Seattle Schools Community Forum

Some sad news on two fronts. One item is this from Ravenna Next Door on Sunday: My daughter and her friends were playing at Bryant this morning when they texted me with concern about glass and jewelry, and "gun powder" on the playground. I walked over to see for myself and sure enough there were empty beer cans, stolen jewelry and a pile of white powder with a razor blade, etc. I called the police who came surprisingly quickly and confirmed the white substance was Meth. Ugh. They took it to the station for evidence but left the jewelry and glass suggesting that I call the parks to come and clean it up. A very surprising site to say the least. Still researching who to call for clean up. The second item is about a beloved staff member at Cascadia: Allen Greenberg, beloved recess monitor at Cascadia Elementary in Seattle, passed away unexpectedly.  Allen spent his life giving to others - always looking out for the less fortunate.  He often stopped by Solid ...

The Seattle Schools Assessment Steering Committee was assembled in spring of 2016 as part of the 2015-2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between Seattle Schools and the Seattle Education Association Certificated Non-Supervisory Employees. This is a Steering Committee composed entirely of District employees. Their meetings are not public. The committee delivered this recommendations report in June, 2016. Among the recommendations are For the District to give school a lot more support around the state proficiency tests To use the Smarter Balanced interim assessment this year and look for another interim assessment to use next year For the District to provide training on the use of interim assessments To replace the MAP as part of Advanced Learning eligibility and for primary students To purchase Pulse Learn K-2 as a formative assessment for K-2 students For the District to provide professional development with the new assessments For the District to provide guida...

To start, I'm not against using computers to aid in teaching and learning.  But there are huge costs and unknowns and because of the investment of time and finances for this endeavor, parents need to ask hard, hard questions about what this will look like for their child. I'm almost glad it took this long to get to Part Two because Data & Society put out a very good working paper about the topic: Personalized Learning: The Conversations We’re Not Having.  They start with this quote: The Promise of Personalized Learning “...if instead of having mass education as we now have, must have, with a curriculum, once we have outlets, computer outlets in every home, each of them hooked up to enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers...then you ask, and you can find out, and you can follow it up, and you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, in your own direction, in your own time, then everyone will enjoy learning. Nowada...

 Update 4/1: more than a dozen states are also having testing problems.  From KSL.com:

 An op-ed from school board members from the Orange County Register on Common Core and data mining: The California Department of Education last week informed school parents of a federal judge’s decision to release up to 10 million student records to a plaintiff’s attorney. The case, Morgan Hill Parents Association v. California Department of Education, could allow student records to be released that contain “names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers, as well as sensitive information on behavior, academic performance and health.” The future of this legal case remains unclear What is generally unknown by parents, and far more egregious than the data release requested in the Morgan Hill lawsuit, are similar data-mining requirements by federally and state-authorized Common Core programs. Parents want their children to learn academic material without the psychological conditioning, data mining, tracking and analyzing of behavioral patterns. These fed...

 Update: a Huffington Post column from the Vice-President for Advocacy for National PTA is not getting much support.  Read those comments; rank and file PTA does not seem to like National telling them what to do. It's getting to be testing time and BOY, are there a slew of states and groups and people worried that the opt-out movement will continue to grow. First, for great information on opting out, United Opt Out is a national group. There are two interesting developments on this front.

I have many public ed stories that have piled up on my computer so here goes.   (There won't be any charter school stories because there are so many of those, I'll be giving them a separate thread.  The news is not good.)

A couple of items to consider. Update 2: SPS teacher (and parent and activist) Jesse Hagopian's essay on why he is opting his 1st grader out of MAP testing.

I wanted to also update you on all the items discussed at the Curriculum&Instruction Committee meeting on Monday.  The agenda was jam-packed and Director McLaren did an admirable job keeping it moving.  Sadly, though, it meant truncated discussions.  (Note; this will not be inclusive of all items on the agenda.) Director Blanford, who is Chair of the committee, was absent so Director McLaren filled in with Director Peters also there as the third member of the committee.  I also noted that Rick Burke, Jill Geary and Leslie Harris, newly elected members of the Board, were also in attendance.

I have heard from parents that assessments have started for some elementary students.  But naturally, parents aren't being informed about this. Seattle Opt-Out. Here's a link to the K-8 assessments. Here's a link to the high school assessments. Some schools still use MAP (except in high school)and some will use Amplify.  One parent said she was told that Amplify was being used for "instructional differentiation."  From the Soup for Teachers page via Erin Kinsells Klones: MAP can potentially be administered three times a year: Sept. 21-Oct. 30, Jan 4-29 and May 9-June 10.  WaKIDS can also be administered, in buildings that have all-day state-funded K, Aug. 1-Oct. 29, Oct. 30-Feb. 14 and Feb. 15-July 31.  This information is available on the District website.  Now the tricky part, the part that concerns us greatly: parents may or may not be informed. Crazy, we know, but that is part of the work we're doing. School admin at your buildin...

From OSPI: H ow many states scored statistically higher than Washington?

