Friday Open Thread
Wow. Listen to this less-than-3 minute video of noted teacher evaluation expert, Charlotte Danielson, talk about teacher evaluation. My favorite line? "You can't fire your way to Finland." Should be required viewing for every school district administrator. Next favorite line? "What can count as evidence and how can that be attributed to an individual teacher?" She also says, at the end, "No one on the planet has figured out how to do that." Boom!
Shout out to the Chief Sealth Marching Band who appeared in yesterday's Macy's Holiday Parade. Good job, kids!
In bad news, apparently, in some parts of the country you can get arrested for picking your kids up at school...on foot.
(And yes, I am going to address the Times' editorial column on parents and schools but that'll be a separate thread.)
To note, there are no Director Community meetings tomorrow.
What's on your mind?
Shout out to the Chief Sealth Marching Band who appeared in yesterday's Macy's Holiday Parade. Good job, kids!
In bad news, apparently, in some parts of the country you can get arrested for picking your kids up at school...on foot.
(And yes, I am going to address the Times' editorial column on parents and schools but that'll be a separate thread.)
To note, there are no Director Community meetings tomorrow.
What's on your mind?
Comments
...."In a widely circulated 2012 article in Vanity Fair, two-time George Polk Award winner Kurt Eichenwald concluded that stacked ranking “effectively crippled Microsoft’s ability to innovate." He writes, “Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed—every one—cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees. It leads to employees focusing on competing with each other rather than competing with other companies.”
..."our key elements in the company’s new policy.
More emphasis on teamwork and collaboration.
More emphasis on employee growth and development.
No more use of a Bell curve for evaluating employees.
No more ratings of employees."
http://www.alternet.org/education/billionaire-bill-gates-and-his-army-reformers-terrible-idea-bringing-ruthless-corporate
Drop by and say hi, ask questions, or share your ideas of how we can strengthen Seattle's Public Schools.
The event starts at noon. Everyone is welcome.
When you couple it with things such as increased end of course exams in Washington State with little assurances that training and provisions for portfolio of evidence mentoring by teaching staff and lack of guidance by high school counselors and we are further reducing opportunities for our most vulnerable and at-risk populations.
LAUSD has a better FAQ than Washington State OSPI:
http://adulted-lausd-ca.schoolloop.com/file/1320734569583/1356617220814/5062975508044328150.pdf
Ann D
The GED folks have decided to join forces with Pearson. Thus the test has changed and the cost is up significantly. Two other outfits are entering this arena as well so there will be more than one option for high school completion testing.
Follow the money... another fine example of no vendor wanting to be left behind.
-- Dan Dempsey