Hey its open enrollment week and the entire programs future is under attack.
What's on your minds?
39 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I'm inclined to keep my HCC-qualified kid at her current gen ed school. I wonder how the kids who don't go to Cascadia do in middle school HCC (of course, it's not clear that middle school HCC will be a thing at Hamilton in a few years). Do they struggle in HCC classes? Are they far behind the kids who were in HCC schools? Logic would say yes, since they do grade level work in school, and the HCC kids are 2 years ahead. Are HCC middle school classes at Hamilton comprised of mostly Cascadia kids? Or is there a mix?
As a parent of a twice-exceptional kid entering first grade, and I'm deeply concerned about what our recourse would be if the HCC program is dismantled. I'm worried that 2e kids will be the ones who are most negatively impacted if the cohort is discontinued. With no guarantee that HCC will remain throughout their elementary/middle school years in Seattle, and the fact that we can't afford private school, I'm wondering if our options would be better if we moved to the East Side. Anyone else considering HCC programs in the Bellevue Public School district?
For those considering part-time homeschooling, online coursework, summer courses, etc. - I'd be aware of SPS Policy 2024, Out-of-District Credits and Credit Recovery, but don't let it dissuade you from seeking appropriate coursework for your child. Yes, it could be logistically more challenging, but there are still pathways to alternative coursework. SPS seems intent on narrowing those pathways...but there are still options.
For middle school, where HS credit for MS classes is probably not a concern (the concern is mostly appropriate course placement in HS), families should be able to go the part-time homeschooling route. SPS can't dictate curriculum (or online providers) for home-based instruction students any more than they can for private-schooled students. If the student took high school level Geometry or Biology, for example, they should be able to get placement in the next appropriate course in 9th grade. Schools will likely vary in the logistical hurdles, and I'd recommend contacting the high school in advance (late winter to spring prior to 9th grade) to make sure there won't be any surprises come fall.
The WA Homeschool Organization is a great resource for those new to part-time homeschooling:
For high school, the logistics get more complicated. Do your homework and understand the implications of deviating from the district's online learning policy (it's incredibly limiting for students wanting to access advanced coursework) and how you would navigate Running Start enrollment, college applications and admission, college credits, obtaining a WA State high school diploma (or not) and so on.
Anecdotally, home-schooled coursework in MS was not a barrier for our children's acceptance into area private high schools, or placement into the appropriate classes in high school (SPS). The rules have changed, however, so best of luck everyone.
Interesting: I know 12 kids at JAMS who are going Roosevelt instead of Lincoln. I know 1 who’s trying for IBx.
Looks like RHS’s overall stability, faculty of really strong teachers (especially math & science), robust master schedule with lots AP, phenomenal band, theater, and orchestra programs, and deep war-chest is too compelling to forego for that start-up operation.
Wonder if Eagle Staff HCC kids are also sticking with Ballard for same reasons.
Partly this is a problem of scale. RHS has 1800 kids (BHS too is also big) so can offer really diverse offerings like Latin or AP Physics C or 6 sections of AP Calc. Tough to do that when you’ve only got 600 students. Lincoln will grow in numbers in time (maybe 800 next year?) to enable a more robust calendar in the years to come probably, but that apparently is not soon enough in the eyes of this year’s rising freshmen.
I had a time when I thought maybe FB was the answer but I've reached the point I'm trying to disentangle myself from it and I figure others also trying to do so.
I've been fairly busy and doing a bit less than I'd like here but yes we're still alive and kicking.
My (high school level) kid did not go to Cascadia and did fantastic in HCC at HIMS in middle. I would not worry as much about that as my kid noticed there was a range of kids in HC as well. The stats I am aware of were that half enter HC at the middle school level. It's not like they all come from Cascadia.
HCC at HIMS has essentially been dismantled by the teachers into something vaguely echoing a watered down SPECTRUM curriculum so using it as a gold standard is of dubious validity currently.
An HC kid at a GE school will do fine in HCC whether they enter now or way down the road, since (a) they’ll still be highly capable, and (b) HCC doesn’t really amount to all that much in middle school anyway.
My bigger concern would be trying to find ways to keep them academically challenged, engaged, and socially supported, now and later.
