Monday, August 1, 2016

August '16 Open Thread

As hard as it is to believe, the new school year is starting to creep up on us. If anyone has any info on school supplies lists/get togethers etc. they want to share please either post it here or forward it to me.

I'm going to put a plug out for Shakspeare in the Park: http://greenstage.org/shakespeare-in-the-park/
The productions are one of my favorite parts of summer and a fun way to introduce kids to Shakespeare.

I'm also getting close to trying out the new commenting system. See: http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/07/july-open-thread.html. I'd still like more folks to give it a try and provide feedback before I move to a more extensive roll out.


WAC changes

I made an inquiry and heard back from OSPI

"While there is a requirement for federally-funded programs (such as Title I) to provide services to approved private schools, there is no such requirement for Highly Capable Programs.   RCW 28A.150.220, Basic Education, speaks to what districts are to provide for "students enrolled in grades one through twelve..."  

Some districts choose to include private and homeschooled students in their identification process.  However, students not enrolled in the district do not generate Highly Capable apportionment.  The district's responsibility under Basic Education is to provide for enrolled students."

But Status Quo remains for Seattle

"We have always tested non-enrolled residents of Seattle during our annual identification process. Since they are not covered under the HCP grant funds, we charge $140 to help defray some of the costs of identifying such students."

Math For Love

I just received the summer newsletter from Math For Love.  Two items seemed of interest.

  • Math for Love Sunday classes start October 2. Sign up here!
  • Math in Seattle: Evelyn Lamb on Visualizing Hyperbolic Geometry5pmAugust 22 at the UW.


What's on your minds?

29 comments:

AnonMom said...

Cascadia has a straight $45 donation in place of shopping for each grade. Scholarships available: http://seattlenorthapp.org/2016/08/01/school-supplies-for-2016-17/

Anonymous said...

Wondering if anyone knows where to access meeting minutes from EagleStaff planning meetings? Anyone have any information to share? We saw the boundaries online but are still not certain of the school boundaries for the HCC program. If that means our son will be transferred out of HIMS into Eaglestaff (we live in NW) for 8th grade or grandfathered. Anyone know when that will be decided or clarified? Fall 2016 or Spring 2017?
-HCC dad

Anonymous said...

Did TM get their HCC social studies waiver?

Reader

Lynn said...

There's something new on OSPI's Highly Capable home page. I hadn't seen this sentence before: To be eligible for identification, students must be enrolled in a school district.

I don't recall seeing anything in the WAC or the RCW that would support this. If it's true, maybe the testing process will be less of a burden in the future.

Lynn said...

Here's something else I found on the OSPI website: a publication titled Preventing Discrimination in Washington Public Schools. The section on Counseling and Guidance Services includes this question and answer:

5. May school districts assign students to classes or instructional groups based on ability grouping?
Yes. School districts may assign students based on ability if the criteria used by school districts to assign students are not discriminatory, and provides the opportunity for students to progress from one ability group to another. Ability grouping is the assignment of students to classes or instructional groups based on a student’s level of ability or achievement. Ability grouping sometimes results in courses with substantially disproportionate enrollments of students based on sex, race, national origin, or disability. School districts have a responsibility to ensure that they do not use practices that result in discrimination. If ability grouping results in classes with substantially disproportionate enrollments of students based on sex, race, national origin, or disability, school districts must demonstrate that there is a valid educational justification for their ability grouping practices. Failure to demonstrate a valid educational justification may constitute discrimination.


This seems to rebut the frequently expressed opinion that self-contained Spectrum classes were illegal.

Anonymous said...

To be eligible for identification, students must be enrolled in a school district.

Meaning that private school students cannot test for entry into SPS Highly Capable?


Lynn said...

I think that's what it means.

Anonymous said...

yeah i believe they have summer testing for new students right?

?

Anonymous said...

That can't be right. That would eliminate full time home-schooled students as well.

Lynn said...

Yes it would. I think it's an error - but have contacted OSPI to ask what it means and where the WAC requires it.

Anonymous said...

Private school students are still taxpayers - it's impossible to ban them from services because they are not enrolled in a school district. There must be some other meaning.

Anonymous said...

first of all al department has found all kinds of solutions to none problems in the past so i wonder how many kids not in a school district have applied for testing.

if this would help testing and only requires families to commit to a public school before testing then i think i would be for it.


nc

Anonymous said...

