Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, October 13th
Curriculum&Instruction Committee meeting from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE.
There quite a jam-packed agenda here including discussion of Advanced Learning/Highly Capable programs and discussion about the Board endorsing Prop 1B, the City's preschool measure.
I note that the name of this item has changed:
BAR for P-5 Schools Aligned with Seattle Preschool ProgramUniversal Pre-K Initiative
At Publicola, there is one person saying that Cashel Toner, who is the district's person for Early Learning, has been working with the Gates Foundation on aligning SPS with this effort via a $750K grant. (This person says there are e-mails to show this and I hope to see them soon.) I can only say that in e-mails I have obtained, Toner is very in the loop with many City people on this initiative to the point where I wonder who she works for.
I said before that it would be a very bad idea (and precedent) for the Board to endorse one preschool prop over another. It may be legal but it is unethical. There could be several reasons why this is unethical but for starters, the Board allowed the City to provide information on their preschool plan INCLUDING the levy. If they didn't give the same opportunity to 1A, the unions' plan, then they are being patently unfair.
I would hope that if this resolution makes it out of committee and goes to the full Board, that any Board members who vote for it understand that voters will remember this unfair attitude if any of them run for the Board again. We can't have Board members who are not objective in their votes.
Curriculum&Instruction Committee meeting from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE.
There quite a jam-packed agenda here including discussion of Advanced Learning/Highly Capable programs and discussion about the Board endorsing Prop 1B, the City's preschool measure.
I note that the name of this item has changed:
BAR for P-5 Schools Aligned with Seattle Preschool Program
At Publicola, there is one person saying that Cashel Toner, who is the district's person for Early Learning, has been working with the Gates Foundation on aligning SPS with this effort via a $750K grant. (This person says there are e-mails to show this and I hope to see them soon.) I can only say that in e-mails I have obtained, Toner is very in the loop with many City people on this initiative to the point where I wonder who she works for.
I said before that it would be a very bad idea (and precedent) for the Board to endorse one preschool prop over another. It may be legal but it is unethical. There could be several reasons why this is unethical but for starters, the Board allowed the City to provide information on their preschool plan INCLUDING the levy. If they didn't give the same opportunity to 1A, the unions' plan, then they are being patently unfair.
I would hope that if this resolution makes it out of committee and goes to the full Board, that any Board members who vote for it understand that voters will remember this unfair attitude if any of them run for the Board again. We can't have Board members who are not objective in their votes.
There are also items about: "equitable access", "research activity and test administration", "assessment update", "Garfield High School Post", "MTSS update" and Special Education update.
All are vague terms about important items. You have to wonder what it all means.
Wednesday, Oct. 15
School Board meeting starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda
- Although Seattle voters approved the Operations levy for $185M, it appears the district will be receiving about $500K less than that because of RCW regulations.
- the settlement for the Garfield field trip student of $700K is on the agenda with the funds coming from the General Fund. I am probably not reading the settlement correctly but it looks like to me, that the family will not continue a claim under Title IX. (It may be the family isn't but the government is as was alleged by the family in an e-mail.) This is an Intro/Action item.
- Grant from the Gates Foundation for $700K "for support the development of P-5 schools that deliver high
quality PreK within the context of P-5 buildings in collaboration and alignment with the City of
Seattle’s Universal PreK initiative. This initiative will be put before the voters in November
2014. These funds will be used immediately at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School. (No match is
required or promised)."
"It is understood by the funder that Seattle Public Schools will determine external sustainable
funding by the end of Year 3 or programming will be discontinued. Internal funding will not be
requested. "
No.
Look, what is this rush to develop P-5 schools? Gates Foundation dangles money in front of the district for something that is NOT a primary duty and the district is supposed to fall into line?
Given the election hasn't even happened and no one knows the outcome, why the rush? Why not wait until AFTER the election?
I also see disturbing language in this BAR like creation of these schools "will achieve" higher graduation rates. Research may show that it helps but the district is going to guarantee that this will happen?
There are several documents attached with more disturbing information. I have to smile at the idea of a pre-K "6 hour academic day" which would mean that Seattle pre-K kids would be funded for a longer school day than what the state funds for kindergarten. But that would be the case if 1B passes.
As well, there are two scenarios in these documents - one if 1B passes and another if it doesn't. Guess who is on the hook to find dollars for this work if 1B doesn't pass? Seattle Schools.
No, no and no.
Parents, I think you might want to give consideration about what this may mean for your school if you are at a K-5 or K-8. Resources and staff time are going to be taken from existing work at your school (not to mean their need for space). You might want to write to the Board at schoolboard@seattleschools. org.
You might also consider mentioning that you don't want the district to worry about a downtown school which is also on the agenda.