(b) At least there was still a modicum of acceleration in math and science, which DOES make a difference.
Parents are reporting both HIMS and JAMS will no longer allow 6th graders to access Algebra 1 (meaning no Algebra 2 in 8th). It also seems JAMS will be getting a waiver to blend LA classes next school year (10 or so HCC students will be clustered in each class - SS was already blended?).
On the other hand, blending allows for more flexibility in scheduling - important for those who will now consider part-time homeschooling....
(b) At least there was still a modicum of acceleration in math and science, which DOES make a difference.
Like I said: HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway. That modicum of acceleration in math may have made some difference, but that was not HCC-specific anyway. The science acceleration was probably more likely to make a difference later, when students could take more challenging high school classes earlier. The "acceleration" in middle school science itself probably didn't make much difference to many, as it was still the same basic science books and labs, done at that same slow pace and superficial level. Plus, taking a "high school" level science class in middle school doesn't mean it's automatically more challenging than what you'd otherwise be taking--and many have reported that the 8th grade Biology that HCC students took (take?) is/was not nearly as comprehensive or deep as the HS version; HCC 8th graders got a watered down version--so I'm not sure how much positive "difference" that would make. (FYI, the same has been seen in studies of 8th grade "Algebra for all." Sometimes getting access to something earlier means you get shortchanged re: what you're actually accessing. It's a huge disservice.)
Not allowing access to Algebra 1 in 6th grade is a shame. The idea that a sizable number of 6th graders are not capable of such work is unfounded. With such a move SPS is essentially saying that students can either get through AP Calculus BC OR AP Stats in high school, but not both. Even the low caliber high school I went to many many years ago now allows students to take both. I suspect that most of the kids ready for Calculus in 6th grade have better "math sense" than most of the administrators making these decisions.
And so the pendulum swings. Seems the district is going back to capping the level of math acceleration and anything beyond that minimum will be at the cost of individual families. When APP first split to HIMS it was years before they would allow 6th graders to take Algebra (even though it was offered at WMS).
I also oppose the cap on math. As said above, kids will have to choose either AP Stats or AP Calc BC. At schools like Roosevelt, the classes currently fill, but if forced to make a choice, I can see enrollment decrease (in half?). A class like BC Calc would then be at risk of being cut due to what the principal or counselors would say is "not enough interested kids", which would be false. Having a certain number of kids reach the level of being able to do both means the sections are more likely to remain full and not be on the chopping block every year.
Students can take AP Stats and AP Calc simultaneously if they give up an elective. Starting Year 3 of World Language in 9th grade makes this possible...except SPS seems to be making changes to middle school world language offerings as well.
"HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway"
It sure does if you're trained and in the community as a gifted person yourself.
My students are writing the 5 paragraph essay, learning the Canterbury Prologue for recitation in late middle English, learning the origin and function of the Greek Polis and reading/writing constantly.
The reason there isn't much acceleration is because of the downward pressure to lower standards from certain administrators and teachers who are for all intents completely untrained and unequipped to the job.
My comment was intended more as a generality, but I should have been more are clear. There are indeed some HCC teachers, in some HCC classes, who do in fact provide something more consistent with what we'd expect of an HCC program (or HC services).
Overall, however, I still feel "HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway." A boring online science curriculum, whether done on schedule or a couple years accelerated, is still not an appropriate modification for HC students, who should be working at a deeper level, not just ahead of schedule. Math is not part of HCC in middle school.
With the un-blocking of LA and SS, and the adoption a few years ago of a middle school LA/SS curriculum that is supposed to work for all students, and the ever-present lack of fidelity of implementation of pretty much anything in this district, and the lack of training re: best practices for HC instruction, and the general philosophical antipathy to HCC, whatever successes you are having in HCC education are not likely shared across the board. YOUR students may be doing what you say, but are you suggesting that HCC students in other middle school grades, and at other middle schools, are being presented with similar levels of challenge?
Overall, HCC at HIMS was not very challenging--or rewarding, inspiring, etc.--for my student. It often felt like busy work to my kid.
