SENG Class coming up next Month

I was forwarded this info which may of interest to some of you:

Come join us for an interactive and inspiring workshop where you will learn key tools to help your gifted family thrive. This one-day workshop will apply SENG concepts at a deeper level focusing on the whole family. Specific tools include: 1) measuring certain gifted traits in family members, 2) examining how different patterns can cause ongoing conflicts and misunderstandings and 3) identifying some strategies to help address those challenges. Participants will leave with uniquely crafted strategies to help their family live together in a more cohesive and harmonious manner.

Date: Saturday, October 8, 2016

Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Location: The Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Room 202, Seattle, WA 98103

Cost: $175 for 1 parent, $245 for both parents

                                                

Presenters: Anne van Roden and Gloria Sandford – both experienced parents of gifted children and licensed mental health professionals who specialize in  working with gifted families in the Seattle area.

Space is Limited to 40 Adults!

Register Here

September '16 Open Thread

Over the past few weeks I've watched a stream of back to school photos across my facebook feed from various friends in other districts.  And here we are with still a week to go before school commences.  But there are signs of spin up. The practice bus runs are occurring in the morning. Transportation letters have gone out. Teacher assignments are also starting to appear.

Update from Dir. Sue Peters:

"I've needed to reschedule it [the next community meeting] to Sunday Sept 11, 1-3 pm at Magnolia Library (instead of Sept 3).

In the meantime, if anyone on your blog, from the HCC community or beyond, would like to share any questions, concerns or feedback about the Garfield and Thurgood Marshall plans for Honors and Social Studies (or any other topic, of course), please invite them to send them my way, and to my colleagues on the Board:
SPSDirectors@seattleschools.org = Board Directors only
or

SchoolBoard@seattleschools.org = Board, plus Superintendent, and 7 members of seniors staff.

Hope you've had a nice summer."

Cascadia Split Update

From this weeks Friday Memo more indications that a split is being planned.

"- Cascadia enrollment for Highly Capable will be going to the capacity management task force soon; with the goal of bringing a solution to the board in November. Cascadia (new) is built for 660. Decatur (being vacated by Thornton Creek) can serve 275 – making a total of 935. Current enrollment is 770 and we are growing at close to 10% per year = 840. "

The next Capacity Management Task Force meeting is on the 14th so there may be more news soon.
See: http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=11000118

Note: Given the WSS staffing formula See page 30 in: http://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/School%20Board/16-17agendas/09_10_2016/20160910_Agenda_Retreat_Packet.pdf  A split school would have only .5 secretary. .5 librarian, .2 nurse etc.

Official SPS statement:.
http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=13505264

Articles about the First Day

By coincidence I saw 2 different articles on what to teach on the first day. The first was from one of my favorite teacher bloggers Fawn Nguyen: http://fawnnguyen.com/first-two-days-school/ She's one of those people I wish my kids could have in real life:

"Oh, how many of you have older siblings who had me as their teacher? Yeah? Did they say that I’m really mean? Well, your sister is a liar"

The second was a Salon Article: http://www.salon.com/2016/09/06/down-with-classroom-icebreakers-can-we-all-just-start-teaching-instead/ on the same lines:

"If you’re reading this it’s probably too late. There’s a good chance the teacher of a child you love has already squandered a non-trivial amount of instruction time by prodding a roomful of reluctant kids through a series of awkward icebreakers and/or delivering a soul-crushingly dull and dour recitation of required supplies, class rules, and tardy policies."

Upcoming Threads:

• I'll setup a testing thread earlier this year based on what I saw last time around. Note: the testing registration deadline as always is quite soon:  October 6th. See: http://www.seattleschools.org/students/academics/advanced_learning/ for more deadlines
• Since I thought the first version was interesting we'll have a building news thread maybe once a season.
• I plan to check in with TM and Garfield to see how things are going after enough time has gone by to judge.

Info on commenting

So how's it going in those last days and as school starts please post your impressions of the new year.

Editorial: Where is the Program Going?

Those of us defending Advanced  Learning never have much of a respite. There's a historical trend of egalitarianism that pushes back against any attempt to differentiate learning. Of late its coming from those concerned primarily with race and equity with changes at Thurgood Marshall and Garfield. To summarize, the various charges leveled against the program:

• The demographics don't match that of the general district.
• These represent bias in the testing and identification process.
• The presence of any self-contained, tracked program hurts those not within it which is disproportionately students of color regardless of the fairness of the identification process.
• The program is merely a modern day form of segregation and its participants are actively or unwittingly racist.

So is providing acceleration and enrichment unethical? I think the answer here is contained even within the district's goals  "Seattle Public Schools is committed to ensuring equitable access, closing the opportunity gaps and excellence in education for every student." For the advanced learning community,  excellence in education for every student remains an elusive goal and is what motivates most of the parents.  Families are searching for appropriately challenging curriculum and opportunities for their children.

Unfortunately,  we are also cast because of the moment  into the role of defending an imperfect system. Seattle Public is a big complicated district that has much room to grow in almost every area. However, the good should not be the enemy of the perfect. Critics have seized on flaws to suggest we should throw the entire system out rather than pushing to correct them or even recognizing where improvements are occurring.

So, I will start by saying that the AL office has done a historically poor job of reaching out to minority and low income families even within the bounds of what the law allows. They often have patted themselves on the back for producing brochures in several languages and refused to acknowledge how the chaotic process of identification itself creates barriers for families. The department does not really collaborate with parents so the periodically offered suggestions on improving the process from the community haven't gone far.  One positive step has been the push for universal screening in the south east quadrant. This has apparently borne some fruit according to the statistics from the department. (30% of the population are students of color and underrepresented population have been growing by 18% a year in the program)  Most people I believe support efforts to reduce barriers here and we have to see improvements made before we can judge how much of an effect they have on demographics. Secondly, I think a lot of the criticism ignores the presence of minorities already in the program and the heavy recruitment of them by programs like Rainier Scholars out of the public system.

