with the subject line: ASSESSMENT TASK FORCE

Comments

Anonymous said…
This taskforce idea shows a lack of leadership on Supt Banda's part. There is PLENTY of information and feedback amassed over YEARS of community, teacher input including what's being generated by this recent overwhelming round of protest. Why waste everybody's time on a process with a very predictable outcome? I do participate in District work that involves community input. I KNOW that this one would be a big waste of time.

reader
Anonymous said…
I received an email invitation to participate - based on my email to the Superintendent re: MAP I would guess. However - I would never be able to commit to attend every task force meeting from 4p-6p. I work during those hours and I'm guessing the majority of other people do too.

-GHS parent
A-mom said…
I wonder what they look for in your letter of application?

Selecting their own jury.
mirmac1 said…
If this task force is anything like the one put together to rubberstamp MAP, no thanks. Staff leads you by the nose and provides lots of non-answers to specific questions.

The action itself is reactive. The Superintendent procedure signed last winter called for this review to happen last spring. But like other actions called out in policies and procedures, it just doesn't get done until someone raises a justifiable stink.
Jan said…
reader -- it seems he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. Maybe I am naive (to mirmac's point), but I think a task force with a short deadline and a defined task is not a bad thing. Frankly, I would love to just can MAP, because the entire process (fake engagement, fake reasons for deploying it, fake/false statements on costs -- both money and time). But I think that the process will require coming up with a replacement, and may well involve a staged step back (first, kill it in high schools in favor of eoc and teacher generated assessments and in K-2, in favor of teacher generated assessments). THEN, look at 3rd through 8th and start replacing it there with:
--something that they can use to screen for unrealized giftedness (since we are using it for that and it is not designed for that purpose);
-- something that the teachers CAN use to inform instructio, and
--something that the District can use to get feedback on effective teaching.

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