Tuesday Open Thread
The South and the East Coast are covered in snow. What's on your mind?
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
What the heck is that their entire IEP? Or just a summary.
I love how they fired the law firm but have taken no public action the bone-head who sent over the embedded information or the person who embedded the information in the first place. That's accountability.
English mustgo!
No one is saying a word as to why English is on leave. I think everyone knows there will be dire consequences if it's found out someone was leaking information.
Speculation is he messed with a parent who is very close to a board member and it blew up in his face. He was very belligerent to Nyland when asked about the incident.
public disclosure
DistrictWatcher
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/02/17/3623683/oklahoma-lawmakers-vote-overwhleming-ban-advanced-placement-history-class/
-Facepalm
The Debate and Evidence On The Impact of NCLB
--- swk
http://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/17/memphis-tfa-will-reduce-recruits-by-40/
I am so glad Teach For America never got a strong-hold in Seattle Public Schools.
Special thanks to all those that fought to keep individuals with 5 weeks of training away from our children.
HP
Schools: “This fall, I will be convening an Education Summit to re-envision how a 21st Century urban public school system can work successfully for all students. The City, the school district, the state, the private sector, teachers and parents – all must engage in frank and honest conversation, and unite around a shared vision.”
Memphis: TFA will reduce recruits by 40%
http://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/17/memphis-tfa-will-reduce-recruits-by-40/
I am so glad Teach For America never got a strong-hold in Seattle Public Schools.
Special thanks to all those that fought to keep individuals with 5 weeks of training away from our children.
Thank Sue Peters! Thank Betty Patu!
Sue wasn't on the Board at the time, but, she did all that she could to educate Board members and to help them vote no. She did not prevail: Kay Smith Blum voted YES to TFA.
Now, with Sue on the Board, flagrant BS has now chance!
Thank SUE P
I saw your post and got concerned as well about what was contained in our child's data breach as "Other." It seems like that is not very detailed but if you want to see the actual data that was released, you can make a student records request to: Robin Wyman at rwyman@seattleschools.org. You should specify that you want the inadvertently disclosed data for your child, and include the student ID number.
That is some typo ;-)
This made me want to puke. Ed Murray had many years in Olympia to figure this out. Oh wait it is not on the schedule until this Fall?? Why wait let's start the conversation before the current legislative session is over. I will believe his vision thing when I see it. This looks more and more like a Mayoral take over.
Disgusted
With Sue Peters on the Board, flagrant BS has NO chance!
She won't stand for non-answers, let alone BS answers. Staff know this. They know with her there, she won't just rubber stamp. She doesn't micromanage either (take that, DeBell!). She simply does her job: she asks pertinent questions, and, if the answers are nonsense or not forth coming, she won't be supplying them a yes vote, and, she will urge her colleague to also hold staff accountable. No more of this,
Staff to Board: "Just vote yes, and, we will explain this to you later/get the documents to you/supply you the data/provide you our thorough analysis/etc."
Board (Peters) to Staff: "No. Supply me the MOU now before I can be in a position to vote for this."
Love me some accountability.
Thank Sue P
The teen told police he doesn’t have many friends at school and has anger-management issues as a result of being bullied, the police report said.
The teen, who has a 4.0 grade-point average, told police that he was suicidal and felt immense pressure over academic performance, the police report said.
Another reminder to do our best to watch and listen to our students, their friends and their classmates. To be involved. To think carefully and in partnership with one's student about his/her academic and socio-emotional status and goals. And to think critically about our students' school philosophy, environment and administration.
EdVoter
Be prepared for the onslaught of negativity the Big Ed Reform crowd will throw at her if she runs again in a couple years. The last thing they want is someone who keeps the ink dry until they get answers.
WSDWG
There is now a Senate Bill in the Washington State Legislature to withdraw the state from the Common Core. The bill also addresses assessment issues and is to withdraw the state from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium assessments.