Spectrum did not allow flexible ability grouping and caused disproportionately impacted general education classes without justification (i.e. Spectrum students are not a protected class). It also caused issues with federal special education law since general education classes were clustered with students with IEPs.

Anonymous said...

It seems that the state is saying that's acceptable as long as students can be moved in or out of the classes as needed and there is an academic reason for grouping students by ability. There is no need for Spectrum students to be a protected class.

Anonymous said...

The fluidity of movement did not exist between Spectrum and general education, which means the district did not provide "the opportunity for students to progress from one ability group to another." Had it been a self-contained program for a protected class like HC or Sped, the lack of movement between them would have been exempted.

The clustering of Sped and ELL was likely a serious violation on the federal level.

Anonymous said...

"Likely." Let's worry about the district's many actual serious violations.

Anonymous said...

Hi all. My daughter is heading into 6th grade @ Hamilton and we're thinking about school supplies and we're wondering if we should buy her a new Land's End lunchbox like she had at Lincoln, or if there's something that's more "cool" for middle school than that. No sense embarrassing her based on her parents' choice on something like this! Thanks.

- Not Missing Middle School

Fremont Mama said...

The assignment/waitlist tool is back up on the SPS website. It now has assignments for this year and the year after. Both my kids are assigned to HCC at Hamilton for the 2017-18 school year. We live close to the school so this makes sense for us. I'm wondering if people living closer to Robert Eagle Staff have assignments there for 2017-18? Have the boundaries been finalized?

Susanne

Fremont Mama said...

Not Missing Middle School -

I just asked my daughter and she said no one really cares about lunch boxes and there is a wide variety.

Susanne

Lynn said...

From the Growth Boundaries FAQ page:

These attendance area boundary changes were part of the growth boundaries plan approved by the Seattle School Board in November 2013. That plan included implementation of new boundaries over time. The board will be briefed on the implementation plan for 2017-18 in October 2016.

http://sps.ss8.sharpschool.com/cms/one.aspx?pageId=17308

BallardMama said...

According to the assignment tool my child is assigned to HCC at Hamilton for both years.

We live near Salmon Bay Park, so our attendance area if we weren't in HCC would be Whitman. I can't tell from those maps where the HCC kids are supposed to go.

Maybe the assignment tool knows things that the maps don't? Or maybe I'm missing something when I try to read the maps?

Benjamin Leis said...

I sent an email to OSPI and posted the reply back on the bottom of the main post. According to the state there is only a requirement to test enrolled students. I've also sent an email to AL to see what the district's policy is going to be.

Anonymous said...

BallardMama-- We are also in the same position & live near you. The assignment tool says HIMS for next two years. However, last I heard from a public meeting with Flip (capacity) likely ALL HCC students currently at HIMS from Whitman service area will attend Eaglestaff. Enrollment projections in April 2017 will predict if any kids can be grandfathered for Fall 2017. I was told grandfathering at HIMS is unlikely as school is very much over capacity.
JT

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't look to the assignment tool for confirmation of assignments past the 2016-17 school year.

Anonymous said...

Eaglestaff is slated to be a comprehensive middle school according to Jon Halfaker. Jon Halfaker at an Eaglestaff meeting stated that "no one program (such as HCC for example) would predominate" at Eaglestaff. He also said they won't open Eaglestaff over capacity. I don't believe they have made final decisions yet (was told Spring 2017 so not much notice) on exactly everyone who will attend Eaglestaff. Of course count on Licton Springs K-8 and students within the new reference area of Eaglestaff (general ed & all other programs) to attend Eaglestaff.

Benjamin Leis said...

I am watching to see the outcome the C&I meeting tonight on the AL procedure changes and the release of last year's SBAC data for the state tomororow.

Lynn said...

Jill Geary posted something discouraging about this on her Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1719371928312172&id=1637735206475845&ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_comment_follow

Anonymous said...

2015-16 SBAC scores are now posted with OSPI's Washington State Report Card. Keep in mind the pass rates include opt outs as "no scores." Cascadia's 3rd grade math pass rate was 92.6%, including no scores, but 99.3% excluding no scores.

Anonymous said...

It looks like the 2015-16 test allowed for more spread at the higher score ranges. For the 2014-15 Gr8 ELA, the highest scale score was around 2775, but for the 2015-16 test, it was around 2875. For Gr8 math, the maximum scale score went from around 2800 up to around 3000. Much less of a ceiling effect.

Seattle Public Schools 2015-16 Gr8 Math scale scores