Seattle Schools Community Forum

As requested, an open thread to talk about any and all high school curriculum issues. I can start off by saying I do not understand this opt-out testing for Physical Science that is only for Ballard students.  Why?  Also, one of our Ballard High science teacher readers, India Carlson, told DeBell at his last community meeting that the test created is extremely difficult (so it would seem that few Ballard kids would pass it anyway). Other suggested topics: science math language arts electives foreign language oc-ed uneven teaching quality (I found this more apparent in high school than any other level; this was at both Roosevelt and Hale.) counselors

From headquarters, Dr. Enfield has requested that the TIF consultant contract be moved to the May 4th Board meeting. Smart girl.  Better for the Board (to do due diligence and oversight), better for staff (to be able to coherently explain it to the Board and the public) and better for the public who barely had 2 days to read and think about it.  

Over at the Stranger Slog , they have an area called Questionland where they pick a topic, get some experts and then you can ask away.  April 13th the expert will be none other than Susan Enfield.  They take questions beforehand so get your questions in soon. 

I received notice that the TIF contract is now available for viewing (and is attached to the Board agenda item). In the motion itself there is some interesting wording like: The ultimate outcome of TIF will be a dramatic improvement in student achievement. Specifically, SPS expects that over the next five years the district will see a reduction in the percentage of schools in the lowest two segments on our quantitative performance framework from 40% to 25%. I like action wording but saying improvement will be dramatic seems pretty bold. Is that a guarantee because it sounds like it. Exhibit A, Scope of Service, Background is interesting in that it is a lot of what the district ends up getting and not what students get.  To whit, TIF " will position SPS as a strong regional model of how performance-based compensation systems can support teacher and principal professional growth and, in the process, improve student learning outcomes. " Note how improving student outcom...

First up are two pieces of good news from the northwest corner of the district. My Ballard reports that a Salmon Bay student, Leo Pfeifer, won recognition by C-SPAN for his documentary, "Homelessness: An American Crisis."  He is one of 30 students to be recognized out of 1,100 entries and won 1 of 4 second prizes ($1500, not shabby).   On Friday, he and his cameraman, Ian Derby,  will be honored at an assembly at Salmon Bay and presented with a check.  From the district's website, Ballard High band director, Michael James, was selected as one of five directors from around the country to receive a full scholarship to the Lincoln Center's Band Director Academy.  He was chosen based on the quality of recordings submitted to the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival.  More jazz band honors for SPS. Also, Bryant and Thurgood Marshall won the City Finals in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge .  They advance to the Video Conference final with Canada...

A group called Great Schools for America (GSA) is joining with Parents Across America (PAA) to protest the hiring of TFA corps members into teaching jobs at Seattle public schools. See this post on the Daily Kos.

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