Seattle Schools Community Forum

I just read the Teaching and Learning update from the Friday Memo for June 24, 2016  and it makes the District's problem with accountability perfectly clear. While these problems are examined in Advanced Learning, the truth is that these failures are repeated all across the district in every school, program, and classroom. The problem is that no one checks to confirm that the work is getting done.

Seattle Public Schools has a longstanding policy that requires annual evaluations for all academic programs. It's policy 2090 and the need for these evaluations is beyond question. Not only do annual program evaluations provide a critical check on the quality and efficacy of our academic programs, but they are an integral element of the performance evaluation of the program managers, they are a necessary element of the District's budgeting process, and they address the most fundamental question for district managers: are the various programs getting the job done. There's really only two things wrong with the policy: 1. Despite the policy, the District does not conduct any program evaluations and never has. 2. Do I really have to list a second thing? Let's just list that first thing again but with greater outrage and disbelief: Despite a policy that clearly requires annual evaluations of the efficacy of every academic program, and despite the critical and fundamen...

Aw, dude, you have GOT to start reading the Friday Memos . They are full of juicy, juicy tidbits. This week's edition is full of tap dancing lies and deceptions. It's wonderful.

There is a school board policy, 2090, titled "Program Evaluation & Assessment ". It is, of course, about program evaluation. I encourage you to read it - it's only one page long and written in fairly simple language. The policy requires an annual report. Here is the actual policy language: " The Superintendent shall prepare an annual report which reflects the degree to which district goals and objectives related to the instructional program have been accomplished. " Pretty straightforward - evaluate the instructional programs to determine if they are accomplishing their goals. Instructional programs include each school's general education program, each option school, language immersion programs, International Education programs, Special Education programs, Spectrum, APP, A.L.O.s, the Skills Center, bilingual education, Biligual Orientation Centers, and anything else that you could identify as an instructional program. Each year the staff puts tog...

The C & I meeting on Monday began with a change to the agenda. An update on Advanced Learning was added as an eighth discussion item.

Oh Boy! The Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee meeting this afternoon is going to be good! I'm going to be there for sure. Just check out this list of discussion items from the agenda : Committee Discussion Items a. BAR for Yearbook Contract (Shauna/Kathleen/Misa) b. Policy 3130, Student Assignment (Shauna/Ronald/Janet B.) c. Policy 2415, High School Graduation Requirement (Michael/Janet B.) d. Career and Technical Education Annual Report (Mary) e. BAR for RTTT Project 4 (Clover, Eric C., Anna) f. Equitable Access Annual Report (Michael/Misa) g. Math Adoption Progress Report (Shauna/Eric/Adam/Shawn) h. Policy 2090, Program Evaluation and Assessment (Marty/Shauna) Nevermind the yearbook contract (how is that even a C&I issue), nearly everything else is a hot topic - or could be.

A bit of an exciting week as the district welcomes two new Board members. Also FYI, the district is looking for members for its School Wellness Task Force . Seattle Public Schools is seeking members for a Task Force to review, revise, monitor, communicate and evaluate policies and procedures governing school food, competitive foods, nutrition education, physical education and physical activity. The Task Force will operate for an 18-month period, December 2013 to June 2015. To be considered for the School Wellness Task Force students, parents, family and community members should complete and submit a nomination form by Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 . The invitation letter , nomination forms , and a complete description of the committee are available online .   Tuesday, Dec. 3rd Oath of Office from 5-6 pm in the JSCEE Auditorium.  It is open to the public.  Sue Peters, Stephan Blanford and returning Director Betty Patu will be taking the oath.  There are ope...

My thinking about the proposed Highly Capable policy 2190 has evolved. At first I just wanted the Board to fix the obvious flaws in the policy. Clarify the "school-age" language and the language about "individual learning rates and styles", remove the superfluous second paragraph that isn't specific to highly capable students, and change the third paragraph so it requires the superintendent to submit a grant application rather than requiring the Board to approve it. Once fixed, the policy won't do any good, but at least it won't do any harm. Then I thought that this policy, even when fixed, will, in fact, do harm. It will create the illusion that the topic has been addressed and stall the action that really needs to be taken. I believed that the Board should reject the proposed policy until the proper process has been followed. The Board needs to first articulate a Vision for all of Advanced Learning before drafting any policy to implement it. Then the ...

Tonight's School Board meeting still has lots of speaker slots open. From yesterday's Work Session on Strategic Plan Guiding Principles , a draft document . It's a lot of the same stuff you'd find anywhere.  I'm not sure what specifics will come out of this document. Don't like/believe:   Strengthen family engagement through transparent communications and continue to build partnerships with city, business and community leaders that support student achievement.  Transparent?  As President DeBell has secret meetings (and I'd like to know if the other Board members know this) with Tim Burgess, I'm not sure about that transparency.  And, check out how they want to " strengthen family engagement "?  See that word "parents" anywhere?  That word is not used a single time in this document.  That's where you stand in the Strategic Planning.  Like: Implement an information and communication technology infrastructure and enviro...