I'm a little late in writing this up but here are the highlights of what is to be discussed at tonight's Board meeting . There is to be a presentation called, " Can Assessment Actually Improve Schools?" by one Rick Stiggins.  (There is no link to his presentation.) That's a ludiacious title because, of course assessments can help.  It's how many, the cost, the time and the actual assessments themselves that are at issue. But here are his seven principles of assessment and it's fascinating that he doesn't mention data once. Mr. Stiggins is - surprise - part of the Pearson Assessment Training Institute.   He also has his own website .  He's not here out of the goodness of his heart but I have no idea how much he is being paid. Speakers  The speakers list is full with 13 people on the waitlist.  Many of the speakers are addressing bell times and transportation and school staffing cuts.  One speaker stands out - Jane Broom who is the Director...

Great op-ed from the Washington Post from the 2015 Superintendent of the Year, Philip D. Lanoue,  as selected by the American Association of School Administrators.  He is the superintendent of the poorest county in Georgia.  As Clarke superintendent since 2009, he is credited with making more gains to close the achievement between economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students than any other district in the state. (highlights mine) Evaluating the total learning experience for either students or teachers through high stakes testing has no real research base and holds little value for students. Let’s not confuse the high-stakes testing movement with the practice of effective and meaningful assessment. I believe there is consensus among educators that conversations regarding school transformation must shift from problems and failure to solutions and successes. 

Time magazine has this new article : Thousands of kids opt out of standardized Common Core tests across the U.S. This “opt-out” movement remains scattered but is growing fast in some parts of the country. Some superintendents in New York are reporting that 60 percent or even 70 percent of their students are refusing to sit for the exams. Some lawmakers, sensing a tipping point, are backing the parents and teachers who complain about standardized testing. Considerable resistance also has been reported in Maine, New Mexico, Oregon and Pennsylvania, and more is likely as many states administer the tests in public schools for the first time this spring. In California, home to the nation’s largest public school system and Democratic political leaders who strongly endorse Common Core standards, there have been no reports of widespread protests to the exams — perhaps because state officials have decided not to hold schools accountable for the first year’s results.  Downsid...

Seattle Schools has now finished just one part of the state testing cycle.  According to the schedule at OPSI, the 3rd grade reading is done.  That leaves plenty more to do before the June 15th cutoff date.  (I'm thinking the district will be done a lot sooner than that.) CPPS and the Equity in Education Coalition are having an "informative community conversation on the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessments" on April 27th at the African American Museum.  It includes Eric Anderson, the head of assessment for SPS.  The panel also includes two people from OSPI, a teacher from Kent and someone from the Office of Education. But this appears to be by invitation only, sorry. The invitation ends by saying: We hope this will be an ongoing dialogue and the first of many community conversations on Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessments. It's great that CPPS and the Equity in Education Coalition are trying to create an o...

Reader N provided this news about Amplify's tablet division via Diane Ravitch's blog. Bloomberg News reports that Rupert Murdoch’s effort to cash in on education is “riddled with failures.”  “The education effort has been riddled with technology failures, fragile equipment, a disconnect between tablet marketers and content developers, and an underestimation of how difficult it would be to win market share from entrenched rivals such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. in the kindergarten to high school education market. “Amplify’s experience shows how even the most deep-pocketed new players find it challenging to change the way children are taught. Billionaires such as Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and real estate and insurance investor Eli Broad have expressed frustration their philanthropy hasn’t done more to improve student achievement. Murdoch is discovering his own challenges as he seeks to make a profit from overhauling education — as have other educat...

One reader sent along to me a response to her e-mail to Senator David Frockt over his vote on Senate bill 5748.  I'm printing it in its entirety below.  It is nuanced and carefully thought out.  I believe the Senator is probably speaking from a position of good faith in what he believes this bill to be.  Unfortunately, I do not share that trust/comfort that this bill is merely a way to get back the NCLB waiver.  If you read his letter, it seems like he thinks it does almost nothing and, of course, that makes no sense because no one created this bill just to do very little.  Perhaps it is just a foot in the door but it's kind of a Shaq foot in the door.  (I'm going to highlight relevant sections in red along with some comments.)

 From the Seattle Opt Out Group: Seattle Opt Out Group's next meeting, with two dynamic speakers, Jesse Hagopian and Fred Hamel. We will discuss high stakes testing, what is happening in Seattle, how to refuse the tests (and why), and much more. Everyone is welcome! March 12 (Thursday) Southwest Library 6pm-7:45pm event info (and more) our Facebook page

Sent March 5 Dear Principal Hudson and the Nathan Hale Senate: We, the undersigned teachers of Schmitz Park, join with the Nathan Hale Senate in its concerns over the validity, reliability, and equity of SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) including the questionable cut score strategy.  Like the Nathan Hale Senate, we are also concerned with the loss of instructional time devoted to this questionable test.  We stand with you in asserting a commitment to a judicious use of valid, reliable, and equitable assessments.  We urge parents to inform themselves about the tests their children are taking and the validity of those tests. Thank you for putting students first. Sincerely, (signed by the majority of teachers at Schmitz Park)

From the ever-clever, Arch Stanton: