Friday Open Thread
Congrats to Aurora Jarvi of Concord International Elementary School and Cecilia Phillips of Hazel Wolf K-8 who were named part of the 2019 AAA School Safety Patrol Hall of Fame.
The district is inviting staff and families to be part of their group in the Pride Parade downtown this Sunday starting at 11 am.
Listening to student voices - as Superintendent Juneau has put a high priority on this - here's one from Ravi Smith. He writes in the Seattle Times about his experience in the Clear Sky program. The district abruptly ended their 10-year partnership with the Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA) and their Clear Sky program for SPS youth.
The district has announced a partnership with Amazon and FIRST Washington, an organization providing mentor-based science and technology programs.
Let's go Team USA! The women play against France today at noon (our time).
What's on your mind?
The district is inviting staff and families to be part of their group in the Pride Parade downtown this Sunday starting at 11 am.
Listening to student voices - as Superintendent Juneau has put a high priority on this - here's one from Ravi Smith. He writes in the Seattle Times about his experience in the Clear Sky program. The district abruptly ended their 10-year partnership with the Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA) and their Clear Sky program for SPS youth.
The district has announced a partnership with Amazon and FIRST Washington, an organization providing mentor-based science and technology programs.
The partnership will bring computer science and robotics programs to up to 30 Title I Seattle Public Schools, including John Muir, in the hopes of inspiring the next generation of computer scientists and engineers, particularly for those who are under-represented in STEM fields.Director Scott Pinkham will be having a community meeting on Saturday from 10:30-noon at Broadview Library.
“This isn’t just a program for kids or schools with really active PTAs or parents that work for technology and engineering companies like Amazon or Microsoft or Boeing,” FIRST Washington President Erin McCallum said. “Every single one of these kids has the ability to do this.”
Let's go Team USA! The women play against France today at noon (our time).
What's on your mind?
Comments
Is it equity that children at title one schools get robotics and poor students at non tilte one schools don't?
Why does society still lump kids together by the majority? When will the virtue signalling by corporations end?
SPS board needs to craft intelligent and thoughtful polices that are child focused and not title one building focused. In non title one schools the PTA usually funds activity fees for kids who can't afford the cost. Now with PTA funding under scrutiny as not being equity based there is a possibility that schools will not be able to offer scholarships or will have to drop the offerings.
JS
About that new science pathway: I volunteered daily this year in the new 9th grade Phys/Chem classroom. I am so relieved my rising junior started here before this new pathway was implemented, and I despair for my rising freshman who wants to stay in Seattle for high school. The new Phys/Chem curriculum is appallingly weak. I suppose middle schoolers won't have learned anything with Amplify anyway so here's to vertical integration.
RIP, science education in SPS.
FNH
These are young adults that do not need their mommies or dandies in a HIGH SCHOOL CLASS ROOM.
We pay taxes for school districts to properly staff schools.
Stay home
We may pay taxes for the district to properly staff schools but volunteers are always needed.
Right, if only.
FNH
ALL of the high school materials that were adopted are appallingly weak. They also contain mistakes in the content, to be expected when non-experts in physics and chemistry create curriculum. According to Director Geary, students need to have the "same base" for their science education if we are to achieve educational equity. Teachers can then supplement [or worse, take away] to meet individual needs because somehow it won't create equity issues if they just have the base. She also waived off all the research that shows that technology-driven curricula [and Carbon Time] tend to produce poor outcomes for marginalized students and the research that shows how standardized curricula is harmful for education.
Melissa, I am wondering where the information that shows HMH has a higher score is? All the district published documents show it with a lower score. Have they fudged the records? I certainly would not put it past them to do so. After all, their FAQs on the K-5 adoption say this:
Is there a relationship between the waivers use of Amplify and the fact that Amplify became a candidate for adoption?