Testing is a very imperfect science and I tend to prefer looser systems myself for that reason. Its better to admit more students and risk false positives than restrict and shut kids out from the curriculum they would benefit from.  However, the actual tests used for identification are in use across the country and not fundamentally flawed as some assert. The programs select for a population that achieves in the upper percentiles on tests and all the standardized testing shows that is how the students continue to perform.  A lot of the critics deny this fact and fundamentally believes there are no difference in the students that requires a different curriculum.

Its also important to realize once this selection process is finished, the district concentrates the kids in a few schools.  That distorts all discussion of demographics at such sites. Its not surprising that there are lots of white students in honors or AP classes at Garfield, since we funneled all our high performing ones there from a much larger geographic area.

Moving on, tracking is a complex subject. There is a fairly large body of research both for and against it. See: http://discussapp.blogspot.com/p/i-was-forwarded-some-links-to-articles.html.   My general position which I've stated before, is that when a different curriculum is needed, tracking is generally appropriate.  Its ineffective to try to teach large numbers of students completely different lessons at the same time.  Given an impossible task, the classroom by default will regress to the mean. This is generally why families have left their neighborhood schools in the first place. Its often not that there is no differentiation there, its that its proven insufficient because of the gap between children. On top of that the home classrooms are sometimes unable to provide the social emotional supports or peer group that certain kids need to be successful

Sometimes, again because its an imperfect system, we're left with the district claiming the tracks are teaching the same material. There are two responses to that, where there is no true distinction tracking does lose its rational. Often, however, this situation is artificial. The same district has diluted or forced the curriculum into the same pathway against the complaints of the community. The proper action here is to create a class that is actually different.

Finally, are we as a group stubbornly resistant to change? First we are not monolithic. The advanced learning community has just as broad a spread of opinions as the general population.  Speaking for myself, I'd say we're looking for the following out of the district:

• Inclusion in any process.
• Healthy two way communication .
• Consideration of quality and the needs of the students within the program. 
• Systems to measure the health of the program and signs on the ground that we're moving in the right directions.

August Curriculum and Instruction Board Committee Meeting

Monday was the latest C&I  meeting. At the end, members discussed the revisions to the Advanced Learning Procedure (2190).  This included the  language to allow Thurgood Marshall to implement blended Social Studies.

Agenda:

http://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/School%20Board/committees/C&I/2016-17/8.15.16_C&I_Packet.pdf

Previous Post on the subject:

http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/07/advanced-learning-is-looking-for.html

Official minutes will not be published until next month but from what I heard, the edited procedure was adopted with a set of concerns raised. There will be a followup board work session on October 5th regarding advanced learning and some of the larger philosophical issues.

Reactions

"Dear Thurgood Marshall Community:
Last night the School Board Curriculum Committee met to discuss changes to the Advanced Learning policy including a suggested change that would allow us to apply for a social studies waiver so that we can blend students from our various programs to learn together. Because the current policy states that Highly Capable students will be taught math, writing, reading, social studies and science in a self-contained setting, this has been a subject of much discussion and some contention. I am so happy to let you know that with much support from district central office leadership and from all of you, we have received approval to apply for our waiver!
School Board Directors Burke, Harris and Geary asked me to pass on their appreciation to our staff for their hard work and innovation on behalf of our students. They were clear that while innovation must be balanced with oversight, they did not want to stand in the way of a creative new approach that we know will benefit our students. I want to thank all of you for your involvement in this process. The social studies plan was truly a grassroots effort, begun by our Equity Team and taken up by our staff and parents. It is the positive beliefs and thoughtfulness of our staff, as well as the supportive efforts of our parents that made this a reality.
Of course, this is just the beginning! Other schools have been watching our journey to get to this place. Superintendent Dr. Nyland has repeatedly stated that closing the achievement gap is THE educational issue of our time. As we begin this work of coordinating our efforts to educate our diverse students body about social studies and to teach them the skills that will allow them to live and work successfully in a diverse community, our progress will be watched by our parents, the district, the board and others who might also want to consider changes to the ways they deliver instruction to create more equitable learning environments. We will approach this work carefully and thoughtfully, keeping and eye towards evaluation of our efforts. This is exciting work we are embarking on!

I look forward to seeing you and your children in just 3 short weeks. I’m excited to start our next year together!

Best,
Katie May, Principal
Thurgood Marshall Elementary"

Principal  May: 

I am writing this from my personal email because I cannot get on to the new Outlook system other than through my IPhone.  

I am going to be posting this to the Seattle Schools Community Schools forum blog to clarify my position about remarks attributed to me transferred from a letter from you [Principal May]  to your school that was posted on the blog from the "results" of Monday's (C&I) Curriculum & Instruction meeting. 

 I also wanted to give you the heads up that I have asked General Counsel Noel Treat to research whether or not the proposed Supt. Policy violates or conflicts with the current HCC / AL Policies that allows for a waiver for Thurgood Marshall to blend Social Studies and HCC classes.  I believe other Directors also have concerns.   

I strongly believe that this SPS SP waiver procedure is not clear and is in violation of our current policies.  Though Superintendent Procedures do not have be passed by the Board, they do need to be in synch with current policies.  If the policy is poorly written and confusing and (out of date e.g.,Spectrum and ALO) (as I believe it is) then the policie(s) should be changed and vetted.    The Board has a Committee of the Whole to address Advanced Learning on October 5th.    