Until there is a curriculum map that shows how/where HCC classes compare/contrast with GE classes, and until teachers and administrators buy into the differences and there is some interest in holding teachers accountable for delivering these differentiated services, HCC classes aren't likely to amount to all that much in SPS. Given the prevalent attitudes, I don't see that coming anytime soon.
I know kids at Roosevelt who have been told that it wasn't possible to double up on science or math due to teacher shortages and overfilled classrooms. I'm sure it happens for the occasional lucky kid, but no one should assume that's a safe option. Starting a language as a 3rd year student won't be an option for much longer as Eckstein didn't offer 2 years of foreign language and JAMS is closing down that option too.
Note to SPS: all students, HCC or not, need explicit instruction to develop writing skills - Starting with phonics in Kindergarten and progressing to grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc., leading to structured paragraphs and essays through middle school.
Too many years of Readers and Writers Workshop (with the same assignments year after year after year - our kids started to recycle some of their personal essays!) did little to develop the skills needed for strong academic writing. We taught the basics of grammar and essay structure at home. It almost seemed as if structured writing was less emphasized in the advanced classes (as one teacher said, "they already know how to write" - truly maddening).
So how will writing instruction change with blended/cluster grouping? I will tell you how it worked in one of my child's classes - the teacher grouped students for projects in a way that higher achieving students were usually sprinkled among the groups. Assignments were generally peer reviewed. There was little to no teacher feedback and grades were based mostly on completion. End result? Essentially no growth in writing skills. There was almost a regression as our child lowered work output to meet the lowered expectations.
I'd be asking teachers how advanced students will be challenged: with more of the same work, or with different, more advanced work? And how will they be taught the skills needed for the more advanced work?
If you want to know how the changes might play out, read old posts on the SaveSeattleSchools blog related to the changes in Spectrum at Wedgwood (search for "Wedgwood Brulles").
...the "presentation only considered a fully heterogeneous setting - all Spectrum kids evenly distributed among all classrooms. This varies significantly from what is outlined in the Brulles/Winebrunner book." (2011)
Perhaps time to start a thread devoted to middle school changes being announced for 2020-21? High schools are surely next (to formally make changes, as some have already made changes informally).
I feel like student success is highly dependent not just on socioeconomic status, but also amount of parental involvement. Children who have a stay-at-home parent have an advantage over two working parents with extremely limited time to devote to filling in all the gaps in their child's education. Yes, you can hire tutors, but it's expensive, and then you still need to get them to the tutors and ensure their quality, which is not that straightforward.
How do dual working parents fit in all the extra teaching needed?
Is there some existing poll where HCC parents share their plans? I am especially interested in TG/WMS ones, but certainly looks like the others may be affected soon enough.
FYI, Davidson Gifted has an archived link to "The Uncommonly Bright Child," by Hal Robinson, University of Washington Child Development Research Group. It details the origins of IPP (precursor to APP/HCC) and the Early Entrance Program at UW.
Wouldn't it be great if SPS offered a compacted Math 7/8 course in MS, which could be taken by 6th or 7th graders, to allow for single subject acceleration in math? It would provide an advanced pathway for students not having had much acceleration in ES. Likelihood of happening is near zero, but one can dream. This is actually what 6th grade APP math was at one time...
RHS is not offering AP calc BC next year. The description of the replacement class appears to be a watered down version of BC calc with a bit of linear algebra. They have also changed their LA CIHS class, It was 2 UW classes over 1 year. Now they are spreading each class over an entire school year.
Maybe it's the intention of SPS to offer a minimum core (that becomes the ceiling) then assume Running Start will offer a continuum for those that need it (even though scheduling is anything but easy if you are trying to work around high school classes). The demand for classes like Calc BC and AP Physics C will drop, and SPS can declare there is minimal demand for those classes (especially now that the cohort has been fractured and the math advancement has been capped in middle school). One option for students: take the Calc BC replacement class and self study for the AP exam. It's the score on the exam that determines college credit.
Lincoln is offering AP Calc BC and Calc 3 next year. They are talking about offering AP Physics C in 2021-2022. At least for a few years, it seems there is enough of a cohort to support these classes.
Comment disappeared- the new RHS calc class is not watered down, it is to deal with the new SPS rule mandating calc AB cannot be a prereq for BC, which *would* water it down. The class will be as rigorous as it always has been. I don’t know about LA- we’ve been happy with our child’s LA education there but not the direction some of the more activist teachers want to take it.