No, they are completely separate processes. Beginning in 2017, Amplify was requested in the Instructional Waiver process by several SPS schools to be used as an alternative to the current instructional materials adopted in 2001-2002. At this time, SPS Science had not yet been informed of the decision to proceed with an official science instructional materials adoption process for grades K-12 at all SPS schools. Amplify, like all other curriculum publishers, received the announcement from the SPS Purchasing Department of the Requests for Proposals (RFP). Amplify, along with 10 other publishers at grades K-5 and 9 other publishers at grades 6-8 submitted materials to be considered in the adoption process.
Did the SPS Science Program Manager have any relationship with Amplify prior to the start of the science curriculum adoption process that would constitute a conflict of interest?
The SPS Science Manager does not have, and has not had, any relationship with Amplify. Further, the Science Program Manager does not select which curriculum publishers submit materials for review by the Adoption Committee; potential candidates must go through the SPS Purchasing Dept. The Science Program Manager is not an actual member of the Adoption Committee and does not evaluate materials submitted for review, nor does the Science Program Manager vote on whether to advance an adoption candidate to the next round of consideration by the School Board.
(see https://www.seattleschools.org/academics/curriculum/alignment_and_adoption/curriculum_adoption/2019_k-8_science/k-5_science for more stretches of the truth/outright lies).
This whole thing stinks. The HS materials are a joke. They will not produce college-ready students. What happens when a kid learns with the PEER curriculum, thinks that it represents actual physics, then takes physics in college? A failed class, for sure, and a waste of time/effort/money. Giving kids a false sense of science and artificially inflating the idea that they can "do science" does nothing positive for students. It will not plug the leaky pipeline, will not increase the number of STEM graduates, and could very well leave kids feeling inadequate when they fail these college courses. Not to mention the economic impact of weak math skills, which these curricula to not help to strengthen b/c there is no HS level math to be found. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would think these HS programs are a good education. They are not. Full stop.
Worried for the Future
Truly unconscionable. I realize not everyone is going to college, but kids should get an education that gives them that option and doesn't force them to scramble for community college and/or online courses to meet minimum admission requirements in the sciences.
Disgusted.
concerned parent
Worried for the Future writes exactly how I see it, first-hand. To be clear, I am not criticizing the teachers who in our experience have been excellent. I'm criticizing this new pathway that mandates all students follow a basic, bare-bones curriculum for three full years in high school, for the express purpose of passing the state test in 11th grade. This approach presumes that core scientific principles are not conveyed in classes such as Marine Science, which could not be further from the truth. Students now have but one chance to take a science course that sparks their interest, in their senior year.
It's fine to provide a pathway for students needing a basic option for requirements, but how wretched to force all students onto it.
FNH
But the problem for SPS is not money because SPS has $1.497 BILLION so what is the real problem. It's simple...JSCEE. Having a flagship head quarters you can't afford is so 1990 and a complete waste of tax dollars! All those wasted dollars need to be spent on our local school staff and supplies and buildings.
ShutHer down
When the district bought that old postal building and refurbished it, we were told it would consolidate all the services in one place (and it did and I think there is value to that) AND that it would save money. It not only did not save money, those bonds used to buy it have cost this district dearly.
However, every district has a headquarters. Especially every large district. If you believe all the JSCEE workers should go someplace else, then where?
BadScience
ShutHer ,down
AllOr None
PhD in Seattle
I'd love to hear what efforts were made to address the equity issues prior to canceling the Marine Bio class. Does anyone know?
Ruthie
It is unbelievably offensive that MMW's idea of "equity" is to lower the bar enough that any middle schooler could pass the HS classes. That is shameful. It is shameful that anyone supports this type of equity. When she claims that Africna-American males are being kept out of physics and chemistry because of the math requirements and the response is to get rid of that requirement and subsequently dumb down the math to about a 6th-grade level, that is shameful. It ignores the actual problem-- weak math skills. Ignoring that problem sets up students to make less money over their lifetime [strong math skills are linked in many studies to higher earnings], which only reinforces the cycle of oppression marginalized students face. Shameful. Her line that we need curricula that will get kids excited about science and interested in pursuing it is equally stupid. What is the point of getting them excited and deciding to major in a STEM field only to fail and attrite because they are completely unprepared?