I absolutely have enormous respect for our teachers at Thurgood Marshall and others in other communities who are attempting to bring forth creative changes, e.g., Garfield Honors for All in the 9th Grade, Chief Sealth a number of years ago, etc. 

 I do though as an elected Boardmember have a duty to uphold policies, attempt to change them or make them more clear, not to ignore them.  Notice of these proposed changes doesn't appear on the Board's radar until well into the process and that's distressing because then the communication, such as it is, becomes polarized and good intent is lost.  Our waiver policy for curriculum is also not clear, nor is enforcement of same, or of the involvement and counsel of BLTs in any such decisions clearly articulated.  And, the BLT process throughout the district is not consistent.  

My hope is that on Oct. 5th and before and after, we address issues such as identification processes for advanced learning and highly capable opportunities for previously unidentified children, especially those children of color and low SES; whether or not we need and should mandate differentiation professional development training in our increasingly crowded classrooms to be able to meet an even wider population of learning needs; and, where the 25-30% of Seattle's children who have chosen other educational resources are and why - have they given up and lost faith in SPS to meet their children's needs?  

That does NOT mean that I think policies and waivers done without a consistent mechanism in place and without robust engagement and notice to our families is acceptable.  I feel often that we have not identified what part of our process is "site-based management" and what accountability layers are in place or need review and examination, e.g.,  where do the Executive Directors fit in this pattern?  How do the different departments and Exs., Chiefs, and Supts. fit in?   I used to tease former Director Shauna Heath - that we should set the table for 98 other places so every school can do what it likes or needs.  The evaluation process/measurement of changes of narrowing the opportunity gap has to be looked at as well.  What has worked in the past?  What did the U of VA. study say that SPS paid big money for?   

I am in absolute favor of meeting all of the learning needs of our children.  How to do that, I believe deserves very intense and thorough review for unintended consequences and should be approached in a systemic and thoughtful manner - taking into account the hard work and opinions of our teachers who toil every day.  

Most cordially,

Leslie Harris

SPS Director, Dist. 6

Leslie.Harris@seattleschools.org

206-475-1000

Exec., A&F Committees

Commenting:

I've now cut over to disqus comments.

1. To comment as a guest , start to sign in and then click on the check box titled:  "I'd rather post as a guest"
2.  This box is only visible on mobile platforms after you start to fill the text boxes out.
3. An email is required but not verified so if you're concerned about privacy you may make one up. That said, I'd prefer that you provide a valid one. This will only be visible to me and allow me to privately followup on a comment.
4. Please email me directly using the contact us button on the main page if you run into any issues and can't comment.
5. Comments by new guest posters will tend to go into moderation until whitelisted.
6. Social media accounts can be used to authenticate but are not required. 
7. The privacy and cookie policies for disqus are on their site. I don't believe there is any difference with respect to privacy if you choose to guest post and there is not much difference for an authenticated comment on blogger versus an authenticated comment on disqus.

2016 SBAC Results Released

District OSPI Data:

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/TemplateDetail.aspx?domain=SBAC&schoolId=100&reportLevel=District&year=2015-16&gradeLevelId=7&groupLevel=District&waslCategory=1&chartType=1&yrs=2015-16

• Opt out rates appear to be up but not by a lot since last year.
• Ceilings are a bit higher.
• The previous version of this data was used by Shauna Heath's in board meetings last year to suggest that the cohort model was ineffective.

Commenting:

I've now cut over to disqus comments.  

1. To comment as a guest , start to sign in and then click on the check box titled:  "I'd rather post as a guest"
2.  This box is only visible on mobile platforms after you start to fill the text boxes out.
3. An email is required but not verified so if you're concerned about privacy you may make one up. That said, I'd prefer that you provide a valid one. This will only be visible to me and allow me to privately followup on a comment.
4. Please email me directly using the contact us button on the main page if you run into any issues and can't comment.
5. Comments by new guest posters will tend to go into moderation until whitelisted.
6. Social media accounts can be used to authenticate but are not required. 
7. The privacy and cookie policies for disqus are on their site. I don't believe there is any difference with respect to privacy if you choose to guest post and there is not much difference for an authenticated comment on blogger versus an authenticated comment on disqus.

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 Geometry, 5pm, August 22 at the UW.

What's on your minds?

Advanced Learning is looking for Feedback on Procedure Change

"The Advanced Learning office has been soliciting community comment regarding proposed revisions to Superintendent Procedure 2190SP, Seattle Public Schools Highly Capable Services and Advanced Learning. Read the superintendent procedure.

Read the revised document.

Read the Guide to Changes. 

Comments on the proposed DRAFT can be sent to advlearn@seattleschools.org with the subject line 2190SP. 

The proposed DRAFT will be reviewed by the Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee at their meeting on Monday, August 15, 2017. Please send your comments in before July 31 to assure it will be reviewed prior to the meeting."

http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=11749302

The most substantive changes here are related to Thurgood Marshall and blended Social Studies.

Garfield Honors For All FAQ

The Garfield PTSA kindly provided a copy of the latest mailing to us:

Garfield High School

400 23rd Ave

Seattle, WA 98122

Tel: (206) 252-2270

Fax: (206) 252-2271
www.ghs.seattleschools.org

Garfield 9th Grade Honors for All FAQ


Summer 2016


Exactly what is the change?

● All ninth-grade language arts and social studies classes will be honors level.

● This change eliminates the division between the previous "regular" and "honors" tracks.