Huh? Calc AB cannot be a prerequisite for BC? That makes no sense. And how would having the prerequisite water it down? That also makes no sense. If AB isn’t a prerequisite and they then need to cover some AB in this new version of BC, that’s what will water it down.
And what is this new version of BC? Will it appear on transcripts as an AP class?
I know it makes no sense. This is SPS, though, and that is their new rule, no AB allowed as prereq for BC. *Not* having a prereq waters BC down, which is what I said. RHS isn’t offering it the watered down way. They’re trying to keep a more rigorous pathway.
Glad to hear schools are still offering Calc BC (for now...). Content wise, is AP Calc AB/BC the same as Calc 1/2, with the difference being the AP Calc sequence takes 2 years (vs 2 quarters when taken at community college)? Not requiring AP Calc AB as a prereq for Calc BC could also have to do with IB math pathways. AP and IB don't quite sync, and a student may need the option to go from IB Math to AP Calc BC.
Who is Lincoln offering calc 3 to next year? There’s not a class of BC currently, is there? Is a whole class worth of sophomores planning to take it over the summer? I’m not sure they’ll be prepared after taking SPS’s new, watered down version of AP Calc BC, but I guess you can call anything Calc 3?
RHS won’t offer AP Calc BC next year, but Lincoln will offer both AP Calc BC and Calc 3, which I assume is multivariable calculus? I thought SPS was striving for more equity, not less.
Also, why call it Calc 3? That name doesn’t mean much.
Also, if BC covers what’s in AB and a little more, why offer both? Why not just have everyone skip to BC? Is the new option to skip AB and straight to BC some sort of recognition that the 2-yr series was too easy for some? If so, is it really that there so many advanced math students, or is it perhaps that they aren’t teaching AP Calc classes with the rigor and challenge expected? I’d love to see how many AP Calc BC students end up scoring 5 on the associated AP exam. You may get college credit for lower scores, but are you really getting the mastery you should?
Lincoln will eventually build out a robust course catalog of HCC appropriate AP courses (AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP US Gov, etc) ...... but, not next year.
Seriously.
They put out their proforma course catalog during their open house with a big slate of AP, but, that was aspirational, not actuality. In advertising, we call that 'puffery'.
For example, the number of their 550 students *currently* taking AP Calc AB?
Two.
Yes, 2. You read that right.
So, seriously, do you imagine Lincoln will have budget to run AP Calc BC next year?
No.
Calc 3? Whatever that is? Dreaming.
Parents and Guardians of APP/HCC students should know by now that promises made are promises broken.
Don't forgo Ballard or Roosevelt thinking your child will get to choose an AP heavy course load to be competitive for college admissions.
Go there is you like the homeroom advisory time sink, if you like not taking a full year of social studies, if you like not having upper classmen, if you like the building out of a new school thing, if athletics don't really matter, and jazz is not a thing for your student, but, don't go there because a piece of paper said they would have lots of AP classes. You should not rely on that. The student numbers won't support that.
Ballard and Lincoln are a sure bet. You know what you are getting. Do not get conned/concerned about the appearance or disappearance of Honors designations, those were only ever hit and miss, mostly miss, and had zero consistency or meaning. AP, IB, Running Start, or bust.
Lincoln will eventually stabilize, and given the demographics, despite administration and the eventual cratering of HCC entirely, it will have a decent selection of AP, but, no way will they have anything like what they presented. The numbers and budget just can't make that work.
will the school closures affect when Open Enrollment/School choice results are announced? We submitted choice enrollment for Cascadia and are wondering when we will hear the assignment is finalized.
39 comments:
I'm inclined to keep my HCC-qualified kid at her current gen ed school. I wonder how the kids who don't go to Cascadia do in middle school HCC (of course, it's not clear that middle school HCC will be a thing at Hamilton in a few years). Do they struggle in HCC classes? Are they far behind the kids who were in HCC schools? Logic would say yes, since they do grade level work in school, and the HCC kids are 2 years ahead. Are HCC middle school classes at Hamilton comprised of mostly Cascadia kids? Or is there a mix?
