Seattle Schools Community Forum

From OSPI, Randy Dorn on Education Reform: January 2012 - State Superintendent Randy Dorn is pleased that education reform will be front and center during the 2012 legislative session. Dorn believes – and hopes legislators agree – that discussions around education reform must be mindful of the Supreme Court’s January 6 ruling on McCleary v. State, which held that the state isn’t providing adequate funding for basic education. Here are Dorn’s positions on the major reform issues: Improve/remove. Teachers who are not successful ought to be given every opportunity to improve. If they cannot improve, superintendents need the flexibility to remove those teachers without employing current expensive and unwieldy legal procedures. The Superintendent’s request legislation would change a teacher’s tenured status to “provisional” (instead of “continuing”) if that teacher gets two consecutive “unsatisfactory” ratings. Charter schools. Charter school legislation has been voted do...

I concur with this effort on the part of the Washington State PTSA as this office helps people who have nowhere else to go as well as head off possible lawsuits that end up costing the state more money. From the WA State PTSA: Education Ombudsmen are trained problem-solvers who bring families and educators together to resolve conflict and disputes that otherwise drive kids out of school. As impartial third parties, they provide consultation, coaching, facilitation, and mediation. This is the first agency of its kind in the nation and it offers our K-12 schools innovative, cost-effective alternatives to costly lawsuits and administrative hearings. It promotes continual improvement while collecting data so it can advise all educators, families, students and other government agencies on which steps we need to take to keep kids in school . Most of their cases deal with special education or bullying and harassment. The Washington State PTA strongly supports this office. It is beneficial to...

OSPI announced its list of 2010 Washington Achievement Award winners . There are several Seattle schools on the list (a couple notable for being named in two places) but there aren't many. From OSPI: The Washington Achievement Award: Is awarded collaboratively with the State Board of Education (SBE) and based on the Washington Achievement Index. Celebrates schools for overall excellence and special recognition in: language arts, math, science, graduation rate, improvement and closing achievement gaps. Honors schools at an annual ceremony hosted by the SBE and OSPI. OSPI uses statewide assessment data from the past three years to make their selections. OSPI wants to recognize the efforts of schools and their families into making good schools happen. So what SPS schools are on the list? Overall Excellence Bryant* - Concord Int'l* - Coe - Hay* - Loyal Heights* - McGilvra* - Montlake* - Schmitz Park - Mercer* - Blaine K-8 Language Arts Nova Math Loyal Heights - Schmitz Park Sc...

Randy Dorn, our state Superintendent of Public Instruction wrote a guest column for the Times. You'll never believe it, but he argued in favor of fully funding public K-12 education.

(Update: spoke to OSPI. The survey is live only thru tomorrow (Thanksgiving). Apparently it was live for a couple of weeks but strange that Charlie or I didn't see it elsewhere sooner. Still waiting to see who wrote it and who paid for it. Apparently this is in response to RTTT.) Thanks to an alert reader, we bring you this story from the Seattle P-I which will lead you to a survey from the OSPI on Education Reform. Here is your chance to answer: Great idea or Greatest idea?

So I'm at the Work Session (got here late, terrible traffic even on 99). One thing that Charlie will appreciate is that SPS staffer Jessica de Barros was asked by Director Carr about the school reports that are to be approved tonight. Jessica said they were all done and on-line today at 11 o'clock. (Which is still too late if every Director wanted to check the schools in their district as Director Carr seemed to be trying to do last night.) I do not understand how staff can expect the Board to take a vote with information coming in so late. Charlie said he did a random check and they still aren't all there. The vote should be no.

Randy Dorn, the Superintendent for OSPI, was arrested for drunk driving early Sunday morning. He has not yet been charged by the Orting city prosecutor. Here's the article from the Times. After his arrest early Sunday for alleged drunken driving, Dorn said he hopes the public understands it's a private, legal matter that he can't yet discuss. But when he can — and if he's convicted — some say his political survival will depend a great deal on what he says, and how he says it. I honestly don't know how I would feel about a conviction. Is it possible he could go to jail, even briefly, for a guilty DUI verdict? What would this say to teens? Reactions? On Monday afternoon, Gov. Chris Gregoire called the arrest a "very unfortunate circumstance. "My heart goes out to him," she said, "and thank goodness, nothing happened." When asked whether it could imperil his ability to do his job, Gregoire said: "I leave that up to him....

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn, is recommending that the legislature delay, yet again, the "pass the math test" requirement for high school graduation. See this news story in the Seattle Times. The Times, in this editorial , complains that this delay "lowers the bar". Instead of delay, they write that " The Legislature must exchange Dorn's plan for one that does something for students. A better effort would include more experienced math teachers and up-to-date textbooks. After-school tutoring, summer school and other ways are needed to give students more lesson time. Science must be injected into core curricula with all the teacher training and other resources required to place science on par with reading, writing and arithmetic. " Ah, the idealism of the Seattle Times. It's refreshing, if naive. They are, of course, correct. But so what? The legislature is not going to pony up any money to pay for these proposals. So after...

So true to his word, the new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn, has done away with the WASL. There won't be one this year. Or will there? The tests have a new name, but one of them is unchanged, another is not new so much as an abridged version of the WASL, and really only the high school math tests - not yet available - are supposed to be really different. How are folks feeling about this? Is Randy Dorn keeping his commitment? Does he clearly intend to keep it but these things take time? Or is this all smoke and mirrors? For reference, check out this piece by SoulNerd in Publicola, this story in the Times, and this story in Crosscut.

In this story from the AP, Randy Dorn, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, says that he wants to delay math and science requirements for high school graduation. Dorn says that the current graduation requirement for high-school students to pass statewide math and science tests by 2013 is neither realistic or fair.

Newly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn, will be a guest on KUOW's The Conversation at 1 p.m. KUOW is at 94.9 RM.