Seattle Schools Community Forum

The stars aligned last night and Charlie and I were once again in the same place - the CPPS event on parent engagement at Lincoln High.  This event was great because there was evidence that the work CPPS is doing around parent engagement is reaching the right people. Also, I feel this may be a signal or a golden moment for parents to seize upon; this based on what the Superintendent had to say about parent input AND the CPPS idea of "training" parents to be advocates for their child.   I only wish this wasn't coming at the end of the school year when people are starting to dial back. Credit goes to all the CPPS staff but especially Stephanie Jones .

Not much happening this week in SPS meetings but many education events this month.

A group is organizing a forum on parent perspectives about standardized testing .  They are looking for a couple of people (teachers and parents) who support standardized testing in SPS, namely MAP and HSPE.  They are looking for authentic dialog on this important issue.  What benefits have you seen for your child?  How has it guided your thinking as a parent in how your child is doing in school?  Happy about the feedback from your child's teacher? If you might be interested in being part of a panel that is supportive of the testing currently offered (thanks but they have plenty of the other side of the coin), please contact Chris Stewart, (stewcc@hotmail.com). Also, if you have opted your child out of testing, that would be an interesting experience to share as well.  (I did opt my sons out of most of the WASL but that is years back now.)

I recently read a book I had meaning to get to for a long time. It is by a current 5th grade elementary school teacher named Rafe Equith who teaches in a L.A. school that is the second-largest elementary in the U.S. The book is Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire . Mr. Esquith has taught for 24 years. I had been a little suspicious that this was a charter school but no, it's a regular (albeit year-round) school in L.A. Here's a link to the school website and to Mr. Esquith's website . Jay Mathews of the Washington Post wrote about him and here's what he said: "I think he is the most effective, energetic and creative working classroom teacher in the country. Other great teachers have come close to his level and won some of the same awards. But they have left their classrooms to write books that become movies, or testify before Congress, or teach at better-paying universities or start new school organizations." Mr. Mathews explains it better than I could so...