Tuesday Open Thread
From Soup for Teachers:
I didn't think I would ever find something to agree with current Secretary of Education, John King, about but I was wrong. From the Washington Post:
The Olympian also points out in this article that many legislators will be new to the Legislature and may need time to get up to speed. Sigh.
What's on your mind?
The Center School's Model United Nations team just won the prize for Best Large Delegation and nine Center School students won awards. There were 720 students at the conference from schools all over the Northwest, including lots of private schools, a number of which have MUN as a daily class. At Center, MUN is a student run group (with an amazing advisor teacher, Mr Bell) and is currently funded by parents.I'm putting up this notice from SPS but I would tell you not to bother. The district is seeking members for the SPS Nutrition Services Policies Task Force. I say don't bother because the district has ignored a very good report (that they paid for) put out earlier this year on the state of Nutrition Services in SPS and what could be done to make it better and continue successes in it. Why have a taskforce when that work is already done? As well, neither the Board nor the district ever act on taskforce recommendations so again, why bother?
I didn't think I would ever find something to agree with current Secretary of Education, John King, about but I was wrong. From the Washington Post:
The Obama administration Tuesday called for an end to corporal punishment in states and school districts that continue to allow the practice.The Olympian had a droll editorial on getting McCleary done, Tie Game: McCleary and The Wimps:
In a letter to governors and state school leaders, U.S. Education Secretary John B. King, Jr., called corporal punishment “harmful, ineffective, and often disproportionately applied to students of color and students with disabilities.”
While corporal punishment is banned in 28 states and the District of Columbia, there are 15 states that permit the practice and seven more that do not expressly prohibit it.
If the Washington Legislature had a sports team, its mascot could fittingly be named The Wimps.
What the consultant found was that an average of $14,651 was provided locally per full-time school staffer as a subsidy of what the state pays.1-2-3-4, now it's time for schools to score! (says the ex-cheerleader).
But the consultant didn’t resolve what share of that is really the state’s responsibility and what share of supplemental pay is a local responsibility, say, for coaching.
The legislative task force is working on that. A question for our ever-creative lawmakers is whether it is a state obligation to pay for professional development of teachers, for time spent on typical daily duties outside the classroom schedule such as grading papers, or even for weekend and summer work.
If this were football, we might want to see the House and Senate galleries packed next January with people chanting, “Go Wimps, Go!”
But we fear we’d have to wait for the goal-line fumble to produce victory. That may be the only way this team ever scores.
The Olympian also points out in this article that many legislators will be new to the Legislature and may need time to get up to speed. Sigh.
What's on your mind?
Comments
Another hit piece in the times. Know enough to be dangerous but not all the facts. Where do they find these assassins? I feel for the teacher that wrote the piece but she is so misled.
--- Headline: Need to test everyone.
Subtext: Racist.
Is it Murray? Is it charter-heads? They are afraid to put all the facts on the table. Why. Because the racist charge is fact-less. And they are feckless leaders.
Dumb andDumber
http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/guest-essay-end-separate-classes-for-highly-capable-students-at-ingraham-high/
A commenter responds on Seattle Times:
To provide a bit of background information, no student at Garfield chooses to remain in one of Mr. Truax's classes stays if they can find any other alternative. Burying students in hours of unneccessary homework is not equivalent to providing a rich and rigorous learning experience.
We experienced very few teachers at Garfield who were willing and able to differentiate instruction for the wide range of abilities in their classes. The current experiment in blending all students in ninth grade humanities classes is an example of this. As expected, HCC students are not receiving appropriate instruction. High school classes should not be a step back in complexity from middle school.
This lack of appropriate classes for advanced students is the reason I won't send another student to Garfield. I will consider Ingraham. A school that is assigned a large group of students with academic needs that can't be met in general education classes should be required to design a program that meets their needs. Ingraham is doing this right.
-debate continues
- MemoReader
Betsy DeVos bio
-- Dan Dempsey
That students come with different levels of preparation is no surprise, either. It would not surprise me if students schooled privately or at a high performing non-HCC school were at times outperforming long time HCC students. The middle school HCC curriculum has been gutted and is more teacher dependent than ever.
