Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Update: here's what's happening in the white-hot capital of ed reform pushback - Chicago - around testing.  Chicago is just one of many cities in many states caught in this muddle between existing state tests and the coming Common Core assessments.  Why take both?  Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett sent a letter to parents on Wednesday telling them why they should not have their child opt-out of the ISAT and the NWEA/MAP tests, the second time in less than two months she has issued such a letter. In a swift counter-move, parent groups that oppose high-stakes testing said the letters indicate that CPS leaders are worried about a growing resistance to standardized tests, with some parents saying their children spend too much class time on too many tests, with serious consequences tied to their outcome. For the first time, the level of participation in the NWEA/MAP is part of the district's rating system for schools, with schools penalized if participation falls be...

More stories on the hopeful side. From Scholastic , a story about the superintendent of what is considered the "best" public school district in the country.  That would be Mooresville Graded School District, outside of Charlotte, NC.  The article is called 10 Lessons From the Best District in the Country .  From the article: The district undertook a massive “21st Century Digital Conversion” in 2007. Students now frequently work in groups, and they use one of dozens of interactive learning platforms instead of textbooks. Rather than lecturing, teachers act as facilitators, circulating among groups or leading students in interactive lessons. Results of this transformation are off the charts—the graduation rate for African-American students was 95 percent in 2012, up from 67 percent five years earlier. The overall graduation rate is the third highest in the state, and 88 percent of 2012 graduates are attending college, compared with 74 percent in 2007. Mooresville has ac...

Just back from the well-attended press conference.  To note, educator Diane Ravitch has already blogged about this action and added her support. First up, the district response (partial):  Seattle Public Schools expects our teachers to administer all required tests, pursuant to our policies and procedures. Last fall, during an annual report to the Board on Nov. 28, it was agreed that the District would review the effectiveness of MAP testing. We look forward to hearing from our principals and teachers as part of that process. A report back to the Board is expected to be presented in the spring.   This response seems to indicate the district wants the teachers to continue giving the test BUT that MAP is going to be reviewed with a report to the Board by spring.  Good news.   We are now in the 5th year of MAP and it would seem a review would be in order. The press conference was held with at least 25 Garfield teachers and staff in atte...

I have no time to read and analyze these results but I put them up for your own viewing.  According to this article in the Times, Washington State students are doing better on the math and science exams. Math scores in grades 3-8 increased in every grade except eighth. But What hasn't improved is the number of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Preliminary figures show 1,388 Washington schools were on that list in 2011, an increase of about 200 schools from 2010. A total of 223 school districts — out of 295 in the state — failed to make adequate yearly progress in 2011. Here's the link to the scores at OSPI. I checked but there is no announcement yet from Seattle Schools about the scores for our district.