The big news for the week and really the year as a whole is the pending announcement of the new superintendent.
HCSAC Meeeting
The April meeting of the Highly Capable Services Advisory Committee will take place tomorrow - Tuesday, Apri
Remaining meetings this year will take place:
May 1, JSCEE, Room 2700
June 5, Madison Middle School, Library
College Accceptance Success Stories
I just heard from a friend that some of this year's IHS seniors have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, Penn and MIT. Congratulations to all of these seniors.
[I'll add any other school/acceptance info that people post/send my way.]
Transportation Letter Snafu
If you've received a letter indicating your child was not eligible for bus service next year its probably in error and the transportation department will be sending out an update in the mail.
[I'll add any other school/acceptance info that people post/send my way.]
Transportation Letter Snafu
If you've received a letter indicating your child was not eligible for bus service next year its probably in error and the transportation department will be sending out an update in the mail.
What's on your minds?
27 comments:
Apologies if I missed this somewhere, did the 3 Sup candidates field any questions about HCC or how to best support a program that addresses differentiated ed on the HighCap end? With so many concerns for a superintendent in a district as vast and diverse as Seattle, I don't know if HCC is a first tier concern but I'd love to know where the candidates stand on it.
Nope. Even if such questions were submitted, they don't seem to have been put forward to the candidates during the public forums.
Jeanice Swift's Masters is in Gifted & Talented Education. I personally also think she is the most qualified in all areas. We will see who they choose though.
i was for juneau or swift. i am now juneau. swift would be far better than nyland/tolley - nyland should have at least gotten rid of the dead weight.
The Friday Memo to the Board (3/23) includes info on a new Advanced Learning Task Force, which will operate May 2018 - May 2019. Nominations for participants are due April 27.
When the final draft of the task force is posted I'll put a separate post up for it. In the meantime, I also added a small college acceptance section up on the top for fun.
@ Benjamin, might it be good to put up a separate thread about the task force now, while people can still apply and nominate? You could include a link to the document that lays out the charge and the application process.
The district rarely does a good job with outreach on this sort of thing, and it looks like the task force isn't likely to include all that many HCC parents as it is, so better to get the word and find as many good reps as possible.
The document says "at least 1/3" of the members--so maybe 7 or 8?--will be current SPS parents with kids in, or eligible for, HCC (or maybe AL, I don't recall). Considering the number of schools with HCC services, and the range of grade levels (elem, middle high), and the diversity of approaches (e.g., Honors For All, AP, IB/IBX), it's not likely that all perspectives or concerns will be represented. Plus, the inclusion of parents of eligible-but-not-participating students in that "parents" 1/3 of the task force membership means that the anti-cohort view will likely be elevated. We already know that many JSCEE staff and activist teachers are opposed to the cohort model, and added to the parents who chose to avoid the cohort, those in support will likely be overruled. Given the diversity of programs and schools with students who are in, or came through, the cohort, there should be more current parents on the task force. People should write to the Board and Supt to request that the "at least" part be honored, and that they move to more like 8 parents of HCC-enrolled students (since 3 elem sites, 4 MS sites, and 2 HS). Then they can add several who elected not to participate, helping provide that perspective.
I also hope the task force members try to get good information on the impact of various approaches on HC students--meaningful data, not just whether they continue to graduate and pass state tests at high rates, as that's too low a bar for tracking impact. Most studies of things like detracking don't look at the impact on HC students specifically, and given the unique needs of these students they are likely to experience different impacts than the general population.
The task force should also consider conducting multiple surveys of parents--and well-constructed surveys for a change, with better vetting of questions and pilot testing. A survey of parents who pulled their kids from HCC would be valuable. So would a survey of those eligible but not enrolling. And, of course, surveys of current families at all levels. The recent AL "survey" via ThoughExchange was way too murky and vague to provide useful data, especially since it conflated advanced learning and Advanced Learners, and it neglected the distinction between AL and HC. It was a mess, and we need better data.
DisAPP
Adding on to the college acceptances - IHS Seniors also accepted to the UW Honors Program, the US Naval Academy, Berkeley, USC, Vanderbilt, Tufts & Bowdoin.
Ram Fan
@ Ram Fan
Congrats to the Ingraham grads. Great news! For those who wonder if there is a difference with IB, Garfield, Roosevelt & Ballard HCC kids ALSO have been accepted into UW honors, Smith, Berkeley, etc and the very same selective universities. There is absolutely no preference given for IB over AP.
RHS mom
I meant the College info to be celebratory not competitive but if anyone has specific info on the the other high schools this year, I will also add that onto the top line.
