Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Open thread

Start times, overcrowding, and BEX IV, oh my! What's on your mind, APP parents?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably a silly question, but any updates on how development of the APP curriculum is coming along?

Anonymous said...

To Anon at 10:49PM
Thank you for your question, you made me smile!!!

realist said...

The promise of an aligned, written, taught and tested curriculum for APP was an empty promise made so the APP community would accept the completely pointless and irrational split of the program. The District never had any intention of fulfilling that promise; it was a political tool. The fact that we even remember it only shows how effectively it deceived us.

1st Grade Parent said...

Are the teachers at the school interested in pursuing this? Do they have persmission to do so without explicit SPS backing? Can we as parents help provide the resources to do so?

Anonymous said...

Doesn't it seem absurd to even ask that (can parents provide resources)? Isn't this why we have an Advanced Learning department?

Anonymous said...

Last night the SPS Board approved the "revamped" bus schedule which did not move the MS/HS start times earlier. However, they did say they would move some of the elementary school start times back. Does anyone have any specifics on which schools? Will TM and L@L move even later than 9:30? Did the board express that no school should start after 9:30?

Steve said...

Does anyone have a copy of the outside "APP Review" document that came out in Spring 2007? This is the one that is often referred to as making a bunch of recommendations that the district never followed (it is referenced by "realist" in this thread). I've tried to find it on the SPS site, but can only find references to it in the Appendices of the Strategic Plan. If someone has it, could you post a link? I've never read it, and I'd like to.

Greg Linden said...

Steve, pretty sure this is it?

"Evaluation Report: Accelerated Progress Program," Callahan et al., August 2007

Steve said...

That's the one! Thank you Greg...

Charlie Mas said...

Gregory King has been hired as a principal in Detroit.

Detroit News

Anonymous said...

At a parent meeting at Hamilton last fall following the canning of a rogue LA/SS sub, Dr. Vaughn assured us that the APP curriculum, long overdue, would be done by 2012. Still waiting, Bob.
--nolongerasking

Anonymous said...

Am I correct in understanding that my K child's spring MAP scores (she's taking them this week) are the ones that will determine her eligibility to take the CoGAT next fall? Is 95% the threshold to take the Cogat if she's already Spectrum-qualified? Or is it just 85 for everyone?
Thanks!
-A

Maureen said...

For IBx families: Ingraham Head Counselor, Carrie Richard, got notice that she is being RIFed. It is likely that she would have to leave IHS, but be hired at a different school by the end of the summer. The IB program, in particular, has so many complicated requirements, it is crazy to think that any counselor could just walk in and get up to speed on it right away and it's a waste of Ms. Richards knowledge and skills to move her to some other school. "Friends of Ingraham High School" has a Facebook page where they are organizing an effort to lobby SPS to keep her at IHS. Please write to the Board and Superintendent and encourage others you know to do the same. Check the Facebook page for more info.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how MAP scores are used for teacher assessment? For example, do they look at average growth per student over the course of the year for kids in a teacher's class? Do they look at prior year scores at all, to see if scores dropped? For middle school, do they use certain scores for certain teachers, based on subject? Do they compare the trajectory of students of one teacher to that of another teaching a similar cohort of kids and teaching the same curriculum/ classes?

There's been a lot of talk of weak teachers (e.g., HIMS APP math and LA/SS), but the sense is that since APP kids score high already, the teachers will automatically look good. If a teacher were to negatively influence learning (e.g., by teaching things that are incorrect), would MAP score analysis be able to identify some of this? Or are APP kids already scoring so high on MAP tests that the test really can't detect such subtle changes? And if that's true, than how can it be used as evidence a teacher is good?

Data Curious

NESeattleMom said...

Fantastic arts night tonight at Lowell. It was fun to hear and see the wide variety of performances, ages and experience levels.

Greg Linden said...

Totally different topic, but I wanted to mention that the new (and free) Udacity physics class looks fantastic for kids if you're looking for something like this for over the summer. Check out the syllabus and the intro video:

Udacity - Intro to Physics (PH100)
This unique class gives you the chance to see the sites where physics history was made and learn some of the subject's most captivating concepts. This course is suitable for anyone; a basic understanding of algebra is suggested.