● The recent Seattle Times article about Garfield used the phrase "cut honors history and English," which is an unfortunate misrepresentation of our plan.


When is this change happening?

● The new honors for all class begins this fall, for the 2016-17 school year


Why are we making this change right now?

● We are making the change to address the opportunity gap for all incoming students, allowing them all access to honors in order to promote equity at Garfield High School.

● Because we are already differentiating for a wide variety of learners, it is simply an extension of our current methodology.


Is special training required for teachers to teach this curriculum? Have all the teachers been trained to be able to teach to different learning styles and levels?

● The teachers on this team have 11 advanced degrees; 6 of our teachers have their National Board Certification.

● We are working with a literacy specialist from the UW College of Education, on reading and vocabulary strategies, and on differentiating readings.

● We are taking a 3-day workshop on "complex instruction," a pedagogy that focuses on effective, ethical, and meaningful group work and critical thinking, which will help students work together in a positive and supportive manner.

● We are working with project based learning as an approach that is highly engaging and succeeds at deeper understanding. We have considerable expertise on the team already with project based learning and a proven track record of project-based successes in AP classes based on pass rates on the AP exam.

● We are co-designing the courses and co-planning the lessons, so the courses will reflect our team’s best ideas. This close collaboration will allow us to revise and improve the courses for all students as the year progresses. The team, both social studies and ELA, will meet on a weekly basis in order deepen collaboration, provide feedback around lessons successes and improvements, and needed supports for students.

●Several teachers on the team have also studied and visited the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of small high schools in New York that focus on performance assessment.

●We will continue to reach out to a variety of experts for support and guidance throughout the school year.

Resources teachers are using to help them plan include (but are not limited to) the following:

● Detracking for Excellence and Equity by Carol Corbett Burris and Delia T. Garrity ● On the Same Track by Carol Corbett Burris

● Working for Equity in Heterogeneous Classrooms, Elizabeth G. Cohen and Rachel A. Lotan, eds ● Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom by Elizabeth Cohen

● Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 9-12 by Carol Ann Tomlinson

● Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong

● Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice by Howard Gardner ● Teaching English by Design by Peter Smagorinsky

● Strategic Reading by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm

● Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers by Yvonne S. Freeman and David E. Freeman

● Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher

● Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners by Aida Walqui and Leo van Lier

● Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

● Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer


Which other schools have made this change?

De-tracking classes is not a new change and is not unique to Garfield. It's been done in different ways in SPS, such as Nathan Hale offering only one track for 9th grade classes, or Roosevelt's AP-for-all model with 10th grade human geography.


Why do you think that this change will benefit all students?

● We believe in this change because it will allow

 ○ Enhanced engagement in learning
 ○ Interaction with peers in meaningful ways
 ○ Authentic interdependency
 ○ Greater control over academic products
 ○ Enhanced critical thinking by solving complex problems in a diverse classroom setting
 ○ The development of a truly inclusive environment

● Multiple research studies show that all students learn better in heterogeneous classrooms withhigh-level curriculum. From the book Detracking for Excellence and Equity, "Our studies (Burris et al., 2006; Burris et al., 2007) as well as the studies of others (Mosteller, Light, & Sachs, 1996; Slavin, 1990) have found that the achievement of highly talented students either is not affected or actually increases when detracking occurs. The key factor, of course, is ensuring that the curriculum remains challenging" (Burris & Garrity, 2008). We are dedicated to making this change benefit all students.

● Furthermore, many employers and colleges are saying that students need more experience problem solving in groups instead of memorizing facts. This curriculum adjustment will help build those "soft skills" employers are looking for.


Will teachers be given extra help in the classroom so no students are overlooked?

● Yes. The social studies and language arts department are sharing an AmeriCorps volunteer who will rotate among classes during the day and be available for after school study sessions, 5 days a week along with at least one teacher per day.

● We will continue to use volunteers from local universities and the community.

● Students who arrive at GHS who have not met standard on the reading portion of the MSP will be placed into a reading class, Read 180, in order to provide literacy support. This class will be in addition to their regular English class, which effectively doubles their time with reading instruction.


Will the classroom makeup be a full range of student abilities or will there be grouping of a range of students and the class size set accordingly?

● All 9th grade social studies and language arts classrooms will be heterogeneous classrooms. Thesocio-economic, racial, and ability differences of GHS will be reflected in every classroom.


Will the students still be prepared for the 10th grade AP World History test?

● Yes. Our lessons will still be tied to AP learning goals, as they currently are in honors World History. Our teachers have extensive experience with the world history AP requirements, including taking this year's AP Summer Institute for the new World History AP exam design. And by retaining the information better into 10th grade because of scaffolded support and differentiation, the students will actually be better prepared than they have in past years.


Will students still be prepared to move into AP English in 11th and 12th grade?

● Yes. We are not changing our standards or objectives. We are preparing all students to feel confident in choosing an AP class later, so we are still asking students to think deeply and engage in the curriculum at a high level.


Will class sizes be smaller?

● Yes. The 2016-17 budget allows for 9th grade classes to be smaller in order to better support all students.


What feedback have you gotten from students?

● Students are overwhelmingly in support of this change. Many students expressed concern about the Seattle Times article that discussed the achievement gap in SPS, which started classroom discussions about tracking. They are aware of the segregation and the subsequent labeling that occur because of the placement tests and tracking, consistently voicing a desire to interact with a wider variety of people.


Will students need to seek help on their own or will the teacher reach out to struggling students?

● As is currently the case, teachers will monitor student progress and suggest extra help for students who need it. This could come in many forms and will be addressed with students one- on-one,with parents, with other teachers, with counseling, and/or with administration.


