Seattle Schools Community Forum

Great article in the Times about two local brothers going to a math competition. I hadn't thought to post it (except as a feel-good piece) but for the last sentence. One of the brothers says he likes math competition questions better than in-class questions because they are more creative. Dorothy, our resident math expert, might be able to answer why math can't be taught more creatively if this is what gets kids going. Maybe I can track down some of the questions and see what he means.

This was a front page article in the NY Times this week about the use of laptops in school. I'm not really surprised. I think teachers either have too much on their plates to try to organize curriculum around using the Internet and kids can be very careless and/or more interested in fooling around on the computer rather than working. One student says it helps him take notes more quickly (his typing skills have improved) but that it didn't help him become a better student. I remember doing tours at Whittier years back and parents always said, "Do you have computers?" not realizing that (a) even if you do, most teachers are not going to rely on it and (2) the whole issue of maintenance and networking is a problem at many schools. (The article talks about the network going down at one school when they all get on-line at the same time.)

Chris Drape, the principal of The New School, wrote a thought-provoking letter to the Seattle Times' Danny Westneat in repsonse to recent pieces in that paper about race and Seattle Public Schools. ( School district's obsessed with race and Hundreds respond to race column ) The letter was posted on the CPPS Yahoo group and is republished here with Chris Drape's permission. Mr. Westneat- Your Sunday, April 1, commentary very effectively lays out the understanding/communication gap we have when we try to examine and talk deeply about race - though not necessarily in the ways you intend. I hear your, "I don't get it," and I agree with you. That's the point. When we don't get it, how do we as white people work on "getting it?" What I see in your column is what I all-too-often see in our Seattle white community - wanting to have the conversation take place on our terms - wanting to see solutions that work on our terms. The issues plaguing Madron...

Interesting op-ed in the Washington Post by Gerald Bracey (a writer and researcher at Arizona State University) about the use of National Assessment of Educational Progress (known as NAEP) for comparing American students to other students. From the article: "5. What indicators of achievement have been rejected by the Government Accountability Office; the National Academy of Sciences; the National Academy of Education; and the Center for Research on Evaluation, Student Standards and Testing? The NAEP achievement levels: basic, proficient and advanced." He goes on: "So why does the government continue to report such misleading information? The "Leaders and Laggards" report illustrates why: The numbers are useful as scare techniques. If you can batter people into believing the schools are in awful shape, you can make them anxious about their future -- and you can control them." Interesting. Maybe our kids aren't so bad off after all.

From the district: To all Seattle Public Schools employees, families, and community members: Seattle Public Schools is pleased to invite you to say “hello” to Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Incoming Superintendent. Date: Thursday, May 17, 2007 Time: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Place: John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 3 rd Avenue South, Seattle, 981 3 4 Join us as we begin her transition to Seattle. Dr. Goodloe-Johnson’s first official day on the job is Monday, July 9, 2007; but she is here for a visit on May 17.

I noticed a welcome change to the SPS website today. You can now find any Seattle Public Schools staff person by name, along with the associated contact information. As many of you know, it has been extremely frustrating to try to find contact information for district staffers when the only contact information listed was for departments. Also, when looking by department, you can now look for a school name (at least for high schools and middle schools), and get the associated name and contact information for the Middle or High School Director responsible for that school. New and revised contact pages include: Contact us by person Contact us It also looks like some org charts have been updated. Learning & Teaching Operations Division I think we have the new Communicators Director, Bridget Chandler, to thank for this change. The topic came up at one of the Community Conversations in February and she said she would work to make it happen. Perhaps this is a sign of organizational cultur...

There's a School Board Meeting tonight from 6-9 pm at the Stanford Center. The only action item on the agenda tonight is the BEX II: Garfield High School Change Order and Fund Transfer , authorizing more money for the Garfield reconstruction project. The public information presentation is by Lin Carlson on School Climate: Safe Schools and Bullying Prevention. Public testimony topics includes Garfield (Chris Jackins), principal placement at the African American Academy, elementary math curriculum adoption, and military recruitment.