Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Communications: "Students attending high school or middle school throughout the Puget Sound region are invited to get a taste of computer science and basic programming at Puget Sound App Day 2014, set for Friday, May 23 at Rainier Beach High School. Everyone is welcome to attend from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 23, regardless of prior computer science knowledge or experience, although registration is required. Since the event is being held on a school day, schools should follow their own district’s field-trip guidelines when registering their students. Sponsored by Seattle Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education, App Day is a programming event where students learn to create apps and games on their own devices – Windows phones, Androids, iPads, laptops or whatever they have brought with them. Rainier Beach High School computer science instructors, University of Washington computer science students, and engineers from the UW and Microsoft will circulate t...

Not sure that ROI (return on investment) is really the best way to look at what college/university you pick but for some degrees, it could make a difference.  The Atlantic has a comparison.  Look at where UW is. It's important to be clear about what this study is telling us and what it's not telling us. The fact that the most valuable colleges here seem so predictable is an interesting data point, because the predictably best colleges tend to get the best students. So what you're seeing here isn't just the quality of the school's education but also the quality of the students it attracts.  Indeed, that's one reason why it's important to not conflate "highest ROI" with "best" or "smartest."

So goes today's headline in the NY Times.  Although the United States no longer leads the world in educational attainment, record numbers of young Americans are completing high school, going to college and finishing college, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available census data.  The share of high school graduates in that age group, along with the share of those with some college, have also reached record levels. This year, 90 percent were high school graduates, up from 78 percent in 1971. And 63 percent have completed some college work, up from 34 percent in 1971.   Okay, do we have an educational crisis in this country?  Yes and no. We certainly are continuing to graduate students from our K-12 system in continuing to rise numbers.  More of them are going to college. But there are two issues for each level of public education. For K-12, it is the children who are dropping out or struggling mightily.  Tha...

In this batch of e-mails you start to sense some wariness on the part of UW (and I think they should be).  I think TFA is having these universities create these single-use alt certifications but will, in the end, create their own on-line teaching and cut out the middlemen.  If U-ACT still exists in 5 years, I'll be surprised.

Crosscut published an article I wrote about the new partnership between the UW's College of Education and Teach for America.

I have to thank so many of you for your input.   You don't know how many times someone either reaches out to me at my Save Seattle Schools e-mail (sss.westbrook@gmail.com) or writes something here that sticks in my brain.  It's like a phantom itch; it doesn't matter how much you scratch, you can't make it go away. So I think I have figured out (and some of you probably as well) why TFA is so damn sure they'll be putting their recruits into SPS.   That Wendy Kopp doesn't even try to demur should tell you something.  (Janis Ortega, the regional TFA director, does the same thing in her e-mails to the Dean of the UW's College of Education.   Funny, he never asks her why she's so sure.) They are sure because I would bet money that the district has a quiet agreement (beyond the contract) about TFA.  Here's how it will work: As many of you have point out, there are many schools (not just a couple) that the district projects as under-enrolled....

Let me take you on my UW/TFA journey for the last several months.

From the Stranger Slog comes news that UW has moved its in-state waitlist by 210 freshman students.  About 120 remain on the list while all other students currently on the list will be notified there isn't room for them in the 2011 autumn quarter. 

From the Seattle Times news about Garfield Athletics and a story about UW admissions.

From the Seattle Times, a story about a former Olympic rower, Portia McGee, who is helping students in three SPS middle schools learn how to row. It's the first year of the program which is a partnership with the George Pocock Rowing Foundation and the school district. It currently runs in 3 schools - Eckstein, Washington, and Aki Kurose - and is going to expand to 3 more next year with the program at nine middle schools by 2013. Not for me but a state legislator is sponsoring a bill to allow parents to teach drivers ed to their children under 18. This came as a surprise to me because I thought the main reason to take driver's ed is to perhaps receive lower insurance rates. Driver's ed is expensive so I can see why this could make a difference to parents (although the stress and the possible damage to your car are also off-putting). The Times has the details in this story. I think the Alliance for Education has a new look for its blog (I doubt they answer comme...