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
Comments
BnS
So, what I am going to do? Write in Kay Smith-Blum's name on my ballot. I suggest you consider doing the same, if you too cannot vote for Dr. Blanford if his ethos does not square with yours.
I may not always agree with her, and, she may say she is done, but, Ms. Smith-Blum is better than Dr. Blanford, even if she endorses Dr. Blanford. She is hard-working, knows the lay of the land, and has something to offer.
I value voting, and, I can't just vote for someone (Blanford) just because I have to vote against someone else (Green) who is worse. That is why I will be writing in Ms. Smith-Blum's name. She is someone I could vote for.
-WRITE IN!!
--Kay
I do see that in NWEA's Common Core Transition for Primary Grades testing document an alert that MAP scores could drop. My child's scores did not drop from Spring to Fall, nor did the slopes of his material mastery "growth rate" flatten, but rather steepened by 186% of the extended trendline in reading by 96% in math. He could be currently outside NWEA's definition of primary grade.
My child is in a K-8 school, so it would not surprise me if the school did share to primary grade parents that Common Core-aligned MAP tests could be lower as the school transitions to CCSS.
--Data Ignomomus
It would not surprise me if there is a trend that's looking problematic with the new CCSS version.
NEP
The designated innovative schools are extremely varied in their missions, student populations, and strategies.
Unfortunately, given the small number of schools, we cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the innovations and student achievement.
We find no evidence that test score outcomes for the designated innovative schools as a group are different from other schools in the state. A few innovative schools have achieved higher than expected outcomes given their student characteristics; others have not.
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/pub.asp?docid=13-07-2201
Jane
In the letter, Senator Markey asks Secretary of Education Arne Duncan how K-12 schools are outsourcing management and assessment of student data, including intimate details like disabilities, to technology vendors.
“By collecting detailed personal information about students’ test results and learning abilities, educators may find better ways to educate their students,” Senator Markey wrote in the letter. “However, putting the sensitive information of students in private hands raises a number of important questions about the privacy rights of parents and their children.”
“Sensitive information such as students’ behavior and participation patterns also may be included in files outsourced to third-party data firms and potentially distributed more widely to additional companies without parental consent,” Senator Markey wrote. “Such loss of parental control over their child’s educational records and performance information could have longstanding consequences for the future prospects of students.” See more in the New York Times Article at http://nyti.ms/H8WNJp.
I believe Senator Markey is right to question how our children’s privacy is being protected. I think the Department of Education, the National PTA, state and federal legislators as well as local school boards should spend more time examining this issue, informed by the concerns of groups that are not connected with the data/testing industrial complex.
Ben
Varners comments about Blandford not necessarily being for or against charters is disturbing.
NEP
I faced clear evidence that some teachers only look at your kid as a test score, before they know ANYTHING about your child. I told him, uh uh, my child is not a number!
BTW, that was the MSP. I've opted my child out of MAP since '09
Seattle Public Schools invites you to a Community Meeting on the
Jane Addams Building BEX IV Construction Project
Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Location: Jane Addams Building, 11051 34 Ave NE
Room: Cafeteria
Dear Jane Addams area communities,
Because you live in the greater Jane Addams building area, you are receiving this letter.
Seattle voters approved the Seattle Public Schools Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) Capital Levy in February 2013, which includes the construction project to repurpose the Jane Addams building to become an attendance area Middle School.
The meeting will be presented by representatives of Seattle Public Schools BEX IV Capital Projects Team, the Jane Addams Middle School planning principal and Hutteball & Oremus Architecture, who will provide information about the project’s early construction design progress. You will be able to learn more about the construction project’s scope, schedule and design exploration. You will be able to ask questions and give us input and feedback. We hope that you will be able to join us!
This meeting is not related to boundaries issues, but only to the construction project to repurpose the building to become a Middle School. As you may know, boundary changes have not been made: the Board is scheduled to vote on any possible changes at its November 20 Board meeting.
For more information, please visit http://bex.seattleschools.org
Sincerely,
Seattle Public Schools Capital Projects Team
-North-end Mom
-Wondering
http://www.mapleleaflife.com/2013/10/20/comment-by-tomorrow-on-new-school-boundaries/comment-page-1/#comment-19321
-ML Mama
Everyone and their sister take it. You must intentionally opt your child out.
If the district used its discretion to test some and not others, it would mess with the NWEA's finely tuned (NOT) national database. That is why accomodations are strictly controlled. They want to market their product as truly representative of...what?
I love to mess with that : )
I have seen kids with IEPs take the MAP. But I have never seen them get their accommodations for the MAP.
-occasional proctor
Drove by the Mann building today and saw a lot of Aficatown activity, but no work being done. Is the district just going to give in to them. I thought a deal had been worked out with them and they were to have left by now.
A lot of gamemanship going on but it leads me to wonder what happens when construction finally starts?
-sped teacher
-sped parent
Wondering, if you have a kid on an IEP you have to get in there and ask. You can't assume anything. (Ok, you can assume the worst.)
Yes they may test your kid on MAP etc but they may -- and do -- give only the barest nod in the direction of accommodations. Remember, this is the District where the "culture of low expectations" for students with IEPs got its name. Your kid's now basically been branded as somebody whose low performance will be expected. That is the district opt out culture for our students with disabilities.
reader
-Diane
I too am confused as to what is happening @ Mann, what the agreement is. I know Africatown has hosted events the past couple of weekends, including banner drops supporting ACIC at Mann.
I have seen what appear to be work trucks on site a couple times, but no signs of work yet.
QUAD
http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/10/19/death-of-math/
"Two hundred years ago, students who finished high school learned about as much mathematical content as modern fifth graders learn today. And over the past 200 years, topics were gradually added to the curriculum until the textbooks have become giant bloated monstrosities. And though the modern high schooler ‘learns’ algebra, geometry, algebra II and trigonometry, statistics, and maybe even precalculus and calculus, the average adult still only remembers about as much as the adults from 200 ago did, or about what the average fifth grader is supposed to have learned."
Horace Mann School
From the School Beat newsletter out today, http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=10172216b14b5d42cb168512d4783eaa&pageid=302488&sessionid=10172216b14b5d42cb168512d4783eaa
:-(
-StepJ
I'm sorry to hear that. I pushed for the Decatour option.
I would comment that the rationale and analysis is thorough and presented in a transparent manner, more than we ever got from the MGJ or Enfield administrations. I believe this is a reflection on Mr. Banda.
Looked at the list of schools on it, which got me wondering which schools have crossing guards - paid or not.
Neighborhood schools yes, option schools no?
I do not believe the district pays for more than a small number of crossing guards.
Parents, is your PTA paying for guards?
Danny
Where are these neighborhood schools where the district is ramping up rigor? The problem is - schools make these decisions independently. The district needs to make this a priority at every school.
Why are you so negative about kids not in APP getting rigor? Are you afraid that they might actually do better than the good testers if given the chance?
Did you read what I wrote? So many posters say that their biggest complaint about their neighborhood school is the lack of access to more rigorous work. I think every school should have access to this - it shouldn't be dependent on PTA funding or a principal's personal philosophy. And yes, the high schools seem to be getting better at this - but I don't think most elementary middle schools are.
Speaking of high schools - as an example, Ballard should not be limiting access to their academies. If students have the academic qualifications for a program in their neighborhood school, a seat should be made available to them.
District policy is algebra for 6th graders yet you defer to teacher
Honors LA better than APP you defer to district
Ion