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Issues brief - 10/17/09
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- School Board Comes to Its Senses
Sara Kiesler is reporting at SeattlePI.Com that the Seattle School Board will not lower education standards
After Seattle School Board members received dozens of complaints from parents and students, the "D" average will be dropped from Wednesday's vote to update grading policy and procedure changes. School Board member Harium Martin-Morris is proposing an amendment that will continue with the current "C" average, or 2.0 graduation requirement, "with some refinements."
School Board President Michael DeBell and board members Sherry Carr and Peter Maier also support the proposal. That gives the proposal the backing of a majority on the board.
If a student has less than a 2.0 cumulative GPA overall, Martin-Morris said, the district would look at the core classes such as language arts, math, science and social studies and allow them to graduate if those classes add up to a 2.0. "Is a 'D' acceptable? No, it shouldn't be acceptable anyhow," said Martin-Morris. "This is reasonable, for right now."
At an Oct. 7 meeting, about 20 speakers, both parents and students, slammed the district for considering a "D" average good enough to earn a high school diploma. The board then decide to postpone a vote on the proposal until Oct. 21.
Devante Glass, a senior at Garfield High School, said he went from passing only one class freshman year to a 3.5 GPA, and that a 1.0 offered as much value as dropping out.
"I've been told there's nothing to do in this country without an education," he said. "Free education is being taken for granted, and if you lower it (the graduation requirement), more people will take it for granted."
Obviously, this decision is the correct choice and I discuss it at Issues Brief - 10/6/09 The Children shall lead them as Devante Glass, mentioned in the article, shows more insight than the board member who proposed this change. If students were products, the board wants to turn out defective products and expect them to work. Education is a partnership between the student, parents or guardians, teacher(s), and school. The problem is some children do not have family support or just plain have idiots as parents. Strategies have to be developed to intervene early in the lives of kids to provide extra support for children at risk. Simply passing them along and then out of the school system is not an acceptable strategy. At the core of this discussion is money. It always seems to boil down to money, doesn’t it? It is expensive to provide remedial education for children who have not learned the basics earlier in the education career. As a society, we need to support early childhood learning. It is the most cost effective thing that we can do both in terms of human costs and dollar cost.
- Teacher Compensation
Debra Viadero has an interesting article in Education Week about teacher compensation and a new book, which looks at teacher compensation.
Susan Moore Johnson and John P. Papay make that case in Redesigning Teacher Pay, being published this month by the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented Washington think tank. Ms. Johnson and Mr. Papay trace the origins of teacher merit-pay programs to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and offer a new model that builds on the successes and failures of past efforts.
“I really think we have to rethink the current salary schedule and not add to it little pieces of incentives that will direct teachers in the wrong way,” said Ms. Johnson, a professor of teaching and learning and the director of Harvard’s Project on the Next Generation of Teachers. Mr. Papay is an advanced doctoral student and a research assistant on that project.
The book, which was presented at a conference last week at the institute, has already drawn some favorable responses, including one from the American Federation of Teachers, which often looks cautiously on such efforts. In a press release, AFT President Randi Weingarten said the book “takes serious steps toward not just demonstrating what is wrong with current teacher-compensation systems but also offering good, solid ideas on how to fix it.”
There should be a way to recognize and compensate those teachers who produce educational achievement in their population of kids.
- Study About Teacher Quality in Seattle Schools
Linda Shaw is reporting in the Seattle Times about an Alliance for Education study of teacher quality in Seattle.
An independent study of teacher quality in Seattle Public Schools concludes that some district and state policies hamper efforts to put a good teacher in every classroom.
The way teachers are evaluated, for example, means that just 16 of Seattle's nearly 3,500 teachers received an unsatisfactory rating last year.
The nonprofit National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and advocacy group that conducted the study, also noted that Seattle elementary-school teachers are required to be at school only seven hours a day — 30 minutes less than their colleagues in middle and high schools, and 30 minutes less than the national average.
Among the council's dozens of recommendations is that Seattle Public Schools immediately lengthen the workday of elementary teachers and that the state shorten the amount of time teachers can be on probation.
Seattle's Alliance for Education requested the $14,000 study, which was funded by the Philanthropic Partnership for Public Education, a group of 13 organizations that support Seattle Public Schools, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Seattle Foundation, Microsoft and the Boeing Company. The report focused solely on policies that affect teacher quality, such as how teachers are hired, paid, assigned, trained and evaluated.