How will classroom management issues be solved?

● Disruptive behavior comes in many forms and occurs in every classroom. All classroom management techniques and concerns will be addressed according to school policy. Our goal is to create a classroom environment that is engaging and safe for every student who enters. This environment decreases all types of disruptive behavior.


How will you measure the success of this change?

 Teachers will collaborate to develop assessments that measure student growth over time. They will use data from these assessments to guide their decision making.

 Students will also have the chance to give anonymous feedback at the end of each semester which will be reviewed by the team.


How will teachers keep parents informed about assignments, due dates, and other class happenings?

● We are committed to using Schoology and continuing our regular pathways of communication with parents, specifically with emails and phone calls.


How will you keep parents informed about the changes throughout the school year?

● Teachers will be participating in quarterly check-ins with the PTSA and communicate other changes via the GHS web site.


What literature would you recommend parents read to help them understand our change?

● Detracking for Excellence and Equity by Carol Corbett Burris and Delia T. Garrity.

● Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom by Elizabeth Cohen ● Any of the books on the list of resources provided earlier in this document.


Teachers on the Team


ELA
Social Studies


Adam Gish
Nathan King
Alan Kahn
Jeremy Lugo
Kit McCormick
Corey Allan Martin
Rosa Powers
Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser
Kirsten Otterby
Nathan Simoneaux
Andrea Soroko




ConvertedByBCLTechnologies

Garfield Official Website updated 7/13

http://garfieldhs.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=7367&pageId=11555598

Note: there appears to be a new survey to take.

Commenting

This is reminder to please avoid personal attacks and think before you post. "Poster X is a Y" posts are not appreciated here and will be deleted.

Garfield Honors Classes getting cut Part II

The number of comments has grown to be unwieldy. So despite the lack of any further news this is part II of: http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/06/garfield-9th-grade-honors-classes.html

First: please avoid personal attacks and respect the diversity of opinions.

Secondly, I've been thinking about the issue and had a few questions/thoughts:

• Honors classes vary wildly across the high schools. For instance Roosevelt has none in 9th grade and after that they are not separate but entail some additional requirements instead for the class. Ingraham, Ballard and West Seattle  have separate classes. Nathan Hale which follows the Coalition of Essential Schools also doesn't offer stand alone honors. A few like Franklin talk about an honors option but I don't have enough information to tell what that actually means although I suspect its similar to Nathan Hale. For those who have been in any of the other schools it would be interesting to hear your experiences.  I keep coming back to the idea that there should be a uniform policy of access in high school to the honors option and that there should also be a definition of what additional work or curriculum it involves.
• I tend to think about these issues first and foremost through the lens of whether the classes are meeting the needs of the students. Its hard to predict before its been implemented but I'm curious for more feedback from those already there on reasons why or why not.  I should add that we veered a bit into a discussion of disruptive students. For me, these points are very problematic since moving all the hard to manage students into a separate track is known to produce lower quality classes. My hope is always that where we track, the tracks remain high quality at all levels and that there is some thought put into making sure that occurs. 
• Finally, the process here has been dreadful which has I'm sure exacerbates the anxiety. Any instructional model changes should be communicated directly to the school community with adequate lead time. So if anyone hears additional information please post it.

Update:

This is via Alec Cooper the outgoing Garfield PTSA president  (presumably but not verified)

"Outgoing (now last year's) Garfield PTSA President here again. At our request, we met with Mr Howard and the teachers who are leading this initiative on Thursday of last week. We continued to reiterate that the way this was being done was hugely counterproductive. 

We suggested to the teachers that (as a compromise) they consider to pilot 1-2 sections next year, enabling a more comprehensive plan to be prepared, vetted by parents, questions asked, feedback given - all parents, not just the PTSA. We offered PTSA funding for curriculum development and professional development. We emphasized that we understood the challenges that the teachers were trying to address. 

No additional details were presented at the meeting, other than some of the teachers are planning to take some training. At the end of the meeting, the teacher who was leading the discussion simply told us that they were going ahead anyway. Afterwards, we received this mail 

"We realize there's lots of uncertainty about the planned 9th grade detracking, esp with the recent Times article that mis-characterizes our plan. We have a draft of a description of the plan, and would like to incorporate the questions you've already collected from parents. Then in a couple days we can send you a clear description that answers as many questions as we can, which hopefully you'll share with as many parents as you have access to via constant comment, etc. So please share the questions you've gotten, grouped as makes sense to you, or just as a raw list."

Apparently when they decided to do this, they didn't even have a draft of a plan to share. I also inquired whether the Advanced Learning Office Office had reviewed the plan, this was the reply i got:

"Garfield was the designated APP site for the district many years ago. Now every neighborhood school is providing AP courses for their neighborhood populations. To answer your question. Does Garfield need permission from Michael Tolley, School Board, or Sarah Pritchett to make Academia changes. The short answer to your question is NO. 

Lastly, there is no change for our advanced placement cohort or our students who want to challenge themselves at GHS by taking honor courses. The change is for our general ed population." 

