From the Seattle Times

There are several stories of note from the Times.

First up, the resizing of classes at several elementary schools.

Five weeks after the start of the school year, about half of the elementary and K-8 schools in the Seattle Public Schools district are being reconfigured to meet state class size requirements, a change the district described as routine.

Some students will have a new teacher on Monday, and others will have new classmates from different grades joining their class, often known as “split classrooms.”

SPS says:

“We recognize that staff and classroom assignment changes during the school year can cause anxiety and frustration for our families,” the district said in a statement. “We work with our district leadership and principals to minimize disruption and make adjustments as early in the school year as possible.’

The article states that the district DID "anticipate" fewer elementary students and got that part right. Sadly, the article doesn't state either how many schools are affected nor how many fewer students there are this year.

One interesting statement is the Cedar Park Elementary IS growing but, as one parent rightly states:

“Split classrooms have some benefit if the schools themselves are provided the resources to fully support teachers and staff to accommodate a split,” Nau said. “Younger kiddos get to learn from the older kiddos. Older kiddos maybe get to be a little bit more of a leader, but that only works when the teachers and staff have what they need.”

Director Liza Rankin weighs in:

“Not that it doesn’t feel disruptive,” she added. “If you haven’t experienced it before, you are like, ‘Wait, what is going on?’ Making adjustments in October is unfortunately a routine thing that happens when we are funded so tightly per student.”

What BOTH Director Rankin and the district miss as a help to parents is directing the schools to tell parents on DAY ONE that this is a possibility. That way, parents know this and can try to finesse how to tell their student.

There is NO reason the district can't do this but they don't. It speaks to how much they care about parents.


Next up,  the science of reading. Basically, the "balanced literacy" program was a crock; listen to the very good podcast Sold A Story for an explanation. So now we are onto science of reading which is...phonics. Naturally, the science of reading is not just phonics.

The Times story is about a teacher at Rising Star Elementary, Kyle Jackson. (He's a Black kindergarten teacher in a majority minority school - bless him.)

But there are some choice quotes:

Overall the district has been “relatively successful” at getting kids to read at or above grade level by third grade, said Cashel Toner, executive director of curriculum, assessment, and instruction for SPS. For example, recently released test score data from spring 2023 shows about 62% of Seattle third-graders met state standards in English Language Arts, about the same as pre-pandemic scores.

But even before the pandemic, district officials dug deeper into the data and realized that certain groups of students weren’t being reached, a persistent trend. This spring, only 29% of all Black/African-American students across all grade levels met the reading standard.

SPS has been spending many, many dollars at their African-American Male program and 29% across all reading levels meeting standard is all they can eke out?

Six years ago the district adopted a reading curriculum from the Center for the Collaborative Classroom, a literacy nonprofit. All kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers received training in the new way of teaching, said Toner. Most educators teach students how to read the way they learned to read themselves, so trainings were crucial.

 

The article speaks of the SPS' focus on 13 schools where they train and track their teachers' and principals' work in this area.


The Times editorial board addresses Black student learning in this editorial, Positive outliers may hold keys to Black student success:

In all ambitious endeavors, a key question is how long to stay the course when outcomes look bleak, and when to course correct. It’s past time for Seattle Public Schools to confront this question with regard to Black students.

The gulf in outcomes between them and their white classmates is so wide, and has persisted for so long, that finally, in 2019, the district created an entirely new department to tackle the problem.

But

That’s why it’s especially concerning that now, four years after opening the Office of African American Male Achievement, only 26% of Black third graders are able to read at standard. That’s worse than the rate when this effort kicked off, and a frightening 30 points behind the district’s target for 2023.

What is odd is that the editorial references that science of reading story and puts in a key detail NOT in that story:

A particular bright spot: West Seattle Elementary School, where 67% of students are Black, and more than half of all kids are reading at grade level or above.

That is an oddly written sentence that I think might not have the good news that it thinks it does.

District Superintendent Brent Jones says one of the best things to come out of the Office of African American Male Achievement so far is a wealth of data. Excellent. He should use it to zero in on positive outliers like West Seattle and model next steps on its success. Improvement can’t come soon enough.

Because as students get older, the gaps between them stretch ever-wider. At Denny Middle School, for example, only 32% of Black sixth graders were reading at grade level when tested last spring, compared to 62% of white students. A key tenet of the emphasis on Black achievement has been helping kids feel a greater sense of belonging and empowerment. But after a year of that focus at Denny, scores had barely budged: Only 32.7% of Black seventh graders there were able to read at grade level as they moved on to eighth grade.

Then the Times' Board makes this point about diplomas:

Which raises the question of diplomas. One of the most important targets that SPS set for Black achievement was its expectation for course-passage rates among graduating seniors. But something is off: At Cleveland STEM High School in 2022, just 18.5% of all students met standards in science, and 33% in math. Yet, somehow, 81% of Black seniors passed their classes and 94% graduated.

By high school, when students need to think about building careers and adult lives, lagging performance truly becomes an emergency: At Rainier Beach, South Seattle’s storied athletic powerhouse, only 12% of Black sophomores were reading at grade level last spring, according to data from the state education department.

If nothing else, whatever they are learning is clearly not aligned with state tests. And standards for earning an SPS diploma appear to be even lower.

Then the Times has this op-ed, Washington schools and students don't have to settle for mediocrity. It was written by these three people:

Tamra Jackson is principal of the nationally recognized high school in Bridgeport, Douglas County.
Gary Cohn led Everett Public Schools for a decade and is a former Superintendent of the Year.
Edward Lee Vargas is a former Washington and California Superintendent of the Year.

I've interviewed Mr. Cohn and I think he is one of the best administrators out there.

Based on the Nation’s Report Card, we have recently fallen out of the top half of states when it comes to our students’ ability to read and do math. We’ve fallen to 40th when it comes to the mental health of our students, with one in 10 adolescents reporting they’ve attempted suicide in the last year. We’re about halfway through a projected 10% decline in enrollment, tied to a school funding formula that will gut many important programs. Some Washington schools can’t even afford to keep a working roof over students’ heads and yet our leadership is not sure where the $3 billion sent by the feds to help us deal with our challenges went.

A few examples of what’s working (bold mine):

- Instead of giving 50% for incomplete work, Bridgeport High School, in Douglas County, went the other way. Principal Tamra Jackson’s team required students to earn at least 67% to pass classes: “We’ve ensured students do not have access to cellphones during the school day with a districtwide policy, and we provided innovative advisory support to meet students’ social and emotional needs and accelerate postsecondary planning. Though we’re rural, 97% low-income and 39% English learners, 87% of our students complete one or more dual-credit courses, and 20% of our senior class earns their AA degree on our campus.”

- In Everett, Superintendent Gary Cohn and his team achieved unmatched graduation rates as high as 96%. “By raising the bar together and ensuring consistent and effective support for teachers, principals, and students, we significantly improved English, math, and science performance.” Instead of eliminating highly capable programs, “We doubled enrollment in them as well as in Advanced Placement, while eliminating demographic disparities.”

During his time in Kent, Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas introduced all kindergartners to college with field trips to help them visualize high expectations for everyone. Collaborating with the school board, principals, teachers and the community, all schools advanced to higher-performing schools in just three years with state and national award-winning initiatives.