Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update:   there's a new movie out about a gifted child called...Gifted. Also, thank you to reader NE Parent for this link to a NY Times article on finding more gifted students of color.  It makes for fascinating reading.

To note, the press release references a "federal fee reduction program" so that is one discount available to F/RL students for AP testing. I'm still checking about the state and the district. Results released today by the College Board show that the number of students taking the SAT has remained steady but that PSAT and AP participation has increased.

From OSPI: OLYMPIA — April 13, 2016 — Funds are now available for low-income students who are eligible for Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge Capstone program exams, the US Department of Education announced yesterday. Qualified low-income students will now pay $15 per exam. This is a $3 increase from last year’s reduced rate of $12 per exam. There is no limit to the number of exams a student may take. For more information on the program, as well how students qualify for the fee reduction, please visit Advanced Placement .

From OSPI: State AP Scores and Participation Rate Rise Again OLYMPIA — February 24, 2016 — More Washington students are taking and passing Advanced Placement (AP) exams with a score of 3 or higher, according to a report released today by the College Board. That means more students are better prepared for college. And they’re saving money on college credits when they get there.

This Saturday, Jan. 23rd, will be the last time the old version of the SAT will be given. The newly redesigned SAT will be given for the first time in March.   That one will be the one now aligned to Common Core standards.  Test prep companies say yes - it's creating a lot of anxiety (which may help the folks that give the ACT.)

Two great stories about public education and expectations for kids.

Forgot one interesting piece of news; the City has extended the deadline for families to apply for their Preschool Program from July 31st to August 10th.  What? Families aren't breaking down the doors for this "high-quality" preschool?  I note that ALL the classrooms for the City program are indeed in Seattle Schools. The College Board got quite the battle over AP History and apparently more conservative interests won.  From Huffington Post:

From SPS: The Office of Advanced Learning is collaborating with school and community members to develop a Highly Capable Cohort pathway for students in West Seattle. That is, when the pathway is established, students identified as Highly Capable could eventually be served from kindergarten through 12th grade in HC classrooms at schools located in West Seattle. We are forming a Focus Group to provide an opportunity for school leaders and community members to collaborate on implementing new HC services at Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. If you are interested in joining the Focus Group, application forms will be made available by mid-April on the Advanced Learning website www.seattleschools.org/advlearning . The pathway will take time to develop and will not be fully in place by next school year, but we want to help families understand their options for this fall:

This is a guest editorial from Palo Alto On-line,from a junior at a high-pressure high school who has much to say about the nature of public education.  And yes, I know if you read this, you might roll your eyes and think, "white people problems."  But despite Palo Alto being a wealthy area, talking about teen stress and pressure is important no matter where a student lives. It is about what we are doing to kids, their joy of learning and the nature of learning. My stress began in elementary school, where students were segregated into separate class meetings as "early" and "late" readers. Although we were just elementary schoolers, we perceived this as a differentiation between the less and more advanced students and either felt superior due to our intellect or shamed for a "lack" thereof.  Middle school didn't get any better. At the end of sixth grade, we were placed into either Pre-Algebra or Pre-Algebra Advanced, though nobody ...

KOMO tv is reporting this: A disturbing trend has been identified in Seattle public schools, where marijuana now makes up most of the disciplinary actions involving students. Between the start of the school year and Jan. 7, marijuana made up 77 percent of all disciplinary actions taken against students, district officials said. That's a big number.  What seems to be the issue? Lately, school officials have faced a new threat: Marijuana edibles dressed up as sugary treats. Everything from pot-infused caramels to drug-laced lemonade has been confiscated. That's in addition to the pipes and joints collected. The article doesn't explain how/why KOMO came across this news.  I'll have to ask the district. Reader Mary G said this: If this is true, this is a stunning statistic, but how would one know? The district has been unable to produce any reliable statistics for the last two years, and certainly not any resembling real time statistics...

I note that the district's home page has a prominent section on the upcoming Open Enrollment period that starts on Monday, Feb. 23rd.  It lasts until Friday, March 6th.  This period is to request "a school or program outside" of your regular assignment. As a general rule, your student is assigned to the same school he or she is attending now. In the case of students moving up to middle or high school, students will be automatically assigned to their neighborhood school. You will be able to confirm your student's school assignment via the Assignment Look-Up Tool after Feb. 23 or by calling our automated phone system at (206) 252-0212. If you would like to change your current or assigned school for the 2015-16 school year, get detailed Open Enrollment instructions at bit.ly/Apply-OpenEnrollment or by contacting the Admissions office at (206) 252-0760. School Choice forms will be available when Open Enrollment begins on on Feb. 23. If you request a different schoo...

Some updates: - according to the AL webpage, as of yesterday, 1,637 eligibility letters were sent (out of a possible 4024).  So if you were looking for one, it may be in the mail.  They started mailing them out on Jan. 31st.  Scores and eligibility decisions are NOT available by phone or e-mail.  - testing is continuing thru early Feb. - all eligibility decisions, including appeals , will be done before Open Enrollment ends on March 7th - E-mails sent to the Advanced Learning e-mail (advlearn@seattleschools.org) are answered in the order they are received.  Responses to e-mails will be faster than phone calls. - the next scheduled meeting of the Advanced Learning Task Force was postponed to Feb. 13th at 9:30am in Room 2776 at JSCEE.   The last meeting they had was December 17th so nearly two months have gone by.  You can see the lack of urgency for the district in this.  The minutes from that last meeting are not available. - I note ...

Several items I thought might interest you. Frida Kahlo, a favorite of mine One is a new video from Dove soap, straight from the Sundance Film Festival where it "premiered."  It's an 8-minute video about an experiment with teen girls, their mothers and cell phone photos called "Selfie."  Worthy viewing, I think.  My favorite line, from a girl, " Social media is widening the definition of what beauty is."  Yes, maybe a good thing out of all these millions of self-photos taken on cell phones is "look at me, I look great/having fun/I matter."  You can also show your kids there were always selfies - great artists loved to paint themselves.  One link here , another here .

From Superintendent Banda (partial): The committee made the following recommendations, which I am implementing. The race and gender units of the course are to be reinstated, with the following actions occurring as soon as possible: · The race unit curriculum should be age appropriate and taught in a non-threatening manner. The class should not use the “Courageous Conversations” activities, which were intended as training for adults. The District has used this as professional development and it was not intended for use with students. · When classroom activities could potentially cause a high degree of emotion for students or potential distress, families should be notified ahead of time and communication to families should include an option to complete alternative assignments. · There are concerns the current course does not meet the criteria of the College Board for Advanced Placement. In order to make sure the course meets AP standards, the course syllabus...

News from OSPI: More Washington students are taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, according to a national report released today.  The College Board’s ninth annual “AP Report to the Nation” shows that 20,581 Washington students (or 32.8 percent) in the class of 2012 took at least one AP exam. That number represents an increase of 1,276 (6.6 percent) from 2011 and 12,068 (62.5 percent) from 2002.  Not only did participation increase again this year, so did scores. In 2012, 20.0 percent of Washington’s 12th graders scored a three or greater – a score that generally qualifies for college credit – on an AP test. In 2011, 18.4 percent of students scored a three or greater; in 2002, 9.6 percent. The 10.4 percentage-point increase in the past 10 years ranks Washington eighth among all states. The national average for the same period was 7.9 percent.  “We’re seeing great results all over the state,” said Randy Dorn, state superintendent. “More stud...