A real solution would have been to develop supports for students so they are able to succeed in high-level classes,d to improve their math skills, and to have enough faith in ALL students to believe that they are capable of meeting high standards, not having so little faith you just lower the bar for all. Honestly, everyone involved in this debacle needs to be fired.
Perhaps the whole thing does need to collapse in order to be rebuilt, as Shut Her Down suggests, but that will harm a lot of students in the process. I guess a whole lot of students are going to be harmed by what is happening anyway, so might as well just burn it to the ground. What a sad state of affairs for the largest school district in the state.
Worried for the Future
SPS wants to be a factory that takes different kids in at age 5 and shoves them all into the same sized box so that they all come out the same at the end. Efficient and fair, yes, but not good for kids. And the privileged kids (aka, anyone who recognizes their kid is getting a very sub optimal education and has the cash or the ability to to get their kids financial aid) don't suffer, because they go Running Start or
go private
And, to note, the BioTech at Ballard is a program, not a class. It was stated recently by, I believe, Rick Burke, that it seems unfair to have a great program that is only at one school. I've said that for years and year and, originally, the enrollment plan for high school was to have some set-aside seats so students COULD access them. Never happen.
I'm with Ruthie; why is this okay for sports?
These special programs were set up back when students and families had school choice throughout the district (preference in your quadrant) - the schools were allowed to develop their own strengths. Then MGJ began the distillation into grey paste - all schools must be identical in case students move from one school to another (SPS public reasoning) - this was instituted when choice was cut back and students were re-routed to their neighborhood schools. At the time, when we were choosing a school it constituted a dizzying array of choices for parents to wade through to find the best fit for their student. But what I see now is that the choice model really allowed teachers to shine and trailblaze exciting specialties. Our school was an autism magnet school which included students in mentoring other students. It was definitely enriching.
It's all dead now. Glad we got through when we did.
FormerSPSParent
What is the school district doing now? It sounds like they want to water everything down so no one feels offended by any special program.
These specialized areas attract families who might otherwise go private. If something is good, why not expand it to other schools?
Instead, they decide to make everything the same and less. So sad.
S parent
Also, the predictable comparison to athletics gets pretty ridiculous. First, leave it to the gifted parents to complain about athletics when ever somebody gets an accolade, but to also trot athletics out as a comparison when there’s a a complaint about their privilege. The fact is, sports are extracurricular and simply don’t matter as much the school’s core offerings. Secondly, plenty of people do care about the problem of exclusivity in varsity athletics. Hale has nearly done away with them. Some sports like basketball can only support limited numbers of players. When they hired the near pro basketball coach, and when he shipped in his own varsity athletic team of students, yes it was a big deal. People indeed did complain, because despite a winning record, students weren’t well served by the exclusion.
AllOr None
I've taken students on field trips for years and all students go. If they need an IA, then an IA goes with them. Which schools is this happening at?
Teresa
Marine Science/Oceanography are still listed as a course offering for 2019-2020 at both GHS and BHS. The course description lists field study, but doesn't list an optional capstone-type trip like the HI trip of years past (which I don't believe happened at GHS this year anyway). Maybe that one optional trip is what has actually been axed? For the record, Marine Science is not and never has been an HCC course, anyone can enroll. At BHS it's in the Maritime pathway. Just a plain old class at GHS.
I am aware that exclusion from field trips is an issue and I would be curious to know, *from someone currently connected to the schools*, whether there has been any effort to make field work/field study accessible at the high school level. I suspect a lot of parents could get behind that idea.
Just about any high school curriculum will raise issues of exclusion. I don't believe it's SPS' vision - to the extent one can discern a vision - to mandate high schools limit themselves to identical, very narrow course offerings with no variation between schools. (That would be news to the folks at Cleveland STEM and Ingraham IB.) As I've said before, if this *is* the vision, I wish someone would own up to it. Because I'd like to understand how a vision like that would square with preparing SPS students to compete in college admissions.
Ruthie
NW
Allnone
Re: Garfield Marine Science, it is the whole course which has been put on the shelf, not just a field trip which required in my daughters time, a lottery draw to attend.
I drove on the eastern wa trip.
Very memorable, and a watershed experience.
http://garfieldptsa.org/a-letter-to-families-from-marine-science-teacher-mr-stever
The above idea has become a meme for many in the district. And it is patently false but highly TRUMPeted. Did the parents at our school demand that we be an autism magnet school? Didn't the African American Academy provide an array of specialized programs along with a striking new building. That school was making positive academic progress for their students when MGJ summarily shut it down. Was that done at the clamor of entitled white parents? These "special privileged" programs are the sweat and work of talented innovative dedicated teachers. No sinister group of entitled parents "demanded" that Ballard HS develop an award winning film program. The district is effectively squeezing all innovation out of the teaching staff in order to de-professionalize and them and ruin their morale.
The drumbeat that all the disadvantaged students woes can be squarely placed in the laps of HC parents is reflective of the hatred that some of the teachers and administrators have developed for parents and students in the district. I believe that teachers and administrators who vilify students and parents in the district in this manner need to be removed immediately. And we need to implement course offerings to enable students to distinguish between truth and reality and propaganda. Propaganda like this is developed to shift blame and make up for the shocking failings of the individuals that promulgate it.
Garfield HS - I notice upon a recent visit - is allowing a percentage of their students to learn science via 5th grade level artwork. The teaching and administrative staff have a lot to answer for. Is it really true that the HC parents have sucked the resources there up into a black hole maw? An FTE is an FTE and existent teachers and principal are failing the students there. But the propaganda spewed forth by the likes of Allnone deflect the "blame" to groups of parents in the district to save face. We all see it happening. You aren't fooling anyone.
FormerSPSParent
Bulldog
IA
No, the point of the 24-credit changes re: science was to ensure that high school students got three years of science (incl. 2 w/ labs) instead of only 2 classes. It did't say what they had to be, and there's no reason the science offerings needed to be changed. In fact, with students being required to take MORE science, there easily could have been an INCREASE in the range of science offerings. That SPS chose to rework the science curriculum to require a specific 3-year sequence of science classes--including one that has been made way to easy for many students--is on SPS, not the state requirements. But apparently SPS didn't think some students (and/or teachers?) could handle rigorous science coursework, so instead of demanding more of our students and teachers, they decided to just keep lowering the bar. If they really cared about equity they would have been working over these, what, 4 years?, to make sure middle schools students were well-prepared to take legitimate HS level science classes. But no. Instead we see
typical SPSP
Classes are available to all kids; please tell me one kid who didn't get to enroll in BioTech or Marine Science because of a disability.
No, the district has to make sure all kids are covered. BioTech started from a district plan, not a parent plan. As well, most PTAs DO offer scholarships. I'm not even sure the district would allow an IA for a field trip to be funded but if you can show us how it's done, please do, All or None.
Thank you to Teresa the teacher and IA because apparently it does happen for disabled kids to go on field trips.
Bulldog, I think Jesse Hagopian is a great teacher. That he has energy to offer to activism to improve public education is a good thing.
Melissa, students with disabilities are REGULARLY redirected away from these classes. It's just part of a script that we experience in Seattle Public Schools, sometimes overt discouragement and sometimes more between the lines, but always getting to the low expectations of students with disabilities.
Been there
craziness
Sped Parent
PS. It is impossible that this fact has any implications for the class cancellation though.
I do agree with the person who stated above " These special programs were set up back when students and families had school choice throughout the district (preference in your quadrant) - the schools were allowed to develop their own strengths."
It seems kind of weird that neighborhood schools should offer anything different from each other, when choice is really not occurring in practice now due to no space at popular high schools. In reality the district IMO should have a lottery system for schools with ANY special programs including IB, STEM, etc.