Update 2:

Garfield HS PTSA July 5, 2016 Dear Garfield Families, Members of the PTSA met with Principal Howard and Language Arts/Social Studies (LA/SS) teachers last week to learn more about the proposed changes to the 9th grade LA/SS curriculum. We requested the meeting after The Seattle Times published an article about Ted Howard and Garfield that discussed the school's race and equity challenges. The article indicated that 9th grade LA/SS Honors was going to be cut. Principal Howard and the teachers clarified that The Times story mischaracterized the LA/SS Honors change. In fact, the school plans to offer Honors curriculum to all 9th graders. There will no longer be two curricula tracks for LA/SS - regular and honors. Now, all students will take the LA/SS Honors curriculum and be held to the same standard: Honors for All. The PTSA, the school and the teachers feel this is an important change to demonstrate to a greater number of Garfield students that they can enroll, and take on the rigor of more challenging courses, and succeed in that environment. The teaching staff are 100% committed to Honors for All and to its success. All of the teachers are certified and trained to teach Honors and to teach a wide range of learning styles. They voted unanimously to make this change and to supporting each other as a team. The teachers explained they help initiate the change because it would hold all students to a similar standard and it will be a rich learning environment. Classroom discussions will be enriched with the new classroom composition and the teachers will introduce project-based learning, a nationally recognized teaching tool. It will enhance learning for all as students will have the opportunity for individualized learning and peer learning opportunities will grow. The teachers acknowledged the challenges they will face and shared how they were preparing for them. It is a challenge to teach Honors to a broad spectrum of students. The LA/SS teaching teams have been preparing for several years: enrolling in courses to teach differentiated learning; researching the newest teaching methods; studying high schools that have already made this change. Principal Howard also announced a new reading class for students to improve their reading skills. Principal Howard and the district are committed to supporting this change, and the PTSA will work with the school and the district to ensure its success. The PTSA is requesting that the teachers share their implementation plan for this change and communicate the plan to the community, and it will also request quarterly check-ins to learn how it is going and to identify where we can best support the students, teachers and classrooms. In the short term, the PTSA has shared parent questions with the teachers, and next week the teachers plan to address the questions and share their implementation plan for LA/SS Honors for All. The PTSA will continue to invite feedback and update the community. We are committed to partnering with the school - One Garfield! - to deliver an excellent education to the entire student body. Garfield HS PTSA Executive Board Sally Hulsman and Barbara Kelley sally_hulsman@yahoo.com 206.992.0924 bjkelley62@hotmail.com 206.349.1697 Garfield HS PTSA

July Open Thread

Summer is finally here. Generally July is the quietest time of the year for this blog with everyone's focus elsewhere. I distinctly remember folks asking about preparing for Math in the fall in past years.  So I'm including a link to this online app for those looking for resources. I tried dreambox out after one of my son's schools did a school wide trial and I really liked it.

http://www.dreambox.com/

Basically, you know your own children best but if you feel the two year jump is going to be difficult a small but consistent amount of  practice/learning can go a long way. Also, online programs usually are more effective if you watch over the shoulder of your kid and jump in when needed from time to time with questions and/or more explanation.

For those following the situation at Garfield, please keep using this thread:
http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/06/garfield-9th-grade-honors-classes.html

Administration

I'm researching 3rd party comment systems to replace the builtin one as well as considering whether to move the blog from being hosted in blogger to wordpress. Feel free to chime in if you have any technical opinions.

Commenting System Beta Test

I'm trying out Disqus for now as a new commenting system. The default commenting system doesn't have enough tools for controlling trolling that I think would be useful.

Pros:

• Anonymous comments are still allowed but the use of a name/pseudonym is enforced. 
• Whitelisting. New commenters are automatically moderated but can then be whitelisted.
• Link blocks for spam - any urls will trigger automatic moderation. 
• You can like/dislike comments. I don't know if that will be used or not but it could be interesting.
• You can authenticate via almost all the social media sites: Facebook/Twitter/Google+ etc.

Cons:

• I can edit your comments. I promise I will responsibly run the system but you'll have to trust me.
• Registration requires an email address (but it doesn't have to be valid.)
• Its a little non-obvious where the guest post option is.
• I'm unsure how easy the replies are to follow once they start nesting. (This all looks like facebook comments rather than the flat model we use now.)
• Comment counts and the most recent comments widget update in near realtime but not as immediately as the native blogger comments.

Notes: If you want to anonymously post use the signup with Disqus UI and click on I'd rather post as a guest. Its  important to then choose a consistent name/email address if you want to be automatically whitelisted.  Its not necessary to use a valid email address although I'd prefer you did if you feel comfortable. That gives me a private channel to communicate back. Any email addresses are never disclosed to other readers.

Example: anonymous guest post.

So please go over to  http://discusshcc.blogspot.com/ post some test comments and tell me what you think..

Secondary Administrative Procedures and Counseling Manual

SOS Counseling Manual - This was provided by a reader, It contains a grab bag of procedures related to grades, course scheduling, high school credits, equivalent courses of study.

Math

The US team won the IMO Mathmatics competitions for the second year in a row:
http://www.maa.org/news/us-wins-first-place-at-international-mathematics-competition-in-hong-kong

What's on your minds?

Garfield 9th Grade Honors Classes getting Cut

This article was published today in the times about Garfield High School.

http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/microcosm-of-the-city-garfield-principal-navigates-racial-divide/

There are a lot of other interesting issues raised in the article but relevant to our focus is this paragraph:

"Part of the answer may lie in more money for counselors trained in dealing with trauma and for academic tutors. But Howard is no longer waiting. Next year he intends to abolish most out-of-school suspensions and, in response to a push from the faculty, cut honors history and English for ninth grade, chipping away at a system that traditionally tracks gifted middle-schoolers — mostly white — into Garfield’s Advanced Placement curriculum."

There have been whispers that this might be coming but as far as I can tell this is first official confirmation. (Why has this not been discussed in more normal channels?)

Assignment to the classes was not based on HCC eligibility but respectively:

English: "Students will be assigned based on their HSPSE test scores and their grades in 8th grade Language Arts."