As a parent of a twice-exceptional kid entering first grade, and I'm deeply concerned about what our recourse would be if the HCC program is dismantled. I'm worried that 2e kids will be the ones who are most negatively impacted if the cohort is discontinued. With no guarantee that HCC will remain throughout their elementary/middle school years in Seattle, and the fact that we can't afford private school, I'm wondering if our options would be better if we moved to the East Side. Anyone else considering HCC programs in the Bellevue Public School district?
For those considering part-time homeschooling, online coursework, summer courses, etc. - I'd be aware of SPS Policy 2024, Out-of-District Credits and Credit Recovery, but don't let it dissuade you from seeking appropriate coursework for your child. Yes, it could be logistically more challenging, but there are still pathways to alternative coursework. SPS seems intent on narrowing those pathways...but there are still options.
For middle school, where HS credit for MS classes is probably not a concern (the concern is mostly appropriate course placement in HS), families should be able to go the part-time homeschooling route. SPS can't dictate curriculum (or online providers) for home-based instruction students any more than they can for private-schooled students. If the student took high school level Geometry or Biology, for example, they should be able to get placement in the next appropriate course in 9th grade. Schools will likely vary in the logistical hurdles, and I'd recommend contacting the high school in advance (late winter to spring prior to 9th grade) to make sure there won't be any surprises come fall.
The WA Homeschool Organization is a great resource for those new to part-time homeschooling:
https://washhomeschool.org/homeschooling/top-10-faqs/
For high school, the logistics get more complicated. Do your homework and understand the implications of deviating from the district's online learning policy (it's incredibly limiting for students wanting to access advanced coursework) and how you would navigate Running Start enrollment, college applications and admission, college credits, obtaining a WA State high school diploma (or not) and so on.
Anecdotally, home-schooled coursework in MS was not a barrier for our children's acceptance into area private high schools, or placement into the appropriate classes in high school (SPS). The rules have changed, however, so best of luck everyone.
-former homeschool parent
HCC high school in the north
Interesting: I know 12 kids at JAMS who are going Roosevelt instead of Lincoln. I know 1 who’s trying for IBx.
Looks like RHS’s overall stability, faculty of really strong teachers (especially math & science), robust master schedule with lots AP, phenomenal band, theater, and orchestra programs, and deep war-chest is too compelling to forego for that start-up operation.
Wonder if Eagle Staff HCC kids are also sticking with Ballard for same reasons.
Partly this is a problem of scale. RHS has 1800 kids (BHS too is also big) so can offer really diverse offerings like Latin or AP Physics C or 6 sections of AP Calc. Tough to do that when you’ve only got 600 students. Lincoln will grow in numbers in time (maybe 800 next year?) to enable a more robust calendar in the years to come probably, but that apparently is not soon enough in the eyes of this year’s rising freshmen.
-wondering
Thank you for keeping this forum going - FB seems to be creating silos and it's useful to have an open place to post.
I had a time when I thought maybe FB was the answer but I've reached the point I'm trying to disentangle myself from it and I figure others also trying to do so.
I've been fairly busy and doing a bit less than I'd like here but yes we're still alive and kicking.
My (high school level) kid did not go to Cascadia and did fantastic in HCC at HIMS in middle. I would not worry as much about that as my kid noticed there was a range of kids in HC as well. The stats I am aware of were that half enter HC at the middle school level. It's not like they all come from Cascadia.
HCC at HIMS has essentially been dismantled by the teachers into something vaguely echoing a watered down SPECTRUM curriculum so using it as a gold standard is of dubious validity currently.
An HC kid at a GE school will do fine in HCC whether they enter now or way down the road, since (a) they’ll still be highly capable, and (b) HCC doesn’t really amount to all that much in middle school anyway.
My bigger concern would be trying to find ways to keep them academically challenged, engaged, and socially supported, now and later.
All types
(b) At least there was still a modicum of acceleration in math and science, which DOES make a difference.
Parents are reporting both HIMS and JAMS will no longer allow 6th graders to access Algebra 1 (meaning no Algebra 2 in 8th). It also seems JAMS will be getting a waiver to blend LA classes next school year (10 or so HCC students will be clustered in each class - SS was already blended?).
