District Updates

From the Times about the West Seattle robberies of Denny students:

Seattle police believe they may have caught at least one teen connected to the armed muggings and beatings of West Seattle middle-schoolers earlier this week.

When officers approached a dozen teens hanging out around 4 p.m. today near Roxhill Park, where the armed robberies took place, several of them took off running. Officers chased after them and caught eight, all between 14 and 18 years of age.

One 18-year-old was arrested and booked into King County Jail because of a gun and box of ammo in a car he’d been driving. The seven other teens were released, but police say they’re continuing to examine any links between them and recent robberies in the area.

The Stranger Slog is reporting that Salmon Bay K-8 has dropped out of the MAP boycott.   They surmised, (and I believe rightly so) that their middle school could lose funding via the Families and Education levy for their middle school activities.  (The City wants more accountability of the money spent and thus is tying scores to funding.  I suspect many more schools might join the boycott if not for this funding issue.)

Meanwhile, Thornton Creek teachers join the chorus of schools that support those who are boycotting the MAP.   From their open letter (partial):

We, the teachers at Thornton Creek Elementary, voice our wholehearted support for our colleagues around the Seattle School District who are refusing to give the MAP test. We are continuing to take time from teaching to proctor the test at Thornton Creek because we are making a good faith effort to continue our eighteen month negotiation with the District to replace the MAP with an assessment that is more relevant and humane to our students. This decision was made the afternoon we learned of Garfield’s action. Our continued administration of MAP should in no way be construed as approval of this flawed and expensive test.

Our experiences and research confirm our belief that the MAP inadequately evaluates students’ knowledge, diverts a lot of time and resources from the school, and narrows the scope of a quality education. 

Teachers in Seattle were told the test would inform instruction. This is false: MAP is not helpful. The MAP does not evaluate what is being taught in our classrooms and does not give teachers feedback that could help us understand individual student needs. Teachers don’t know what is on the test and which questions a student got right or wrong resulting in baffling scores. 

We object to the time and money the MAP takes away from curriculum and instruction. Teachers, librarians, and administrators are spending lots of time to develop testing schedules, troubleshoot ongoing network problems, and update the computers in time for the test administration.  Sometimes

building funds are used to hire proctors to administer the test since funds were not supplied by the district. 

We strongly urge the Seattle School Board to direct District staff to discontinue the MAP and consult with teachers to find more appropriate measures of academic progress. The conversation about MAP at Thornton Creek is not over and we thank the Garfield faculty for strengthening our conviction for the work to come.

If you go to either Patu's or DeBell's Community Meetings today, use this thread to let us know about the discussion.