World History: "Passing the Reading and Writing sections of the previous WASL exam and reading at or above grade level, or approval of History Dept Chair"

PTSA Email

Here's the email from the Garfield PTSA received today:
Garfield HS PTSA
June 25, 2016
Dear Garfield Community,

As you may have seen, the Seattle Times published an article this morning about Mr. Howard and Garfield. The in-depth article addressed race and equity issues at Garfield and quoted a number of people, including Mr. Howard, the Mayor's education adviser, students and parents. 

In the article, Mr. Howard says there are plans to make changes to the Honors Social Studies and Language Arts program for incoming ninth-graders. The PTSA is now engaging with the administration, teachers and parents to learn more about the plan. Specifically, we are asking for an implementation plan that addresses the timing and requirements to launch this change.

We are planning to have a meeting next week with the school to ask questions, share parents' concerns and learn about the preparations the administration and district has and is undertaking to make this change a success. 

We appreciate that many of you have questions and concerns, and we would like to hear them. Please email or call Barbara or Sally with your thoughts. We will update you as we learn more.

http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/microcosm-of-the-city-garfield-principal-navigates-racial-divide/ 

Regards,

Sally and Barbara
sally_hulsman@yahoo.com 206.992.0924
bjkelley62@hotmail.com 206.349.1697
Garfield HS PTSA


Please treat each other respectfully and think before you post. 

End of the 2015-2016 School Year

This Friday is the last day of school. For my family and all those I've talked to in person it was a year full of many learning experiences. I'd like to first congratulate all of this year's graduates.  It's the amazing things that they do in school that motivate me first and foremost to keep blogging. Then I'm going to offer up two personal anecdotes for this year.

The first is the very amusing series of dinner conversation we had around the class government in my son's fourth grade room. During their civics project, the kids created and voted on various governance structures and then tried to work within them.  What then ensued was a series of failed governments, restarts, intrigues with their counterpart class including a shadowy underground resistance movement, Machiavellian intrigue, an attempt to install a monarchy, and a constitutional convention. Every day, I asked "So what happened with the government?" and there was some new  political affair to talk about.

Secondly on the last day of Math Club I had a student come up and ask me "Is there a new problem of the week?" I suppressed a smile and responded back "You'll have to wait and rejoin next year."

What have been your favorite moments?

This thread is meant to be celebratory/social.  I've setup other threads to track more serious trends. 

UW Robinson Center program on HiCap Programs

A reader forwarded this to me:

High School Credit For Online Math

This question comes from a parent:

"Hi,

I am interested in learning from anyone’s recent experience homeschooling in math so that a student can progress beyond the upper level allowed for the grade. My 6th grader is in Algebra I this year, and the teacher and we (parents) agree that it’s not meeting his needs. It’s not just that he has already learned most of the content on his own, but also that he picks up new math concepts so quickly. His teacher has indicated that he’s ready for higher level math and college-level proofs, which she can’t accommodate in her class (understandably).

We have sought guidance from the Math Curriculum manager, HCC director, principal and homeschool contact. I understand the logistics of how to partially enroll him so that he can do math at home, but I’m not sure how to find online curriculum that will 1) meet his very advanced needs, and 2) “count” so that if he wants to use it for high school credit and/or re-enter SPS math classes in a future year. Stanford online H.S. courses and Art of Problem Solving courses have been recommended to us, but they are not on the OSPI list of approved online courses. Any advice?

1) Is there an OSPI-approved online provider that can meet the needs of an advanced student?
2) If not, and we proceed with Art of Problem Solving, how can we lobby to get high school credit for these courses?
3) Are there District funds available for online courses when school-based instruction doesn’t meet the student’s needs?"

Hopefully someone has already gone down this path and knows some details.

HCC Procedure Changes

The Curriculum and Instruction Committee will be reviewing procedure changes to the HCC program tonight June 13th

Agenda  (The revised procedure begins on page 295 of the agenda and the changes are summarized on page 312. )

The summary is as follows: 

The proposed revisions to Highly Capable Services and Advanced Learning Programs Superintendent Procedure 2190SP have been made to promote clarity and align with other relevant procedures. The following points provide a guide to changes:  

• On Page 2 of 7: The high school eligibility application requires the submission of a student writing sample. The writing sample was not explicitly addressed in previous version of 2190SP, so we adjusted this language.  

• On Page 3 of 7 No substantive changes to eligibility criteria, except that achievement data is required for Advanced Learner identification in all grades K-7.  

• The appeals language change on Page 4 of 7 is meant to make transparent the process that the MSC uses to make eligibility decisions on students who have appealed. All data points are considered at that stage in the eligibility process; these include parent rating scales, teacher rating scales, and any/all available cognitive and achievement scores, including those from privately administered testing.  

• On the bottom of Page 5 of 7 under Program Design, and under the HCC subheading, the wording specifies that HCC in grades 1-5 is self-contained for ELA, mathematics, and science, and may be offered as self-contained in social studies. This wording was added to give flexibility to the staff at elementary HC sites, and reflects the practices have been and will likely be proposed in the name of equity and a social justice agenda.  

• Also on Page 5 of 7: Clarification of Garfield as pathway school and Ingraham as option school for 8th HCC students. Ingraham enrollment based on space availability and not guaranteed, per Student Assignment Procedures 3130SP

A few opinions/points on all of this:

1. Proposing changes publicly late Friday for the first time and discussing them the following Monday is terrible public out reach. In the name of process I would delay this until the next meeting to allow more time to understand the implications. 
2. The High school changes need clarification that the default placement for HC students is Garfield if they do not get a placement at Ingraham otherwise parent's will be forced to unnecessarily gamble if they want that program. This is especially important since it functions as a relief valve for the capacity issues.
3. Someone on the board really needs to force a more public discussion of the enrollment caps at Ingraham. Currently, I haven't been able to pinpoint who even sets the numbers or why.
4. The social study changes are explicitly limited to grades 1-5 but Middle School is redefined as being "mostly" self-contained which is open to a lot of interpretation.

