Schmitz Park Stands with Nathan Hale High School

Sent March 5

Dear Principal Hudson and the Nathan Hale Senate:

We, the undersigned teachers of Schmitz Park, join with the Nathan Hale Senate in its concerns over the validity, reliability, and equity of SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) including the questionable cut score strategy.  Like the Nathan Hale Senate, we are also concerned with the loss of instructional time devoted to this questionable test.  We stand with you in asserting a commitment to a judicious use of valid, reliable, and equitable assessments.  We urge parents to inform themselves about the tests their children are taking and the validity of those tests.

Thank you for putting students first.

Sincerely,
(signed by the majority of teachers at Schmitz Park)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Are they boycotting? Or just concerned? Will they be taking a stand?
-stand up
3/8/15, 6:52 PM
Anonymous said…
It seems to me that they are very concerned, for reasons that they state; they have clearly taken a stand; that stand is boycotting.

Hooray!

-Refusalswork
3/8/15, 6:59 PM
Anonymous said…
Pardon me, I meant to say "that stand is very keenly encouraging parents to boycott."

Parents, we have the power!

-Refusalswork
3/8/15, 7:02 PM
Anonymous said…
The letter is dated Friday. That explains the late Friday SPS blitz of phone calls + emails pushing the SBAC down parents' throats and making it sound it is dire if they don't have the kids take the test.

Noticed in SPS talk it isn't "opt-out." It's "refuse". We're not 2 year olds SPS. Parents and teachers can and do question dubious mandates.

What school has the cojones to issue the next letter?

DistrictWatcher
3/8/15, 7:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Solidarity!
-assontheline
3/8/15, 8:49 PM
Anonymous said…
They should"offer" SBAC after school... for everyone who wants to "opt in". And, possibly provide transportation for those who qualify.

Reader

Reader
3/8/15, 9:02 PM
HopingDominoEffect said…

A Seattle Public School parent piloted SBAC. Worth reading:

https://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/what-i-learned-taking-the-smarter-balanced-sbac-test/
3/8/15, 9:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Everyone, please attend Seattle Opt Out Group's next meeting, with two dynamic speakers, Jesse Hagopian and Fred Hamel. We will discuss high stakes testing, what is happening in Seattle, how to refuse the tests (and why), and much more. Everyone is welcome!

March 12 (Thursday)
Southwest Library
6pm-7:45pm

event info (and more) at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seattle-Opt-Out/430265387124998

-AS
3/9/15, 7:12 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 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
Read more