On the other hand, blending allows for more flexibility in scheduling - important for those who will now consider part-time homeschooling....
(b) At least there was still a modicum of acceleration in math and science, which DOES make a difference.
Like I said: HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway. That modicum of acceleration in math may have made some difference, but that was not HCC-specific anyway. The science acceleration was probably more likely to make a difference later, when students could take more challenging high school classes earlier. The "acceleration" in middle school science itself probably didn't make much difference to many, as it was still the same basic science books and labs, done at that same slow pace and superficial level. Plus, taking a "high school" level science class in middle school doesn't mean it's automatically more challenging than what you'd otherwise be taking--and many have reported that the 8th grade Biology that HCC students took (take?) is/was not nearly as comprehensive or deep as the HS version; HCC 8th graders got a watered down version--so I'm not sure how much positive "difference" that would make. (FYI, the same has been seen in studies of 8th grade "Algebra for all." Sometimes getting access to something earlier means you get shortchanged re: what you're actually accessing. It's a huge disservice.)
Not allowing access to Algebra 1 in 6th grade is a shame. The idea that a sizable number of 6th graders are not capable of such work is unfounded. With such a move SPS is essentially saying that students can either get through AP Calculus BC OR AP Stats in high school, but not both. Even the low caliber high school I went to many many years ago now allows students to take both. I suspect that most of the kids ready for Calculus in 6th grade have better "math sense" than most of the administrators making these decisions.
Wondering if any non-SPS folks have already received their eligibility decisions?
And so the pendulum swings. Seems the district is going back to capping the level of math acceleration and anything beyond that minimum will be at the cost of individual families. When APP first split to HIMS it was years before they would allow 6th graders to take Algebra (even though it was offered at WMS).
I also oppose the cap on math. As said above, kids will have to choose either AP Stats or AP Calc BC. At schools like Roosevelt, the classes currently fill, but if forced to make a choice, I can see enrollment decrease (in half?). A class like BC Calc would then be at risk of being cut due to what the principal or counselors would say is "not enough interested kids", which would be false. Having a certain number of kids reach the level of being able to do both means the sections are more likely to remain full and not be on the chopping block every year.
Students can take AP Stats and AP Calc simultaneously if they give up an elective. Starting Year 3 of World Language in 9th grade makes this possible...except SPS seems to be making changes to middle school world language offerings as well.
"HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway"
It sure does if you're trained and in the community as a gifted person yourself.
My students are writing the 5 paragraph essay, learning the Canterbury Prologue for recitation in late middle English, learning the origin and function of the Greek Polis and reading/writing constantly.
The reason there isn't much acceleration is because of the downward pressure to lower standards from certain administrators and teachers who are for all intents completely untrained and unequipped to the job.
Mr. Theo Moriarty
@ Mr. Moriarty,
My comment was intended more as a generality, but I should have been more are clear. There are indeed some HCC teachers, in some HCC classes, who do in fact provide something more consistent with what we'd expect of an HCC program (or HC services).
Overall, however, I still feel "HCC doesn't really amount to all that much in middle school anyway." A boring online science curriculum, whether done on schedule or a couple years accelerated, is still not an appropriate modification for HC students, who should be working at a deeper level, not just ahead of schedule. Math is not part of HCC in middle school.
With the un-blocking of LA and SS, and the adoption a few years ago of a middle school LA/SS curriculum that is supposed to work for all students, and the ever-present lack of fidelity of implementation of pretty much anything in this district, and the lack of training re: best practices for HC instruction, and the general philosophical antipathy to HCC, whatever successes you are having in HCC education are not likely shared across the board. YOUR students may be doing what you say, but are you suggesting that HCC students in other middle school grades, and at other middle schools, are being presented with similar levels of challenge?
Overall, HCC at HIMS was not very challenging--or rewarding, inspiring, etc.--for my student. It often felt like busy work to my kid.
Until there is a curriculum map that shows how/where HCC classes compare/contrast with GE classes, and until teachers and administrators buy into the differences and there is some interest in holding teachers accountable for delivering these differentiated services, HCC classes aren't likely to amount to all that much in SPS. Given the prevalent attitudes, I don't see that coming anytime soon.