It is absolutely jaw-dropping to me to see the change in the attitudes downtown on this topic. Now the district (and apparently the Board) are willing to send this district into more bond debt for this. They are willing to divert staff time to yet another huge capital project. And they believe they can add on this project to BTA IV and recover the dollars to pay off the bonds there.
I said it before and I'll say it again - this is a time and money suction that this district can ill afford. To put the district into debt, to take on another huge project as there are voices pointing out the coming high school capacity crisis and to put a huge project on BTA at the expense of existing school community needs (and when BTA is NOT about huge capital projects) is utterly ridiculous.
Again, you might want to remember all these actions by any Board members who say yes if any of them run again. I know I will.
Thursday, October 16th
Curiously there is both an Operations Committee meeting from 4:30-6:00 pm following by an Operations Committee meeting of the Whole from 6:00-7:30 pm. No agendas yet available.
Saturday, October 18th
Community meetings
Director Blanford from 10:00-11:30 am at Capital Hill library
Director Martin-Morris from 10-11:30 am at NE Library
"If Seattle Public Schools can identify funding for high quality PreK classrooms and supportive
systems, we will be able to connect, teach, and inspire our youngest learners while at the same
time addressing one of our major systems goals: to close the opportunity gap."
No.
Look, what is this rush to develop P-5 schools? Gates Foundation dangles money in front of the district for something that is NOT a primary duty and the district is supposed to fall into line?
Given the election hasn't even happened and no one knows the outcome, why the rush? Why not wait until AFTER the election?
I also see disturbing language in this BAR like creation of these schools "will achieve" higher graduation rates. Research may show that it helps but the district is going to guarantee that this will happen?
There are several documents attached with more disturbing information. I have to smile at the idea of a pre-K "6 hour academic day" which would mean that Seattle pre-K kids would be funded for a longer school day than what the state funds for kindergarten. But that would be the case if 1B passes.
As well, there are two scenarios in these documents - one if 1B passes and another if it doesn't. Guess who is on the hook to find dollars for this work if 1B doesn't pass? Seattle Schools.
No, no and no.
Parents, I think you might want to give consideration about what this may mean for your school if you are at a K-5 or K-8. Resources and staff time are going to be taken from existing work at your school (not to mean their need for space). You might want to write to the Board at schoolboard@seattleschools. org.
You might also consider mentioning that you don't want the district to worry about a downtown school which is also on the agenda.
It is absolutely jaw-dropping to me to see the change in the attitudes downtown on this topic. Now the district (and apparently the Board) are willing to send this district into more bond debt for this. They are willing to divert staff time to yet another huge capital project. And they believe they can add on this project to BTA IV and recover the dollars to pay off the bonds there.
I said it before and I'll say it again - this is a time and money suction that this district can ill afford. To put the district into debt, to take on another huge project as there are voices pointing out the coming high school capacity crisis and to put a huge project on BTA at the expense of existing school community needs (and when BTA is NOT about huge capital projects) is utterly ridiculous.
Again, you might want to remember all these actions by any Board members who say yes if any of them run again. I know I will.
Thursday, October 16th
Curiously there is both an Operations Committee meeting from 4:30-6:00 pm following by an Operations Committee meeting of the Whole from 6:00-7:30 pm. No agendas yet available.
Saturday, October 18th
Community meetings
Director Blanford from 10:00-11:30 am at Capital Hill library
Director Martin-Morris from 10-11:30 am at NE Library
Comments
Where is this money coming from and how come no one has been fired?
As to why it appears no one has been disciplined (let alone fired), that's a mystery. But CYA for all.
Thank you for mentioning the connection between prop 1b donors and campaign donors for board members.
sw showdown --
The same type of tactics are used in the legislature. Legislators change the titles of bills...in an attempt to hide something voters may not want to hear.
I am disappointed in the person leading Early Learning.
I can understand being invested in a program, but truthfulness and transparency are very important.
Page 3 of the preK BAR reads: "By funding the PreK year, we will capture 180 days (equal to 5,850 hours) of instruction."
Wow, those are some pretty long days! I can't imagine they'll find a lot of preK teachers willing to work 32.5 hr days, though...
HIMSmom
Education.
So have district officials actually reviewed this curriculum, or are they willing to agree to a curriculum they know nothing about? Does the curriculum need to go through SPS's formal curriculum adoption process?
HIMSmom
It feels very much like the district is being lead by the nose and it should not be that way. Especially if it is to come at the cost of students currently in SPS.
What is the curriculum?
You need to find an online supplemental program, especially for middle and high school. SPS appears to have lost control over schools and curriculum. At one local high school there are 3 different math books being used for the same grade? The principle couldn't coherently articulate to parents why that was happening? You don't need to hire a tutor, just find one of the free online sources and have your child perform the assessment testing then start the course. You have nothing to lose.
concerned parent
@HIMSMom, maybe the Pre-K teachers will be learning from SPD. A few of them managed to bill 30+ hours of overtime in a 24-hour period.
