Seattle Schools Community Forum

Below is good advice on ANY SPS page that you believe relates to your child's academic career or is important information.  Po3 said... If you have a student who has previously met a state requirement via the HSPE or EOC. I recommend taking a screenshot of their assessment page just in case there is a bait and switch this fall and they try to tell us our students have not met the requirement(s) and remove the assessment from the Source.

Remember when you got the message from SPS that said: The timing of the state assessment score reports has changed from June to September. SPS went on to say: Due to unanticipated delays at the state level, the district will now send score reports home in September.  September is the typical timing for state assessment score reports, but the district this year had initially anticipated they would be ready earlier. That "earlier" was never June so why they said that I don't know.  How do I know it was never June? I asked OPSI.

Someone at OSPI has a sense of humor.  Their press release is called, "State Test Scores in a Waiverless World."  Seattle's Test scores   I have to say that those 10th grade scores are looking pretty good for reading and writing: Reading: 81.2%, Writing 84.5% Math and Science EOC - looks they are holding steady at about 61-64%, not great. From the press release:

Also next week on Tuesday, October 29th  at Kane Hall on the UW campus at 7:00 pm- 9 pm Accountability at a Crossroads: Using Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teacher Effectiveness A panel of leading educators at the forefront of testing and teacher evaluation will share their differing perspectives on the questions: Is this a sound/effective policy?  What is to be achieved, if anything, in holding teachers accountable for their students’ test scores?  What tests should be used?  What’s ultimately at risk for the students, the teachers, the community? PANELISTS DR. JOE WILLHOFT – Executive Director, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium* JUSTIN FOX-BAILEY – Teacher, Snohomish School District; Member, WEA Executive Committee CHRIS KORSMO – Executive Director, League of Education Voters MICHAELA MILLER – Director, State Policy and Outreach, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Moderator - Brian Jeffries, State Assessment Program Directo...

No time to do a complete write-up to several major items of note: It appears that some changing are coming to EOCs for algebra and geometry .  It looks like there will be some sort of comprehensive exam coming in the next four years.  Michael Tolley reported this as coming from OSPI and that he had had a meeting with high school principals.  Most seem on-board but a few felt there was too much testing and would only want to give it to students who hadn't passed a class. A lot of talk around the agenda for working with the State Legislature this session .  Director Peaslee asked for a clear document around the costs of services to students, where WA State ranks nationally for per student funding, and class size.  She said there seems to be a disconnect between the realities in the district and what the Seattle delegation understands.  She said a few of them seem to think the new money makes up for all the cuts and it does not.  Cliff Traisman, the ...