Advanced Learning: Where is Seattle Schools Going?

Some updates:

- according to the AL webpage, as of yesterday, 1,637 eligibility letters were sent (out of a possible 4024).  So if you were looking for one, it may be in the mail.  They started mailing them out on Jan. 31st.  Scores and eligibility decisions are NOT available by phone or e-mail. 

- testing is continuing thru early Feb.

- all eligibility decisions, including appeals, will be done before Open Enrollment ends on March 7th

- E-mails sent to the Advanced Learning e-mail (advlearn@seattleschools.org) are answered in the order they are received.  Responses to e-mails will be faster than phone calls.

- the next scheduled meeting of the Advanced Learning Task Force was postponed to Feb. 13th at 9:30am in Room 2776 at JSCEE.  The last meeting they had was December 17th so nearly two months have gone by.  You can see the lack of urgency for the district in this.  The minutes from that last meeting are not available.

- I note in an article in The Issaquah Press that they, too, are changing their highly capable programm based on the new state law requirements.  They are not changing the two programs they have, MERLIN and SAGE, but will now offers them for K and 1st graders.  (MERLIN serves the top 2% and SAGE serves the top 4%.)  The article also notes the state is offering no additional funding for the requirements.  They also say this:

Districts throughout the state are interpreting the new law differently, and the Issaquah is waiting to receive final instructions from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction before it can finalize its plans.

So what you see play out in SPS may be just Seattle's interpretation of the new law AND, apparently, there is more information to come from OSPI on implementing the new requirements.

One thing I heard at the Charter Commission meetings on charter application is the word "inclusion."  Many applicants also said they would not "track" their students.  (I'm assuming they by tracking they mean separate classrooms based on aptitude and not track students via data which I sure they will be doing.)

I also want to note the changing landscape nationally.  Several articles have crossed my radar.

Education News had an article, "Are Gifted Students Being Challenged Enough?"

A survey from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asked teachers which students were most likely to get one-on-one attention.  More than 80% of teachers in 2008 said struggling students would versus 5% who said advanced students would.

A 2011 Fordham Institute study found that between 30 and 50 percent of advanced students descend and no longer achieve at the most advanced levels.  There are about 3 million students in the U.S. who are considered "academically gifted."  There is no federal funding for gifted programs.

An older article comes from the NY Times entitled, "Pulling a More Diverse Group of Achievers into the Advanced Placement Pool."

Every year, more than 600,000 academically promising high school students — most of them poor, Latino or black — fail to enroll in Advanced Placement courses, often viewed as head starts for the college-bound. 

Some may not know about these courses or know but think them too difficult.  But often, it can be the perceptions of teachers and administrators.

“Many teachers don’t truly believe that these programs are for all kids or that students of color or low-income kids can succeed in these classes,” said Christina Theokas, director of research at the Education Trust, a nonprofit group. Ms. Theokas said that if those underrepresented students had taken A.P. courses at the same rate as their white and more affluent peers in 2010, there would have been about 614,500 more students in those classes.  

Humberto Fuentes, a senior here at Freedom High School taking his first A.P. classes, in English literature and economics, said they were the first time he had been around peers who enjoyed school.

“In regular classes, people are trying to distract you with music videos or saying, ‘Hey, look at this cat playing a piano’ on their phones,” said Humberto, 17, who emigrated with his parents from Ecuador when he was an infant and hopes to be the first in his family to attend college. “Whereas in an A.P. class, they will show you something from the text and say, ‘Hey, this is fun.’ ” 

At Freedom High School, teachers offer tutoring at lunchtime, after school and on Saturdays. Starting this year, their district, Orange County Public Schools, allocated $12,000 to $14,000 to each high school to pay for extra instructional time for A.P. students. Many students are also enrolled in study review classes sponsored by Advancement Via Individual Determination, a nonprofit group that works to help prepare disadvantaged students for college. 

This year, close to half the students in A.P. classes are Latino, 12 percent are black, and nearly half are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Schoolwide, 70 percent of students are Hispanic, 6 percent are black, and more than two-thirds qualify for lunch aid. 

Some educational experts are skeptical that pushing more children into A.P. classes will help them. In research that has shown positive links between students who score a 3 or higher and their college performance, it is difficult to disentangle the factors, said Kristin Klopfenstein, the executive director of the Education Innovation Institute at the University of Northern Colorado. 

“The things that cause kids to enroll in A.P. classes and do well in them are the same things that cause them to go to college and succeed in college,” Dr. Klopfenstein said. “Supportive families, a college-going culture at home, a high school with a college-going culture.” 

The article noted Washington State passed legislation encouraging district to enroll any student who met state standards or the preliminary SAT threshold in advanced courses.

Andy Smarick, a partner at the non-profit Bellwether Education Partners and author of the guidebook, “Closing America’s High Achievement Gap,” states that the American public school system’s policies support focus on struggling students to get them up to speed, but leaves high achieving students without a challenging education.
Smarick argues in his guidebook that by not providing students who are capable of high achievement with challenges, these students won’t meet their full potential — and this would serve as only a detriment to the country at large in the aspect of international competitiveness.
Alison DeNisco writes in District Administration that a survey from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asked teachers which students were most likely to get one-on-one attention. More than 80 percent in 2008 said struggling students would get more attention, while only 5 percent said advanced students would.
- See more at: http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/gifted-students-left-without-a-challenging-enough-education/#sthash.zB29lNyt.dpuf

Andy Smarick, a partner at the non-profit Bellwether Education Partners and author of the guidebook, “Closing America’s High Achievement Gap,” states that the American public school system’s policies support focus on struggling students to get them up to speed, but leaves high achieving students without a challenging education.
Smarick argues in his guidebook that by not providing students who are capable of high achievement with challenges, these students won’t meet their full potential — and this would serve as only a detriment to the country at large in the aspect of international competitiveness.
Alison DeNisco writes in District Administration that a survey from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asked teachers which students were most likely to get one-on-one attention. More than 80 percent in 2008 said struggling students would get more attention, while only 5 percent said advanced students would.
- See more at: http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/gifted-students-left-without-a-challenging-enough-education/#sthash.zB29lNyt.dpuf