SB 6030 is sponsored by Senators Chase, Roach, McCoy, Hasegawa, Miloscia, Padden, and Dansel.
If Seattle liberals can fill their school curriculums with "social justice" and "white privilege" discussions, why can't Oklahoma conservatives fill theirs with "American exceptionalism"? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Fairness
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=71d127085a2ccb7073e9003f393cfdf1&pageid=323015&
In my children's classrooms, I don't think they ever covered "what makes America great." In an effort to present multiple views, anything positive seemed to be left out. Basic historical content was barely covered. Civil War? Not covered. They learned very little about the structure of our government or even basic geography of the US.
Students need to hear both the good and bad of American history. The Zinnification of history lessons is just as limiting and extreme as focusing only on "American Exceptionalism."
-need balance
I have a good friend who lives in Norman, OK - she sent me this today:
http://www.norman.k12.ok.us/index.php?news-press-releases&action=view&post_id=164
So not everyone in OK agrees with the legislature (thank goodness).
My kid's history classes at Hale covered the good and bad about America. Coming up will be the Harlem Renaissance projects the Juniors do every year. This is a great celebration of an area of American culture.
HP
Fox Co-Hosts Advocate Abolishing Public Schools And Department Of Education
http://mediamatters.org/video/2015/02/19/foxs-kennedy-there-really-shouldnt-be-public-sc/202571
Education is not mentioned in the Constitution, and according to the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Talk about abolishing the Department of Education is related to State vs Federal authority over public education. It's the reason many are up in arms about the CCSS - federal standards are being considered an usurpation of state powers.
-need balance
They also seem to frequently conflate Common Core and AP classes. "The government" is not exactly in charge of the AP curriculum, to the best of my knowledge. And the course is a rigorous overview of the entire history of the country, if you want to pass the test at the end. At least when I took it, there was more of a focus on facts and primary sources. Perhaps they're upset that, for example, the 19th Amendment is not simply "And then we gave women the right to vote! Yay!" and instead students are expected to be knowledgeable about the women's suffrage movement.
Finally, the video complains that the approach of universities, which she finds "full of liberal crap," has now trickled down to the high school level. I'm not sure she realizes that the course is meant to stand in for a college US History course. You may have varied opinions on the merit of university education today, but the AP class ought to parallel what that is.
Now, the fact that higher education in general is being discouraged... well, that's another kettle of fish.
-Facepalm
"Need balance", you're spouting libertarian nonsense. If you're trying to assert that it's a reasonable position that education spending by the federal government is not constitutional, you've got quite the uphill battle, as the Supreme Court clearly disagrees, and they define what is and is not constitutional.
Supporters of the repeal argue that the Common Core standards for math and English instruction amount to federal overreach.
http://legalclips.nsba.org/2014/07/16/oklahoma-supreme-court-upholds-state-legislatures-repeal-of-common-core-standard/
-need balance
This is not your APUSH. College Board is revising it's courses and this is the first year the new APUSH is offered.
The District hired a data expert to review and extract all data contained in the PDFs released to
the guardian. Approximately 150 spreadsheets were embedded within the PDFs. The most
significant data breach included a variety of data on all Special Education. Lesser amounts of
data were also included for all bilingual or ELL-eligible students as well as
discipline/scholarship data only for all Roosevelt students.
The types of data released includes student name, district identification number, date of birth,
phone number, mailing address, WA state identification number, race, gender, grade level,
school name, discipline data, transportation information, disability, special education
information, ELL eligibility, test scores, classroom data, scholarship information, and 504
indicator. A condensed Individualized Education Plan (IEP) was released for 20 students.
No social security numbers or Free/Reduced Lunch (FRL) data were released.
The actual data disclosed for a given student varies widely. In some cases, it was just one data
point, in other cases it was numerous data points across multiple documents. We identified 20
different types of information which were disclosed and have developed files which enable us to
tell parents the types of information disclosed for each specific student.
From theHorse
CCA
CCA