tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post1657645395819105036..comments2024-03-29T02:41:52.718-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Giving Credit When Credit is DueMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-65691882599991004682010-12-18T11:05:59.020-08:002010-12-18T11:05:59.020-08:00A related issue that drives me up a wall is the di...A related issue that drives me up a wall is the district's use of verb tense in their reports of goals and outcomes. Often there will be a sentence that says, "We decreased unexcused absences by 4%." When what that REALLY means is that the GOAL is to decrease unexcused absences. One must pay close attention to context. My glancing at some CSIPS shows that some schools use this forward thinking obfuscating language while others speak more plainly and when something is a goal, they clearly state that with future tense.Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-74098857752329168552010-12-18T10:27:42.005-08:002010-12-18T10:27:42.005-08:00Charlie,
You are spot on, but don't even know...Charlie,<br /><br />You are spot on, but don't even know more than a fraction of it.<br /><br />Keep on keeping on.Beast';s bellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36319965751711381412010-12-17T21:15:08.258-08:002010-12-17T21:15:08.258-08:00charlie, i agree with and understand the underlyi...charlie, i agree with and understand the underlying principle you present. here is the classroom comparison: work needs to be done and turned in before i mark it as so in my grade book. explantions, plans, excuses -all sound like voices from adults on the Peanuts cartoon specials. i don't really care about the jibber-jabber- i want the work. no work, no credit for it. pretty straight forward. <br />you are not asking too much. <br />i quit working w/adults because i found such behaviors and expectations for gratification w/o production/results unacceptable. <br />-reminded why i work with kidsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-86936181952867106892010-12-17T18:08:32.158-08:002010-12-17T18:08:32.158-08:00Chris: I am with you. I think it is great when t...Chris: I am with you. I think it is great when the Board finally stands its ground and makes District staff live up to their promises (promises of a credible waiver process, promises long ago that schools with lots of reasonably performing kids would have earned autonomy and be able to offer a varied, interesting, and diverse curriculum -- without onerous District oversight).<br /><br />Waivers matter a LOT to parents who see MGJ bleeding schools of their best courses and best faculty. I am thrilled that the Board shows signs of being willing to stand up to central office laziness (because that is what this is -- it is a lot easier for them if they just don't have to deal with all the messiness of having "different" courses taught by creative teachers, so but for the Board, they had every intention of doing their little "promise now, and just ignore it later" dance).Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-39062688835205994092010-12-17T15:34:16.619-08:002010-12-17T15:34:16.619-08:00On the topic of giving credit where credit is due,...On the topic of giving credit where credit is due, I'd like to credit the board members at the Monday C & I meeting (everyone but Sherry Carr was there) for sticking to their guns about waivers from board-adopted materials.<br /><br />Harium seemed all set to go along with the district and say "oh, those innovation schools will serve that purpose." Innovation schools which have not been defined, and were further down the agenda, and not addressed, at least not while Dr. Enfield was there.<br /><br />However, the others, led by Michael DeBell but supported by all the others to some degree, said no, it's different, we need something. I have no doubt that the battle is far from over, but it's a promising start. And seeing all those board members either getting a backbone or supporting the one with the backbone was refreshing.<br /><br />Kind of a backhanded compliment, but I mean it as a compliment.Chris S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17016898261120819596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-55658802806087247552010-12-17T11:08:28.971-08:002010-12-17T11:08:28.971-08:00Maureen: I share your concern about not finding w...Maureen: I share your concern about not finding ways to appreciate and acknowledge successful work when it occurs. There can be few things more disheartening, when you are working for someone, than to be constantly criticized for every fault, and never applauded when hard work leads to success. <br /><br />I actually liked the OLD choice system (because I thought it was less inequitable to SE kids -- though there were certainly still plenty of inequities), and it afforded more -- choice! But I acknowledge I may be in the minority here, and the choice system did put a fair amount of stress on parents who often could not know for sure what school their child would attend.