One bright spot in the findings is that more than half of Seattle's teachers graduated from colleges ranked selective or better by U.S. News & World Report — much higher than the national average.
But the report found many more areas of concern — and makes a number of controversial recommendations, such as basing part of teachers' pay on how their students perform, and finding the money to do that by stopping the practice of giving raises when teachers earn higher degrees or a certain number of college credits.
The article links to the study.
- Math Test Results
The Seattle Times reprints an AP story by Libby Quaid, which outlines some issues with math education along with math test results
New math scores show fourth-graders made no gains since 2007, the first time in two decades they have failed to improve. Eighth-graders advanced for yet another year.
Education officials called the results troubling, even though it is impossible to know from one test whether progress over the long term has stalled.
"We're clearly not requiring enough of our math teachers," said David Driscoll, chairman of the board that oversees the tests and a former education commissioner in Massachusetts.
Teachers lack training even in his state, which posted the highest scores in math. When Massachusetts beefed up the math portion of the elementary teacher test in 2007, 55 percent of teachers failed, he said.
And yet teachers are crucial to learning. Driscoll noted that eighth graders whose teachers majored in math scored 9 points higher than other kids on this year's test.
The results are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, a series of federally funded achievement tests often referred to as the nation's report card.
Makes you wonder if the school board made the right decision in adopting the new math curriculum?
- When Did Common Sense Leave the Building?
Ian Urbina reports in The New York Times about a six year old who was suspended
School officials in Newark, Del., said Tuesday that they would revise the district’s code of conduct to exempt kindergarteners and first graders from some of its automatic and harsher punishments. The decision came after a first grader, Zachary Christie, 6, was suspended and ordered to the district’s alternative school for troubled youth because he took to school a camping utensil that included a small fold-out knife.
School district officials also said they would reinstate Zachary to his school and remove the suspension from his record. And they asked his mother to review and possibly help rewrite the conduct code.
The utensil that Zachary took to school was considered a “dangerous instrument” under the zero-tolerance policy of the district, the Christina School District, and officials had said they were forced to act, regardless of Zachary’s age or intent.
The case prompted an angry reaction from parents because several other students hade been expelled or suspended in the past several years for similar offenses, including an elementary school student who was expelled for a year after she took a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The school board passed an amendment creating a separate category of rules for students in kindergarten and first grade.
If these students engage in what is known as a Level III offense for the first time, they will now face three to five days out-of-school suspension and referral to school-based counseling, rather than being sent to the local reform school, as is now the case.
Level III offenses include possession of a “dangerous instrument,” including knives under three inches in length, and more serious offenses like assault, arson or drug possession.
Some school board members said the amendment did not go far enough in revising the code.
“We are doing this because we got egg on our face, but it doesn’t address the underlying issues with zero-tolerance rules,” said John M. Young, who opposed the original decision to send Zachary to the district’s reform program. “What if next time the case involves a second grader? That student will run into the same exact problems that Zachary did.”
Mr. Young said he believed the school board should immediately reverse the decision concerning Zachary’s punishment and apologize to his family. It should then begin redrafting the entire code of conduct so it gives school officials more discretion, he said.
Zachary’s mother, Debbie Christie, agreed.
This case and others like it point out the difficulties in administering “zero tolerance” policies, which are often enforced by people with zero common sense. There does not seem to any history of behavior problems with this child or parents who have demonstrated a lack of care. Here is a radical thought, have a meeting with the parents and explain the issue with the implement and items that could be used as weapons. If there are no further problems, call it good. If there are future problems, then intervene. Policies are often written to cover the lowest common denominator and then made applicable in all situations whether the policy is relevant or not.
- Ralph Lauren is an Idiot
I really like Ralph Lauren clothes almost as much as I like Jimmy Choo shoes, so it pains me to call Ralph an idiot, but that is what he is. First, they digitally alter the image of a model to make her appear skeletal, a step beyond anorexic. Now, the pin head has fired her for being too fat.
A former Ralph Lauren model whose image in a roundly criticized advertisement was digitally slenderized said Wednesday that the apparel maker did not renew her contract because she was "too large."
Polo Ralph Lauren is contending it dismissed Filippa Hamilton because of a contract dispute and that the photo was mistakenly released.
"They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," Hamilton, 23, who had worked for the company since she was 15, told the New York Daily News.
The company acknowledged the image of Hamilton that appeared last week in a Tokyo mall had been digitally altered. She went public after the photo surfaced.