I know kids at Roosevelt who have been told that it wasn't possible to double up on science or math due to teacher shortages and overfilled classrooms. I'm sure it happens for the occasional lucky kid, but no one should assume that's a safe option. Starting a language as a 3rd year student won't be an option for much longer as Eckstein didn't offer 2 years of foreign language and JAMS is closing down that option too.
Note to SPS: all students, HCC or not, need explicit instruction to develop writing skills - Starting with phonics in Kindergarten and progressing to grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc., leading to structured paragraphs and essays through middle school.
Too many years of Readers and Writers Workshop (with the same assignments year after year after year - our kids started to recycle some of their personal essays!) did little to develop the skills needed for strong academic writing. We taught the basics of grammar and essay structure at home. It almost seemed as if structured writing was less emphasized in the advanced classes (as one teacher said, "they already know how to write" - truly maddening).
So how will writing instruction change with blended/cluster grouping? I will tell you how it worked in one of my child's classes - the teacher grouped students for projects in a way that higher achieving students were usually sprinkled among the groups. Assignments were generally peer reviewed. There was little to no teacher feedback and grades were based mostly on completion. End result? Essentially no growth in writing skills. There was almost a regression as our child lowered work output to meet the lowered expectations.
I'd be asking teachers how advanced students will be challenged: with more of the same work, or with different, more advanced work? And how will they be taught the skills needed for the more advanced work?
“And how will they be taught the skills needed for the more advanced work?“
By outside tutors, for those with the resources to hire them. SPS “equity” in action.
If you want to know how the changes might play out, read old posts on the SaveSeattleSchools blog related to the changes in Spectrum at Wedgwood (search for "Wedgwood Brulles").
...the "presentation only considered a fully heterogeneous setting - all Spectrum kids evenly distributed among all classrooms. This varies significantly from what is outlined in the Brulles/Winebrunner book." (2011)
deja vu
Perhaps time to start a thread devoted to middle school changes being announced for 2020-21? High schools are surely next (to formally make changes, as some have already made changes informally).
I feel like student success is highly dependent not just on socioeconomic status, but also amount of parental involvement. Children who have a stay-at-home parent have an advantage over two working parents with extremely limited time to devote to filling in all the gaps in their child's education. Yes, you can hire tutors, but it's expensive, and then you still need to get them to the tutors and ensure their quality, which is not that straightforward.
How do dual working parents fit in all the extra teaching needed?
-already overwhelmed
It makes one wonder how many teachers are considering their options as well.
Is there some existing poll where HCC parents share their plans? I am especially interested in TG/WMS ones, but certainly looks like the others may be affected soon enough.
FYI, Davidson Gifted has an archived link to "The Uncommonly Bright Child," by Hal Robinson, University of Washington Child Development Research Group. It details the origins of IPP (precursor to APP/HCC) and the Early Entrance Program at UW.
Wouldn't it be great if SPS offered a compacted Math 7/8 course in MS, which could be taken by 6th or 7th graders, to allow for single subject acceleration in math? It would provide an advanced pathway for students not having had much acceleration in ES. Likelihood of happening is near zero, but one can dream. This is actually what 6th grade APP math was at one time...
RHS is not offering AP calc BC next year. The description of the replacement class appears to be a watered down version of BC calc with a bit of linear algebra.
They have also changed their LA CIHS class, It was 2 UW classes over 1 year. Now they are spreading each class over an entire school year.
Maybe it's the intention of SPS to offer a minimum core (that becomes the ceiling) then assume Running Start will offer a continuum for those that need it (even though scheduling is anything but easy if you are trying to work around high school classes). The demand for classes like Calc BC and AP Physics C will drop, and SPS can declare there is minimal demand for those classes (especially now that the cohort has been fractured and the math advancement has been capped in middle school). One option for students: take the Calc BC replacement class and self study for the AP exam. It's the score on the exam that determines college credit.
Lincoln is offering AP Calc BC and Calc 3 next year. They are talking about offering AP Physics C in 2021-2022. At least for a few years, it seems there is enough of a cohort to support these classes.