As a parent, I'd like to see more of a mix - a more defined curriculum that still allows for some teacher freedom. We've experienced the downside of teachers that have too much freedom, too little content knowledge, and too little oversight.
-tired parent
Did they ever have control? Are they even supposed to? It makes sense that they should, but at the recent APP AC meeting when Kathleen Vasquez presented re: the HCC middle school LA/SS scope and sequence under development, she was clear to point out that the scope and sequence is just a guideline, and that they can't force teachers to follow it.
Is this really the case, or does it say somewhere that they need to follow the approved scope and sequence, curriculum, etc.? Do other districts operate like this too?
another parent
In elementary school, teachers have more time to get to know students well, and if they aren't too overloaded with large class sizes, wide ranges in abilities, and other challenges, then they might be able to do as you say. I've seen it on occasion, but not as the rule.
HalfFull
Most of the female students and disabled students are placed in 8th grade math. The girls are happy because they think they are getting off easy. They don't realize they are being discriminated against and will be behind in math come high school.
We want to say something, but have heard the teacher is known to retaliate against students who's parents complain.
Middle schoolparent
I don't really have the time or energy nor do I want to risk possible retaliation against my daughter, so I will let it go.
Middle schoolparent
Are you at Salmon Bay? I hear the kids do better on the EOC1 than the 8th grade MSP.
another parent
http://kuow.org/post/exposing-herd-seattle-schools-lowest-vaccination-rates
-wow
Yes, I'm very aware there are kids taking different levels of each subject in high school. Middle school, too. I didn't get the sense that the original poster objected to that, and I certainly don't as well. The issue is consistency of curricula for individual classes, not grade levels.
HalfFull
another parent
This strategy was very successful in the schools that started it (like Cleveland STEM) and I believe it has been adopted by a number of others. It has also spread to some middle schools.
That may be the "pre-Algebra" found in course catalogs. It is taken concurrently with Algebra, not before it.
Students pass the EOC algebra test in 8th grade are not ready for Algebra II even with a score of 4. High school math teachers are telling parents the 8 grade EOC test if flawed. 8 grade Algebra teachers teach to the EOC test and not to insure students are ready for high school algebra.
There is a failure of grade schools to prepare students for middle school then a repeat of the problem going into high school.
It's getting to the point where students need supplemental support in every class except recess. Some classes are pointless a complete waste of time and money. Students that CAN read, should stay home read the book and take an online assessment. They can arrive at 2nd period well rested and ready for the chicken feed general education style SPS has embraced.
There is zero corrective action with any issues in SPS. I hate to generalize, but there's no one in charge of anything that really matters. There's now a class system in many schools which is some sort of advanced learning and every body else and god forbid your child has a disability.
middle schoolparent
HP
Vaccinations are used as a method of group health. Some people don't seem to get that concept.
--enough already
You know this how? You know that all the parents in Pathfinder kept their kids home with a fever? That "in fact" makes me wonder.
You think that a building being "maintained in a green manner" is protecting kids from germs and disease? I would think it would, as you say, limit them to chemical exposure, so how does that relation to disease and vaccinations?
Can't parents log into The Source and see whether their kids are in Alg 1 or 8th grade math? Or are you saying that the teacher doesn't really distinguish between the two, and that some kids officially in 8th grade math will take the Alg 1 EOC and some kids in Alg I won't be allowed to?
The issue of how well middle school math prepares kids for high school math is a larger one, not unique to your school. It's also probably largely a curriculum issue. We need a new middle school math adoption, and pronto.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with you re: the need for supplementation. SPS schools are weak in many core academic areas, and parents who see what's missing and have the resources to fill in are doing so--math tutors, writing tutors, online history courses, summer programs, etc. When I was a kid this type of extra work was done to help a kid catch up to where he/she should be, but now it's often an attempt to get the curriculum to catch up to where parent think it should be.
HIMSmom
The Family and Education Levy is withholding $60M for prek efforts.
It is possible for Bailey Gatzert can have prek funding, without the BMGF grant. The city can easily provide Bailey Gatzert with funds.
Any effort to say Bailey Gatzert can NOT have prek because the BMGF doesn't move forward is false. Any effort to say Bailey Gatzert can not have prek is built upon a tactic of fear and intimidation.
The city has already provided Bailey with Family and Education Levy funding and they should continue to do the same.
http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OFE/AboutUs/Summer_ElementaryRFI_PressRel_Feb2514.pdf
I'm finding writing is not as easy to supplement as something more sequential like math. For math skills practice, Kuta Software has free worksheets online. For history, we've purchased inexpensive used texts to read at home, one for world history and one for US history. Our child's school doesn't seem to believe in HW, so an extra 20 min. or so of history reading hasn't been a big deal.
