"A Cautionary Tale about Forsaking Educational Basics for Castles in the Sky.'
Yes, I have seen this essay by Sandeep Kaushik, The Decade of Decline in Seattle Public Schools.
Yes, my work was acknowledged twice and I am very grateful for that. (Full disclosure, I have spoken to Sandeep on educational issues several times but I would call him a colleague and not a friend.)
Yes, I do plan to write about it here but my day is busy. I'll try to get to it later but you are welcome to read it and comment.
Comments
hatred of highly capable programs. Academic standards got kicked to the curb and parents bailed for private schools. Should be required reading for all educators, the Seattle Times and our city leaders.
I do think there is a flaw in Sandeep’s piece. The article indicated that test scores increased under MGJ.. The claim needs further clarification and scrutiny. As I recall, MGJ and a staffer manipulated numbers used to assess college readiness. I think a different entity was responsible for setting the number, but MGJ and staffer decided to change the metric.
The ZDW, Hampson, Rankin, and Hersey boards drove the district into the ground . I am just glad Rankin is there to take responsibility for the mess.
- Disgusted
- Disgusted
It’s another thing the teachers had to deal with.
A district staff had a presentation about test scores and said outright that the only purpose of testing was to close the achievement gap. It meant that more resources would be poured into schools with lower test scores.
The young students then reasoned that if they deliberately click on the wrong answers on those standardized exams by the district, they could bring more fundings to their school.
Been there
The district also had so much money that it sold a piece of land to a minority-owned entity for about eight millions less than selling it to the Bush private school.
What budget crisis?
Been there
An expert from the central office gave a presentation to a group of parents about the test results and their usage. There were opposition to forcing the students to take the exam of no benefits to the students. And the students and parents were not allowed access to the results of the exams. When asked how the students could improve their deficiencies from the exam results, the district staff advised the parents to talk to the teacher.
Then the district staff emphasized that the only purpose of the exam is to close the achievement gaps. There were obvious achievement gaps between some schools, and more resources would be directed to the schools with low test scores.
I told the students what the district staff said. The students figured out that if they do badly on the exam, then their school would look bad, and the school could get more money.
Believe it or not, there was a time when kindergarteners were not required to take standardized exams. And students used to be able to opt out of taking those useless standardized exams whose only purpose was to close the achievement gap.
Been there