This is a terrible message to be sending to girls and women of all ages. Beautiful people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. People can be beautiful at the correct weight for them and your body will give you hints as to what that weight is. If you have to starve yourself or regurgitate food, you have a problem and are probably not at your correct weight for you. I have a couple of posts about body image and anorexia at Children's Issues Brief - 10/2/09 and Issues Brief - 10/11/09 Ralph Lauren is an idiot and people should let him know that.
Alerts
- Superintendent’s ENews for 10/14/09
The new assignment plan is the subject of the Superintendent’s Enews.
A summary of comments received to date can be viewed on the Comment section of our New Student Assignment Web Page. Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have also been updated to include more clarification where needed. We will continue to update the comment summary and the FAQs as our engagement on the proposed maps continues. Once we have heard from communities throughout the city, we will begin the process of making needed revisions to the proposed maps. These maps will be presented as recommendations at a School Board workshop on November 3.
There are many ways to comment on the proposed boundaries, including community meetings, e-mail, and postal mail. You can also give testimony at public meetings and hearings; to learn how to sign up to testify, please click here. To take a survey and submit your comments, please click here.
Thank you for all you do to support each student's success.
- Thrive by Five has a Series on Creativity
Thrive by Five will do a series of programs about creativity, which will air on KING and KONG.
Our series this month kicks off with an interview with Linda Hartzell, artistic director of Seattle Children's Theatre, who will talk about the importance of nurturing children's creativity and how to do it. Two children's museums will help us look at how children's creativity at different ages and developmental stages, and Discovery Park's Nature Kids Preschool will show how children imagine sticks as dragons and let their imagination run wild when playing out in nature without traditional toys. We'll wrap up the week with a segment on how to use common household items (or easy to find materials) to get creative with kids.
Schedule for the week:
· Monday: Why is creativity important and what do babies, toddlers and preschoolers learn when they're allowed to let their imagination run wild?
· Tuesday: Sparking the Creativity of Babies and Toddlers
· Wednesday: Getting Creative With Nature
· Thursday: Creativity from Preschool to School
· Friday: Get Creative with Your Kids!
Learning for Life is a week-long news series on KING 5 TV created in partnership with Thrive by Five Washington. It airs on KING Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
Links to all Learning for Life segments can be found on Thrive's Web site.
The Thrive by Five site is here
- A Dance Literacy Club
The Seattle Times is reporting that Spectrum Dance Theater has formed a dance literacy club
Here's how it works: Spectrum sends out information on upcoming dance performances, with directions on ticket purchase. After each performance, club members discuss what they just saw. The week after the last performance, Spectrum hosts a round-table discussion about the whole series.
This fall's itinerary: Spectrum Dance Theater on Saturday, Chamber Dance Company on Oct. 24, Diana Szeinblum at On the Boards on Nov. 7 and Seattle Dance Project on Nov. 14. To join, e-mail Spectrum at club@spectrumdance.org or call 206-325-4161. More information on times and venues: www.spectrumdance.org/company/featured-24.php.
Spectrum was involved in the choreography of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the 5th Avenue Theater.
- California Goes to the Dogs
Don’t blame the dogs, it is their humans. The LA Times has a story with picture of two Huntington Beach pugs in couture clothing
Olive and Mochi are pugs with a passion for fashion. No wonder Halloween is their favorite time of year.
They've been dressed up as geisha girls, surfer girls and even pieces of sushi over the years. They may not understand the tradition, but "pugs understand positive energy," explains dog owner, partner and costume designer Lisa Woodruff of Huntington Beach.
Ten years ago, it was hard to find a Halloween costume for a cat, dog or duck. Today they are everywhere, from the dollar stores to Beverly Hills boutiques. Online or off, there are costumes galore.
A little bling or properly draped scrap of fabric can transform your pet into almost any animal, character or celebrity, says Steve Major of All the Same Wild and Tame, an animal sanctuary that sells pet accessories in Sherman Oaks.
The most popular ready-made pet costumes this year are Superdog, bee, jockey rider, hot dog, pirate, devil, prisoner, Yoda, cowboy rider, Batman and groom, according to public relations manager Lori Samsoucie of Wisconsin-based buyseasons.com, the largest online costume retailer in the country.
California has gone to the dogs, but it proves one thing, you can wear couture clothing and be well fed.
Dr. Wilda says this about that ©
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