Seattle Schools Community Forum

Yet another stupid, yet potentially lethal, "no you do it" challenge is racing around the country.  It's called the Cinnamon Challenge and basically, it's swallowing a teaspoon of it without water.  (I recall this as trying to swallow a half-cup of flour in my day.) Now you think, "Cinnamon - how bad can it be?"  The issue is that cinnamon is a minor caustic that can burn mouth tissue and, worse, can cause breathing difficulties.  If a child has respiratory issues such as asthma, it could be life-threatening (as has been the issue in several cases throughout the country where children had to be put on ventilators.  It seems like you wouldn't have to tell a kid not to do this but I can see how they think cinnamon is sweet and delicious as it seems it is on a Cinnabon. Fantastic guest column in the Washington Post's The Answer Sheet by Ronald Willett, a former university professor, researcher and administrator and former corporate executive.  Th...

For the second time in a week, I have been dazzled by some great writing on education.  The Times has an op-ed by SPS high school teacher, Dan Magill, in response to the op-ed  by Brad Smith (whose piece was about needed ed reform).  He very plainly sets out the challenge and the goal: I would like to reframe the reality. There aren't two sides. There are four corners. And in the middle hangs the goal: a sober-minded, analytical, skilled population that seizes opportunities by the gray matter. Waiting in corner one, the students — a word I'll define shortly. Warming up in corner two, the good teachers. The bad teachers don't get a corner, partly because there aren't very many of them. Corner three features the employers — people who just want dependable, qualified employees. And in corner four, we have the reform crowd — ones who influence educational policy regardless of their qualifications for doing so. These are the "meddlers." I call t...

From the thread, Drawing Lines in the Sand , below is this heartfelt plea from a teacher.   I sometimes give these teacher thoughts their own thread, not so much for comments, but so we can all hear what it is like from the front lines.   (I have teased it out, line by line, to maximize the impact and realities of what teachers face.)  I have been teaching for 6 years. Last year and this year have been the toughest years of my short career by far. I have bigger classes, less support, and more district bull to deal with.  I spent countless hours last year battling badly designed alignment plans.  This year I have been told to raise my expectations to close the achievement gap as if I have not had high expectations for my students to begin with. As if raising my expectations more will make my students magically rise to that expectation. A mentality that conveniently disregards the need for boots on the ground support in schools. I ca...

A reader had asked Charlie about his plan to close the achievement gap.  He had replied that he has made suggestions in the past but that is the Superintendent's and Board's jobs to find a plan.  So far what we are doing is not working in any visible way.  I believe that the newly-constituted Board may have some new ideas. But this teacher also had some other thoughts and I applaud him/her for it because (1) in Finland, they have much more planning and collaboration time among teachers to great results, (2) I have been saying for a long time that no one experiences the kind of constant change at work that teachers do - it must be terribly frustrating and (3) more testing means teachers have less flexibility even as they may know students who may be rushed through curriculum. Maybe more planning time for teachers instead of the PLC, collaboration, team, staff and God knows what other meetings that we are required to attend. How about sustaining a curriculum beyond ...

From one reader about exiting poorly performing teachers: What is "the process" and how can parents provide support and documentation? How does a parent know if the process is underway? What timeframe does it involve? What constitutes a "bad" teacher according to the District?  All good questions.  I don't know the whole process.  It is likely detailed in the teachers' contract.  What I do know is that the first step is to go to the principal and ask.  He or she should be able to tell you what you, as a parent, need to do and what next steps are.  If he or she is unwilling to do so, document your outreach and go to the Executive Director (and, of course, cc the principal).   I believe the timeframe is at least 6 months to a year (unless there is gross negligence or abuse) because if the principal believes the action is warranted (again, is this based on the number of parent complaints?  I'm not sure), he has to sit down with the...

I attended a CityClub event, The Best Teachers for our Children, this afternoon at Town Hall (I was in that building twice in three days!). It was a panel discussion about what makes a good teacher.

Friday, September 30, 2011 Education Series: The Best Teachers for Our Children Town Hall - Downstairs | 1119 8th Avenue, Seattle Registration: 11:30 a.m. | Program: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Register online or call 206-682-7395 Featuring: Jesse Hagopian , Founding Member, Social Equality Educators; History Teacher, Garfield High School Erin Jones , Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement, Washington State OSPI Margit E. McGuire , PhD; Program Director, Master in Teaching Program; College of Education, Seattle University Tom Stritikus , Dean and Professor in Curriculum & Instruction, University of Washington College of Education Deborah Wilds , President and COO, College Success Foundation; Co-chair, High School to College Working Group, CCER Moderator: Phyllis Fletcher , Reporter, KUOW 94.9 FM Ensuring we have the best teachers for our children is a goal we all agree with, but what combination of traits, training, and evaluation ensures the best path forward? A...

One article is about the growing number of colleges and universities that are admitting students but not right away; the student has to wait for a semester or even a year.  The admission is gauged on the student going to another college or university and maintaining a certain GPA.

Danny Westneat's column in the Times this week certainly had a challenge to Bill Gates about class size. Bill, here's an experiment. You and I both have an 8-year-old. Let's take your school and double its class sizes, from 16 to 32. We'll use the extra money generated by that — a whopping $400,000 more per year per classroom — to halve the class sizes, from 32 to 16, at my public high school, Garfield. In 2020, when our kids are graduating, we'll compare what effect it all had. On student achievement. On teaching quality. On morale. Or that best thing of all, the "environment that promotes relationships between teachers and students." First, he explains how Lakeside, where Bill went to high school, thinks about class size: "Ask any alumnus what the best thing about Lakeside is," the school's brochure urges. "And they will likely mention an environment that promotes relationships between teachers and students through sma...

Lots of chatter out there in media-land. Seems everyone has an opinion on what should happen and what has happened. From the Seattle Weekly an interesting view from Michael DeBell: School Board vice-president Michael DeBell expressed it when he said of the superintendent: "I believe it's a good thing that she's departing at this time." DeBell, one of the board's more clearheaded members, was not talking about the need to hold Goodloe-Johnson accountable for the blatant financial misdeeds that happened on her watch. Rather he was referencing something arguably more important: the toxic relationship between the former superintendent and her teaching staff. In a series of no-confidence votes last year, teachers said loud and clear that they didn't like their boss. "I've talked to school-board directors around the country, and they all say that something like that is not sustainable," says DeBell. From the Times, an op-ed from Times...

State Senator Lisa Brown has introduced a bill that the Times labeled, " Older Teachers Would Get Help to Retire Early under Senate Measure ." From the article: Senate Bill 5846 would allow teachers who want to retire before age 65 to get $250 a month over the next three years to help pay for health-insurance coverage until they can qualify for Medicare. "Looming health-care costs for retiring teachers not only keep the highest paid teachers on the payroll who would otherwise exit the system, they create roadblocks for younger teachers eager to get their start in the classroom," Brown, D-Spokane, said in a statement. Health care costs for ALL older workers generally go up so why teachers? Brown said the measure is aimed at teachers within three years of retirement. She expects some, if not all, of the cost would be offset because the teachers leaving would be among the higher paid in the state due to their education and experience. A full analysis has...