On Advanced Learning
For my post on director questions in the agenda for last night's Seattle School Board meeting, I had the need to go to the Advanced Learning page at the district's website. It made for interesting reading.
How will I know that my student is receiving Advanced Learning services?
- Each school will share their differentiation strategies for their school in the fall of 2022. Services could look like flexible small groups within classrooms based on need or interest. They will not look like different classes or different curriculums.
- Over the next few years, a new model of differentiated services at every school will be implemented.
- The new Neighborhood School model is designed to serve the whole child. New types of instruction will be flexible enough to provide advanced lessons where appropriate and, at the same time, address that same student’s need for grade level help in other areas, if needed.
- Up to 10 schools will pilot the new model for grades K-2 in the 2022-23 school year.
- All K-2 classrooms will implement the new model in 2023-24, while grades 3-5 pilot the new strategies.
- Middle and High School classes will be provided with Professional Development in Talent Development and differentiation strategies for blended classrooms.
1) So parents, did your school " share their differentiation strategies in the fall of 2022?" Please do let us know.
2) This line about them NOT looking like "different classes or different curriculums" is something of a dog whistle because there were NEVER different curriculums for Advanced Learning kids. That's just a tired old talking point. The idea was faster/further with the existing curriculum, not creating different curriculums.
3) I like that Neighborhood School model but yes, some teachers are going to get a cohort of kids in the HCC identification and will have to figure out how to carry those students along in all subjects.
4) So it appeared from one answer on the agenda there are only four schools piloting the new model but the answer above says 10. Plus, someone at an HCC Facebook page said this:
5) All the K-2 classrooms? This should be interesting and I wonder if parents in every school know this.
6) For this item, I would ask when is this PD happening and they have have it done for this next school year?
Comments
In first grade, our son had a great experience in the advanced math class, which was well-run. But later, our daughter ended up with the same teacher who was on leave the entire year, and her class with a long-term substitute was a mess.
I had a conversation with the principal at the elementary school, who suggested we send our kids to the pathways school for advanced learning, saying the neighborhood school couldn't provide consistent advanced learning services. This was surprising since that school was one of the highest performing schools in the district.
I recall when the advanced learning department sent someone to offer professional development to the teachers, but they focused on hands-on activities with shapes, ignoring the math book. This left parents to do a lot of additional teaching at home.
Recently, I asked my kids' ELA teacher about how they differentiated instruction in middle school. They said all students received the same assignments, with the only difference being that advanced learners were expected to write more in-depth papers. They also said the tests were the same and the students had to pick their own reading materials from the library. This lack of differentiation has caused both of my students to want to drop the district's ELA classes.
Seattle public schools have many wonderful teachers, but the quality varies. One of our children had two full years of long-term substitutes by third grade, followed by a first-year teacher.
At a high-poverty school in the district where I volunteered, I found out that teachers were told to focus on low-performing students, leaving the high-performing students to work on their own.
If you have kids starting kindergarten or first grade and they need advanced learning, think long and hard about committing to Seattle public schools. The self-contained classes had the advantage of teaching all the students at the same level, so even if you got a long-term substitute at least the instruction was at the right level.
Remember though, the district's chief academic officer has stated that advanced learning is for "the manufactured brilliance of mostly white and affluent families." State law mandates HCC services for students, but it doesn't specify what those services must be. The district and schools just need to have a plan - anything more depends on the specific principal and teachers your child gets. Check out for example PTA blog for Cascadia where it states that the advanced elementary students leave fifth grade one year ahead and are then placed right back into grade level Ela at middle school, forcing them to repeat a year of curriculum and standards. This is the hard reality and shows the true face of the district's approach to advanced learning.
After 5th grade, I just about pulled the plug on SPS because I felt I could take no chances with middle school. I could not watch my child melt down every Sunday night, waste his potential and not know how real academic success feels. I enrolled him in the districts ALE/homeschooling program for 6th grade and it has been terrific. If you’re not familiar with this program, the idea is that you are still plugged into the district but effectively homeschooling. The staff are fantastic. Classes are project-based. Their library is phenomenal. Parental input is requested, valued and shared at this school. I’m surprised the district still allows such a program.