Lincoln parent
Comment disappeared- the new RHS calc class is not watered down, it is to deal with the new SPS rule mandating calc AB cannot be a prereq for BC, which *would* water it down. The class will be as rigorous as it always has been. I don’t know about LA- we’ve been happy with our child’s LA education there but not the direction some of the more activist teachers want to take it.
Huh? Calc AB cannot be a prerequisite for BC? That makes no sense. And how would having the prerequisite water it down? That also makes no sense. If AB isn’t a prerequisite and they then need to cover some AB in this new version of BC, that’s what will water it down.
And what is this new version of BC? Will it appear on transcripts as an AP class?
I know it makes no sense. This is SPS, though, and that is their new rule, no AB allowed as prereq for BC. *Not* having a prereq waters BC down, which is what I said. RHS isn’t offering it the watered down way. They’re trying to keep a more rigorous pathway.
Glad to hear schools are still offering Calc BC (for now...). Content wise, is AP Calc AB/BC the same as Calc 1/2, with the difference being the AP Calc sequence takes 2 years (vs 2 quarters when taken at community college)? Not requiring AP Calc AB as a prereq for Calc BC could also have to do with IB math pathways. AP and IB don't quite sync, and a student may need the option to go from IB Math to AP Calc BC.
blog.prepscholar.com/should-i-take-ap-calculus-ab-or-ap-calculus-bc
Explains a bit.
Compare UW credits for AP Calc:
Calc AB (score 3,4) - Math 124
Calc AB (score 5) - Math 124, Math 125
Calc BC (score 3) - Math 124
Calc BC (score 4,5) - Math 124, Math 125
Who is Lincoln offering calc 3 to next year? There’s not a class of BC currently, is there? Is a whole class worth of sophomores planning to take it over the summer? I’m not sure they’ll be prepared after taking SPS’s new, watered down version of AP Calc BC, but I guess you can call anything Calc 3?
RHS won’t offer AP Calc BC next year, but Lincoln will offer both AP Calc BC and Calc 3, which I assume is multivariable calculus? I thought SPS was striving for more equity, not less.
Also, why call it Calc 3? That name doesn’t mean much.
Also, if BC covers what’s in AB and a little more, why offer both? Why not just have everyone skip to BC? Is the new option to skip AB and straight to BC some sort of recognition that the 2-yr series was too easy for some? If so, is it really that there so many advanced math students, or is it perhaps that they aren’t teaching AP Calc classes with the rigor and challenge expected? I’d love to see how many AP Calc BC students end up scoring 5 on the associated AP exam. You may get college credit for lower scores, but are you really getting the mastery you should?
Lincoln will eventually build out a robust course catalog of HCC appropriate AP courses (AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP US Gov, etc) ...... but, not next year.
Seriously.
They put out their proforma course catalog during their open house with a big slate of AP, but, that was aspirational, not actuality. In advertising, we call that 'puffery'.
For example, the number of their 550 students *currently* taking AP Calc AB?
Two.
Yes, 2. You read that right.
So, seriously, do you imagine Lincoln will have budget to run AP Calc BC next year?
No.
Calc 3? Whatever that is? Dreaming.
Parents and Guardians of APP/HCC students should know by now that promises made are promises broken.
Don't forgo Ballard or Roosevelt thinking your child will get to choose an AP heavy course load to be competitive for college admissions.
Go there is you like the homeroom advisory time sink, if you like not taking a full year of social studies, if you like not having upper classmen, if you like the building out of a new school thing, if athletics don't really matter, and jazz is not a thing for your student, but, don't go there because a piece of paper said they would have lots of AP classes. You should not rely on that. The student numbers won't support that.
Ballard and Lincoln are a sure bet. You know what you are getting. Do not get conned/concerned about the appearance or disappearance of Honors designations, those were only ever hit and miss, mostly miss, and had zero consistency or meaning. AP, IB, Running Start, or bust.
Lincoln will eventually stabilize, and given the demographics, despite administration and the eventual cratering of HCC entirely, it will have a decent selection of AP, but, no way will they have anything like what they presented. The numbers and budget just can't make that work.
Don't shoot the messenger.
Vet
will the school closures affect when Open Enrollment/School choice results are announced? We submitted choice enrollment for Cascadia and are wondering when we will hear the assignment is finalized.
--pending
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