But now we also have Amazon that will be partnering with First WA to put robotics programs only in schools that meet the Title I percentage threshold.I am happy for the kids in those schools. However, many if not the majority of FRL kids are actually spread across other district schools that may not meet that % threshold. Is it equitable to kids at those other schools that also can't raise the money to have a club?
JK
Just to be aware there are public schools that are so very different. Do you know that on the East Coast even all the so called "regular" classes I attended had IA's growing up? My brother was in special ed and had at least two IA's in his classroom which was self contained until he was mainstreamed later. My mother was a special ed IA. Class sizes were 17-24 in regular classes, and were an average of 13-15 for any self contained special ed classes. But the caveat...property and school taxes were the highest in the country. Very hard for regular middle class and lower income families to live. I would not be able to afford to live there today with my own family.
Karen
No- I have not taken students to Hawaii, however I have taken ALL my students on trips to Alki for the past five years, and I'm the lead teacher when we take ALL the 8th graders to Orkila for three days. That is all students as in all general ed AND special ed students. Last year the only students who didn't go where those who choose not to. Some students parents wanted to come on the tip, however we also took several special ed teachers and IA's.
I would say that the main reason there aren't more field trips is because it's A LOT of work and most people with families of their own just don't have the time.
Teresa
"No- I have not taken students to Hawaii, however I have taken ALL my students on trips to Alki for the past five years, and I'm the lead teacher when we take ALL the 8th graders to Orkila for three days." Yikes, I guess that's ok, I'll just accept Alki while my classmates get Hawaii.
Uh ... hello? Let's look at the big picture: why are trips being organized in the name of Seattle Public Schools if they can not be inclusive?
Wantstoknow
AllNone
Wantstoknow
IF you really wanted to know and not just make snarky comments, then you might try reading through all the comments first before jumping to the wrong conclusion.
No one at my school goes to Hawaii, believe that is a high school. I cannot talk about what other schools do or what other staff do. I can ONLY affect those trips that have my name on them and for those ALL students who want to go- can.
Teresa
I would be the first to say that is way past time for Eckstein to be remodeled with newer features. The building is older than I am and has never been remodeled. However, from the look of it, and due to the political climate, that is not going to happen anytime soon. In fact they are finishing the retro-fit this summer and painting classrooms. The first time this has been done in over 30 years.
When we go to Orkila the IA's are paid extra so they aren't volunteering their time (our principal, who is great, finds the money someplace.), well, no more than any of the parents, teachers' and staff who go.
I agree that the paperwork for field trips has greatly increased due to things that happened on trips at Garfield and Ballard. It pisses me off because it's made more hoops for me to jump through to plan the trips. I also use to take my students on a walking trip to the Wedgewood Eratic which is about four blocks away-however when I had to start having permission slips for that, I stopped taking them. That makes me sad because its local geology right in their neighborhood and many students had never seen it before.
I have to disagree about field trips because I think they can be great. What could be more fun than going to West Seattle and standing on beach on top of the Seattle Fault? (Many students have never even been to West Seattle before we go). Or spending three days with your whole 8th grade class in community building activities? These are the kinds of things that students will remember later.
I also have to say, as someone who thinks science is important, I'm very happy with students having to take three science classes in high school. The fact that the test is no longer required should not matter any more that it does for math or LA. I do not agree that the district needed to do away with classes like the Marine Biology. In fact I think all schools should have more elective science classes, not less.
Teresa
foolish
Teaching to the test--as opposed to teaching science in a logical, rigorous way that allowed for students to somewhat tailor their science pathways to their actual interests and abilities--was always a bad idea. Too bad SPS decided to do it anyway, and too bad they are sticking with the unfortunate plan even though the test is now irrelevant. It's a reduction in rigor, pure and simple.
typical SPS
However, to keep in mind, the district does not keep up on basic maintenance and hasn't for decades. That contributes to the decline of buildings.
HP
I just want to say Thank You for your latest post.
Teresa