Is it somehow getting worse with each passing year? Or maybe I'm just more concerned with high school on the horizon? Hard to say.
I get what @middleschoolparent is saying about the math, though I disagree that the EOC is a flawed test. The EOC is testing for basic mastery, and I actually think it's a fair test, which is very well aligned to the standards. I am more wary of the new CCSS assessments on the horizon. That said, the EOC is only testing basic skills, kind of the "A" level of problems in a text vs the "C" level of problems in a text. So a child can pass with a 4, yet still have only rudimentary algebra skills. The Discovering Algebra text is partly to blame for weak algebra skills.
-tired parent
HP
The 8th grade teacher picks who starts out in algebra based on the 7th grade teachers recommendation.
We hired a very good tutor in 7th grade which bent the teacher the wrong way. It's a mess to figure out what's going on. Our son was in the class last year and we had to deal with the same BS, he was in 8th grade math in the end. We forced the school to allow him to take the EOC and he almost aced it. The same for the EOC geometry test, but when we had him take the Kahn academy assessment we found large holes in his knowledge of both subjects.
The missing mastery would cause struggles down the road if not corrected before moving forward.
The high school teacher did not even attempt to teach the missing knowledge..WTF
We reviewed the work materials for both classes and found that the teachers knew the sweet spot for the EOC tests and taught to the test. Maybe the MSP is better for measuring true skills in math?
I would recommend trying the Kahn academy, it's really slick and easy for parents to follow and learn along with you student.
I will be trying chemistry next.
Pete
--- swk
"In general also, people who selectively vaccinate are very health conscious about eating healthy foods and building strong immune systems."
Again, you know this how?
This area of the country is considered very 'crunchy'. If you think Seattle has high rates of incomplete vaccination, check out Vashon Island, Whidbey Island and the Peninsula.
HP
There several new progressive studies that strongly support the limited effectiveness of many vaccines. One in particular speaks to how vaccinated host become mutation labs for the viruses. So if you believe these studies or the scientist then it's the vaccinated who if fact are the more dangerous to public health.
I would suggest you go and find these studies, read them and see what you think. It's possible you could have a change of mind.
Open mind
If I have time, I'll read any new studies. I have a lot on my plate right now.
But having experienced polio in my own family, I doubt I will change my mind.
I think part of the problem is not offering a lower math class than algebra in high school. I graduated from Seattle Public School in 1986 and back then general math was offered to students who were not ready for algebra. In fact, most honor students were put in algebra in 9th grade. It was not seen as being behind. Both my husband (an engineer) and me (B.A. in Mathematics) started in algebra in the 9th grade at Ballard High School. We both completed calculus in our senior year. Back then, Algebra I was an authentic algebra class.
These days with algebra being the lowest denominator, parents in the know are all jockeying for their 9th graders to be in Geometry are higher. I've talked to many high school teachers, and the reality is many do not want to teach Algebra I. Most of the students placed in this class are ill-prepared and many do not have a firm grasp on basic arithmetic. These classes are a management nightmare.
I think the system has created this mess. Math class is now a race instead of teaching for mastery. Algebra for some 8th graders and even fewer 7th graders is a good idea, but pretending that every 8th grader is ready for algebra is a joke.
I found the site very clear and useful, but since I've been exposed to and used most of the algebraic equations in collage I can't speak to how well the coarse addresses the needs of novice students.
I did struggle with Radical Equations since I have never needed to use them since school, but after watching the video tutorial and working out 20 problems, I passed the section.
It also does what I think is called spiral review when I would finish a couple of problems the site would then post a review problem like solving by elimination or solving multiple unknowns or Polynomial. I think most 7 graders could master Polynomial equations 2x and maybe 3x in a week with the site.
What I liked about the coarse is the instant feedback, it stops you from going down the wrong solution path and provides a breakdown of each and every solution step by step. I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids complete and entire worksheet incorrectly to only be completely frustrated at grading time. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Pete
My favorite textbooks for middle school is Saxon Course 1 (6th), Course 2 (7th) and Saxon Algebra I. The 7th grade Course 2 book is so good in teaching negative integers, ratios, proportions, scale factors, exponents, unit conversions, strategies for problem solving, scientific notation, and (introduction) linear function.
I find I can skip most kids out of 8th grade math and go directly to algebra using Saxon. I have many students that make double digit gains as much as over 20 RIT points in one year. Typical growth is 6-8 points.
Kuta Software is a personal favorite for worksheets. Many high school teachers use it for skills building. I hear some of the Whitman teachers have started using them in the class in place of CMP. This is good news. It is an easy push from parents since it's easy to use and it's free.