Thanks @RHS Mom! I was adding on to Benjamin's comment in the Open Thread. My intent was to be celebratory, not to compare IB and AP. My child is at IHS so that's my frame of reference. It's great to see these young women and men on the cusp of launching. Congratulations to all graduating seniors - you should be proud of your accomplishments!
Ram Fan
Hi Benjamin
Where graduating seniors were accepted and will be attending next year is not collected or reported (at Ingraham or any other high school) until the end of the school year. If you heard any rumors, they are rumors, and the school or counselors are not aware. Schools do have data on the previous school year and can share a sampling of schools where students are attending.
HS parent
If anyone is interested, schools have 2017 college plan data and from previous years. My child graduated last year. I actually have a raw data list from last year from Ingraham and none of the schools listed are on the list beside one student who reported Standford. So if a few students have been accepted this year to more selective schools, including the Ivies listed, that would be big news! Staff had mentioned last year that a majority who graduate Ingraham plan to attend UW and in-state schools.
I'd love to see any data about where SPS kids end up in college. If appropriate to post here, please add that.
You can contact the school counselors directly and they have data on where students reported from 2017 and past years. I have a list from Ingraham, but it is raw data (each student's response!) so is too long to post. When we were initially comparing high schools, Garfield, Ingraham & Ballard had kids going to all the same colleges. There did not seem to be any differences at least in recent years. I suspect same for Roosevelt as well.
Ballard Math teacher pushes for elimination of Discovery Math. I hope they listen to him. Ballard students scored the highest districtwide on the AP calculus exam when he taught 2008-2014. That trend has continued with the excellent new AP calculus teacher, who also follows the same approach.
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/guest-essay-how-the-right-approach-to-math-can-reduce-the-achievement-gap/
HCC parents, Garfield, Roosevelt & Ballard all require a pre-req of concurrent enrollment in Algebra II prior to taking Chemistry. All those schools want a stronger math foundation. West Seattle also requires concurent enrollment in Algebra II for Chemistry "honors".
Ingraham only requires Algebra I prior to taking Chemistry honors. We found out that the first two years at Ingraham so called "honors science" is inferior and much less in depth than science courses offered elsewhere. The courses require less math. I wonder how well they prepare those students for IB science, maybe that's why the complaint about lack of preparation for science. As the plan was not IBX, but regular IB we changed schools for next year. We don't want very two easy years followed by two harder years.
That's why we are choosing IBX, but we have different goals. Otherwise the other schools mentioned do offer more rigor and better preparation (as well as access to AP courses) first two years.
The 2018-19 Ingraham course catalog list concurrent enrollment in Algebra II as a pre-req also for both Chemistry and Honors Chemistry. This is a change from 2 years ago when my younger child enrolled in Chemistry there. Not contesting your argument but just providing more info. Also wouldn't classify Physics in 10th as an easy class.
Generally speaking, some classes can be hard for the wrong reasons - such as a teacher not knowing the material well and students needing to teach themselves, a poorly planned and paced curriculum, too many time intensive make-work assignments, or simply not having appropriate texts.
@moreinfo Not the case for "honors" chemistry (geared toward 9th HCC) in the 2018 catalog which does not state any math pre-req needed. The only pre-req is that the HCC student have taken other science classes. http://ingrahamhsseattleschoolsorgmodul.weebly.com/schedules-and-course-catalogue.html
The 2018-19 IHS course guide has eliminated references to the IBX program - it is now "early entrance."
The HCC pathway at Ingraham is known as early entrance. At the end of 9th grade, students will be given the opportunity to opt into the early entrance program, or to postpone until 11th grade.
Out of curiosity other than the math pre-req in the course catalogs, what evidence do people have for differences in Science classes. Requiring alg2 for chemistry seems like an arbitrary gateway rather than a necessary pre-req based on my memory of what the class usually covers. Looking at some national norms an online CTY honors chemistry course only requires Alg1 and event the AP Chemistry class is listed as needing:
basic algebra and geometry
how to measure, collect, analyze, and interpret experimental data
basic concepts of probability and statistical analysis
graphing, including setting axes and plotting data
how to determine the rates of chemical reactions
how to calculate solute concentrations
There was a thread elsewhere about 6th grade math placement - is that of general interest? If so I'll set a post up here.
Chemistry at Garfield and the other schools mentioned do not require Algebra 2. They require that you concurrently be enrolled in Algebra 2 and have completed the prior Algebra I & Geometry courses. Curiously, at Ingraham there is no math pre-req requirement listed in the course guide for honors chemistry. However the same math pre-req as other schools align for regular Chemistry which also requires concurrent enrollment in Algebra II.
Benjamin, please start a new thread about the AL Task Force deadline of this week! Also, all (disAPP, Benjamin and etc.) please consider trying to get on this Task Force.
I just added a note about the erroneous denial of bus service letters that went out to many folks last week.
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