Of course, it only works if you as a parent have the time, the energy, and the inclination to dive into teaching. It’s a financial sacrifice. And I’m having to re-learn material ‘cause I’m old, then be humble about it and spend the majority of my energy on this. But ultimately I really feel great at the close of this school year. As a 6th grader, my student finished 8th grade math early, dabbled in trigonometry, learned world geography, early human migration, the birth of civilization, read books under blankets, watched documentaries about astronomy, went swimming in the middle of the day, learned effective study skills, practiced piano AND he got to take a bunch of super fun classes at the ALE school. He kept his old friends who dispersed out to various middle schools as well as make new friends of all ages at the new school. The bottom line: he’s happy, challenged, likes his teachers and is a productive student. He’s learning to take control of his own learning and manage his time.
And NOW, just yesterday, the district sends out a survey about how I, the parent, feel about how the year went for my HCC student. Well, it went great because I found this little oasis of learning and because I MADE an HCC experience for my kid. I want the Advanced Learning department to know that having a quirky HCC kid in SPS is the pits. They probably already know but adherents to the current dogma don’t care, be they board members, administrators, principals or teachers. It’s hard to forget all the very bad things that were insinuated about the HCC program & it’s users over the years prior to and during covid. If the ALE program wasn’t such a great community for kids & parents, I’d have pulled the plug entirely on SPS. So while his school get 5 stars, the district gets 1 for at least leaving a window open for us...
Almost Homeschooling
We don't ask any questions, out of fear that teachers would retaliate by assigning useless busywork to our student. The only minor concession we noticed was that one teacher seemed to allow HC students to choose each other as group-mates, without any actual comment on the matter.
And just one last side note...I'm curious if anyone else has gotten the "growth mindset" treatment, as in, if your student is struggling with a concept, it's because they need a "growth mindset". We ran into this last year. I know it was a fad originating from Carol Dweck's work (which she implicitly said was NOT to be used to bludgeon struggling students). When I tried to get my student to advocate for himself, that's what he was told. Then when I tried to find out what that was all about from his teacher, I was told the same thing. It's just a bunch of sloganeering. Having trouble understanding equations of proportional relationships? Don't bother explaining difficult concepts in different ways, just tell your students they don't have a "growth mindset".
Almost Homeschooling
One would hope an education administrator would go a little deeper than the latest TED Talks idea when responding to a complaint?? “Growth mindset,” “grit,” “attitude of gratitude…” every last trend is a redirect from how awful a system is a back on the individual. It’s not us it’s you, is what this says, and this is a very sneaky and also lazy way to say it. How very corporate education reform of them.
Snakeoil
I knew I was being gaslit at the time and I was literally not allowed to have a real conversation. Instead, I was lectured to. Yes, "grit" was the other word. The whole school year was difficult and this one incident was the icing on the cake. The worst part is having to rebuild my students trust in, as you say, education administrators. I have many family members who are teachers and the general rule is that they deserve respect for their hard work & knowledge.
How can I justify that sort of treatment to my student? We want our kids to identify when they are not making sufficient effort, to understand life is not always fair and persevere despite that, but we also want them to have healthy boundaries...to be able to see with clarity. It's ongoing conversation, for sure.
Melissa, thank you for letting me use your comments like a forum. It's cathartic. I truly appreciate your reporting and commentary on these district issues.
Almost Homeschooling
It is disingenuous for SPS to claim this model of HC or advanced learning is happening at the neighborhood schools. Teachers are working hard, but are dedicating their full attention to the middle or to students furthest behind, while attending to all the social and emotional needs that emerged from the pandemic. This model is a disgrace. Teachers and principals know it. Everyone knows it but those as at the highest levels of leadership. Equity doesn't mean stripping away programs for kids that need it so everyone gets the same. It should be about getting more kids of color into HC.
--Disheartened dad