<br /><br />But it is hard to applaud the "success" for the percentage of Seattle parents now safely inside attendance areas that lead to the very schools they wanted all along, and whose schools in the meantime are not exploding at the seams -- when so much of the process went wrong. The District was told over and over by parents about huge flaws in the process -- and we were ignored. As a result, LI and Montessori schools are not option schools, and the vast majority of Seattle kids have no hope of attending them; the GHS boundary is ridiculously huge and (since the problem exceeds the APP population) will continue to be a problem long after they have damaged or dismantled APP to try to fix it; NE schools are too full, and lack middle school capacity; many West Seattle elementaries are too full. They KNEW they needed to fix RBHS and Aki BEFORE the SAP -- or they would abandon SE kids to having virtually no reasonable high school choice -- AND risk having the school drastically underfilled -- but they did it anyway.<br />How much credit can we give for what would, under any circumstances, have been a big undertaking -- a new assignment plan -- when they ignored so much good advice, and did it so badly?Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09923777229601243321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-63295949200202872592010-12-17T10:20:03.584-08:002010-12-17T10:20:03.584-08:00The Board actually counted the successful implemen...The Board actually counted the successful implementation of the new student assignment plan as part of their reason for extending the superintendent's contract on July 7, 2010, two months before the new student assignment plan was actually implemented. On June 16 they wrote:<br />"<i>The most significant accomplishment in the 2009-10 school year was the adoption and implementation of the New Student Assignment Plan (NSAP).</i>"<br /><br />Incredible.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-56713868800343249752010-12-17T10:08:29.412-08:002010-12-17T10:08:29.412-08:00I do worry that we don't pay enough attention ...I do worry that we don't pay enough attention to things that do get done as promised and on time and when things work out well. One thing I do like about the NSAP is that clueless families have a guaranteed spot at a school close to where they live. That was a major improvement in equitable access. I'm sure there are other things.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18444916440000921599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-65141337822230478232010-12-17T10:03:10.316-08:002010-12-17T10:03:10.316-08:00Although Charlie probably did not intend it, this ...Although Charlie probably did not intend it, this piece explains a lot about the "lack of interventions" and the associated "de facto" <i><b>social promotion policy</b></i>.<br /><br />87% of a particular graduating 8th class were said to be <b><i>ready</i></b> for "High School Math" and then two years later 40% of that group actually passed the 10th grade OSPI math test. <b><i>Ready</i></b> must mean "Ready or not, here you come", so the appraisal is <b><i>most of you must be ready because almost 100% of you are advancing.</i></b><br /><br />Perhaps it means that 87% of you will be placed into High School "Discovering Algebra" Math or its equivalent or higher, so <i><b>lets all make believe you are ready</b></i>.<br /><br />I asked the Board to get this <b><i>"Ready for High School Math"</i></b> clarified at the Board Work session on 12-15-10 but have not heard back. Do you suppose the Directors will be getting back to me on that?<br /><br />Note:<br /> District-wide in 2008 according to the recently issued School Report cards "<b>76%</b>" of middle schoolers headed to high school were ready for high school math. In 2010 the portion of that original group that had passed enough classes to get enough credits to be considered Sophomores had an OSPI Math pass rate on the HSPE = <b>45.3%</b><br /><br />Did not Director DeBell stress the need for Statistics that correctly communicate to the public?<br /><b><i><br />So what up with percentage of students ready for high school math?<br /></i></b><br />So let us give credit where credit is due but to believe that 76% of SPS 8th graders moving on to high school were ready for high school math in fall 2008, well that seems to be a bit of a stretch beyond communicating to the public the reality of the situation. <br /><br />That group's 8th grade WASL math scores showed:<br /><br />27.8% = Level 4 (exceeds standard) <br /><br />25.4% = Level 3 (met standard)<br /> <br />0.6% = Basic (met standard) <br /> <br />46.2% = Not Meeting Standard <br /> <br />17.2% = Level 2 (below standard) <br /> <br />26.2% = Level 1 (well below standard) <br />2.8% = No Score<br /><br />=============<br /><br />I hope the Board has not checked this one off as done just yet.dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-62311095718594317962010-12-17T09:13:31.676-08:002010-12-17T09:13:31.676-08:00And -- it flows right through to how they grant bo...And -- it flows right through to how they grant bonus compensation to the Superintendant. She gets paid (and her contract gets extended, based on work) BEFORE the value of that work can be demonstrated. She was rewarded for the NSAP long before the crowding problems as JSIS, GHS, west Seattle elementaries, NE schools, and the underenrollment at RBHS, Madrona, etc. were revealed.Jannoreply@blogger.com