It is questionable to claim "Once they’re in, there are no performance requirements for staying in." The SPS AL policy does address the issue of students for whom the cohort may no longer be a good fit and some are quietly counseled out. The HCC program is also based on more than CogAT or "IQ"- students need to be performing well above standard on academic achievement tests in order to qualify for HC services. It is not just about IQ as the author contends, but about serving students who are already working well above grade level.
As with many issues, it's more complex and nuanced than the author makes it out to be.
-debate continues
Trump picks billionaire Betsy for secretary of education
Betsy DeVos school voucher advocate
Well she's not a member of the Billionaire Boys Club. Right bank account wrong gender.
-- Dan Dempsey
The JAMS process was different and Paula Montgomery really worked with everyone. Marni Campbell did little other than lecture the audience on the growth mindset, while being disrespectful to nearly everyone. Paula did not expect HCC to be placed at JAMS but once it happened she was welcoming and gracious.
Marni made it clear that HCC was not welcome, because growth mindset means everyone is exactly the same. She was very disrespectful to the Native community. She had promised that someone create read the letter about the promises to the Native community and she only let that happen when the clock ran out.
Paula spent a lot of time listening. Marni spent all of her time talking.
There were many parents who were shocked to find out that there would be a K8 in the building. It was a crazy plan from and now everyone is going to pay for this mess.
- kt
Community Meetings Schedule
The following meetings are scheduled to share information about the recommended changes. Interpretation services will be available. All events are from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.
•Nov. 21, 2016: Chief Sealth Intl High School Library
•Nov. 28, 2016: Franklin High School Library
•Nov. 30, 2016: Nathan Hale High School Library
•Dec. 1, 2016: Ingraham High School Lunchroom
•Dec. 5, 2016: John Stanford Center Auditorium
Between the Seattle Times piece and the short discussion of the REMS meeting, one wonders what's next for HCC.
November 29, 2016, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Loyal Heights Elementary at Marshall (520 NE Ravenna Blvd)
Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Family and Community Planning Meeting
December 3, 2016, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
Location TBD
Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Family and Community Planning Meeting
December 8, 2016, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Loyal Heights Elementary at Marshall (520 NE Ravenna Blvd)
Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Family and Community Planning Meeting
January 5, 2017, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Broadview Branch Library (12755 Greenwood Ave. N.)
Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Family and Community Planning Meeting
http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2016/11/22/what-a-betsy-devos-appointment-would-tell-us-about-donald-trumps-education-plans/
-reader
-rumor mill
http://commondreams.org/news/2016/11/23/trump-nominates-true-enemy-public-schools-education-secretary
Billionaire Betsy DeVos 'has consistently pushed a corporate agenda to privatize, de-professionalize, and impose cookie-cutter solutions to public education'
-McClureWatcher
Dan, Betsy DeVos IS a member of the billionaire club. I'll have a post soon.
--I remember ICS
vouchers win
The "culture of lawlessness" grows on unabated.
Not so fast.
1. Vouchers are not worth the full cost of the private school so the private school needs to take the voucher and then account for the remaining tuition from its scholarship bucket.
2. There has to be an open seat in the private school and from what I understand private schools are full and probably not gonna mess with their class sizes to accommodate students with a voucher.
So, the voucher probably gonna be as good as an expired Groupon.
Now, if somebody wants to open a school and try to run on it on the voucher funds, best of luck. We know how well that works!
After having one kid start at JAMS as a new school, I am not looking forward to having another new school. But at least JAMS was welcoming and Paula was the type of person who was going to attract excellent teachers.
- kt
When did Donna Blaninship become a member of the Seattle Times editorial board?
This certainly explains a lot.
It was found that the Eckstein principal at the time, Marni Campbell, did not handle the complaint appropriately.
-not encouraging
I went in expecting a sort of dog and pony show about plans for the new middle schools and I thought Marni did a fine job generating excitement about the school and instilling confidence in her ability to manage it. So perhaps it’s a matter of expectations going in. I can’t compare to meetings for JAMS. Finding out more about who is there and hearing questions and comments from families a bit more would have been nice. But with some of the placement issues out there—which are not Marni’s decisions to make—I could also see that it might not be a bad calculation to keep moving on an agenda to avoid the meeting devolving into a debate or grandstanding among a few of the attendees. Better to focus on the school that will be, regardless who goes there.
-ES Bound