Update

Melissa Westbrook over at SaveSeattleSchools had this writeup of the meeting:

"So this was QUITE the discussion at the C&I meeting yesterday. Highlights:

- Stephen Martin, the head of AL, had to apologize - yet again - for misinformation from his office to parents. "Sorry for the confusion." I have to say, this seems to happen quite a lot and, at this point, I don't think sorry is enough. There needs to be more vetting of information BEFORE it gets to parents.

- He said some changes to the procedure were "editorial" and then pointed out five other ones. 

- He said they would be seeking engagement before August 8th (read on before you comment.)

- For those applying for high school, students will have to write an essay based on a standardized prompt that the AL offices gives them. Apparently this has always been the case but not clearly stated.

- They will use MAP test data for kindergarteners.

- Appeals. Martin said some parents thought if they did private testing and got the scores needed that would be the deciding factor. He said a single score would not be and that it is a committee decision based on several factors.

- "Flexibility" for staff at HCC sites. This is where it got real. Martin said that Thurgood Marshall wanted, as part of their social studies program, have more "socially responsive" teaching. He said they needed "permissive language" so they can go ahead with the program they have planned with input from department of race/equity. 

Director Geary - you know this will cause "some stir" within the community and that it needed to go thru the community engagement tool and she didn't see how it could be done by August 8th (which is some kind of deadline for Thurgood Marshall to have the program in place.) 

Martin said that it was up to the Board but it was just for one school.

- He also said that there was a clarification that only Garfield was a guaranteed high school pathway for HCC and not Ingraham. (He made it sound like Ingraham was never intended to be and I'd have to go back and check but I thought it had been.)

Director Burke said he was worried about the TM issues because they would be amending a procedure for a practice. He said it is "out of alignment for inclusion" and could "create polarization."

He said the district didn't seem to be serving AL students well OR closing the opportunity gap and having underserved kids at either end wasn't good. He said there were "optics" around this issue.

Then Director Harris quietly laid into Mr. Martin. She said she didn't appreciate getting this info on a late Friday for a Monday meeting. She said she felt blindsided and parents may as well. She said she didn't see how there could be true community engagement in the middle of summer. 

She said, "This is not the best we can do." She said that "we have got to do a better job for every child, every day." 

(Burke pointed out that Martin had walked each member of the committee thru the changes before the meeting. Harris wasn't a member so she didn't get the walk-thru. She did state that as a Board member, it was important for all of them to understand the changes in any program in the district. She said she heard from parents at her last community meeting and "it was not pleasant."

Michael Tolley mentioned that staff would take the info, work thru changes and it ultimately goes to the Superintendent.

Now that's true and this is the super's procedure but the procedures flow from policies. 

Between this discussion and the one around MTSS (see my next comment), I was gobsmacked. Trying to make AL even more hard to understand? Allowing schools to decide how they want to present advanced learning opportunities? Sure, why not? It feels like that is what has been happening all along. 

I cannot see the Board going along with all these changes and especially being presented them right before school ends and then coming back to them in early August."

So its a bit hard to read what the staff will do next.  In theory procedures unlike policy don't need board approval so they could try to go ahead anyway.  If you want to contact the Staff I'd suggest asking for more genuine engagement in this and other changes being proposed.

Update2: It looks like the staff are supposed to come back in August with an amended proposal.

The blog (school) year in review

Now that a year has passed since taking over as moderator here I'm ready to reflect on the experience. To start off, running this site has changed my view of it versus being a reader and occasionally commenting in a thread.  I don't think I fully realized, for example, how active and all consuming the testing period is for us just as much as the AL department.  Its also cemented my understanding of what we can do well here versus all the alternatives such as school facebook pages or PTA websites.

• The biggest strength for me is the conversations that occur between parents in different schools.  I think its really valuable to have a place to ask about choosing a Middle School or the testing process in Kindergarten etc.  All the sharing of experience is great and strengthens the collective knowledge base of the whole community.


• I've been focusing on disseminating information about program wide changes. Thanks to everyone who has forwarded information to me. I think this is the second largest role this site plays and initially its why I stepped forward to make sure it would continue on.


• We're an open site  and allow anonymous comments which allows free conversation that might not take place on FB etc.  That's a two-edged sword.  I don't really want to degenerate into the Seattle Times comment section. However, I've been very pleased with the conversations so far even on more contentious subjects like race and equity.  Again thanks to everyone for the contributions here.

The flip side of this is that we're not particularly a social site. I mostly cede that role to all the other alternatives but I'm curious what others think. Do you think we should do more community building or less serious threads or is that best handled elsewhere?

Highlights

1. I'm proud of how the testing season went this year. I think this site made the best of a chaotic situation. 
2. We've had sporadic comments from various staff members which I always appreciate.I hope that continues next year.
3. Here and there I feel we actually moved the dial a bit on some decisions like the proposed changes to the main policy in the fall. Granted, the jury is still mostly out on this one.
4. Site usage is up.

If you're interested in being a contributor or enhancing this site in any fashion please contact me. I'd love more help.  That includes submitting a piece that you want more broadly published. I especially would also like writeups from meetings I can't attend.

Finally, I'm always interested in what everyone else has to think. Are there any changes that you think I should make in the next year?