5/17

where to find new 5/17 content

2011-05-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

This blog may seem vacant--but that's just because it's moved to new digs.

Thanks to a new-ish Blogger feature, I've consolidated all of my educational blogging on my original website, decorabilia. The 5/17 label is where to find not only new material, but all the posts archived here.

Enjoy!

No Curriculum Left Behind

2010-03-10T20:31:00.001-08:00

The last time I blogged about the nationalization of American education: a year ago, almost exactly. A year ago, it was ratcheting-up-rhetoric. But words have a way of translating into action:

Maryland and several other states are pushing rapidly toward adoption of new academic standards proposed Wednesday for English and math, adding momentum to the campaign to establish common expectations for public school students across the country.

The District also is on track to adopt the common standards drafted by experts in a project led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. However, it is possible that Virginia will not join the apparent surge toward approval.

I should point out that my home state--the "other" Washington--is part of the effort. And what might it mean?

Widespread adoption of common standards would mark a watershed for schools, triggering consequences for curricula, textbooks, testing and teaching. Some critics say common standards amount to a thinly disguised ruse to establish national standards under federal control -- an allegation that state and federal officials deny.

They don't have to be a "ruse" to have the eventual--and seemingly inevitable--effect of a national curriculum. Unless the feds dismantle NCLB, which simply isn't going to happen, there will always be a reason to federalize.

Added: a blog-neighbor questions the Common Core standards.

school bus ad bills dead

2010-03-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

A while back I noted a few legislators' novel idea to raise revenue: ads on public school buses.

Today, Slog reports that both such bills died in committee, and will not be resuscitated.

(The initiative to legalize pot is still clinging to life support, and the ACLU refuses to chip in to cover its medical bills. Okay, that's as far as I can stretch that analogy.)

online high schools: a disappointment?

2010-01-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

Initial results from Washington's online high schools, at first glance, seem disappointing:

According to a state report released last month, nearly half of the students taking online classes in 2008 failed with an D or F grade.

Also, online school is not a get-out-of-WASL-free card. Full-time online students must take the test in person at a testing site set up by the school. Part-time students who take one or two classes online still test at their home districts.

Statewide, several online schools have a hard time getting their students to show up for the test, which results in mixed performance reviews.

In the six online schools the state studied, fewer than half of sophomores passed the reading WASL last spring, compared to 81 percent statewide. Less than 20 percent of those sophomores passed the math WASL.

Online school officials say the report is flawed. Students who skipped the WASL counted as a zero, which dragged the school average down.

Take out the “zeros” at Washington Virtual Academy for example, and 77 percent of their sophomores passed WASL reading. In math, 31 percent passed compared to 45 percent statewide....

Online school students at those six schools took the WASL 64 percent of the time, compared to nearly 98 percent statewide, the report said.

I'm pretty sure that the results can mostly be explained by the way online school is currently employed: as a second chance for students who've struggled in a traditional environment. A 50% passing rate, then, might actually represent a genuine success. We'll have to see longer-term results from districts that have a mixed approach. From a cost-benefit perspective, the lower infrastructure and instructional costs, even if the passing rate stays flat at 50%, might still make the project worthwhile.

no revenue stream too murky

2010-01-20T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today's Olympian lauds outside-the-box thinking by Washington legislators. Two bills that receive a tentative "meh:" adding private vendors to rest stops, and allowing ads on school buses. Since this is an edu-blog, let's look at the latter.

Senate Bill 6466, allowing advertising on the side or inside a school bus, is bound to generate even more discussion and debate than the rest stop bill.

A school district could choose to participate in the program or not. A school district’s board of directors would have the final say on what advertising content or education material could be displayed on buses....

Finding consensus on what would be appropriate advertising on a public school bus will be difficult at best. But the program could have appeal in cash-strapped school districts.

Until all the earnings are wiped out by a lawsuit. Still... While we're, thinking outside the box, let's really think outside the box. Desperate times, etc. How about:

TV for Tots
Add back-seat televisions that run school-appropriate, mind-numbing, non-stop kid-centered commercials. Watch disciplinary incidents drop, and watch corporations compete for a shot at a captive audience. Parents know: TV works.

Principal for a Day
The highest-bidding community member gets to fill in for their local principal. Take calls from angry parents! Mediate political battles between departments! Meet with the union rep! Sign off on a "no freak dancing" policy! Take more calls from angry parents!

Bring Sugar Back
We lost the War on Obesity. Time to negotiate terms of surrender and take all the quarter(s) we can get.

Eliminate Busing in a Five-mile Radius
We're losing the War on Obesity. Time to call in the grunts. If you live within city limits, you might as well walk to school.

Legalize Pot
Unless a citizen initiative gets enough signatures to make the ballot and, miracle of miracles, passes, this one's just a pipe dream.

a taxing session

2010-01-11T20:18:00.001-08:00

The Washington state legislature convened again today, facing a $2.6 billion shortfall that brought the entire usual cast of characters to the Capitol.

Washington's 147 state lawmakers returned to Olympia today and the Democrat-controlled House and Senate were quickly greeted by conflicting messages about taxation and spending at the Capitol.

Anti-tax crusader Tim Eyman filed another initiative — seeking to re-enact a two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases that voters last approved in 2007. Democratic lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown have signaled they intend to temporarily suspend or in some way alter I-960 to allow easier action on revenue increases in the face of a $2.6 billion budget shortfall.

On the other side, activists with the Rebuilding Our Economic Future Coalition handed about 14,000 petition signatures to Gov. Chris Gregoire in the morning. The petitions asked her to seek new revenues to blunt some of the $1.7 billion in cuts her first budget in early December spelled out to bridge a $2.6 billion shortfall.

Did I mention the $2.6 billion shortfall?

In (related?) news, pot may soon be legal. Make of that what you will.

school resource officer program saved

2009-12-30T11:48:00.001-08:00

While the state dithers on raising revenue--taxes, they call them--local governments haven't had time, or money, to burn. Consider the City of Olympia, which has raised utility taxes in order to maintain critical services.

Two school resource officers, one assigned primarily to Capital High School and another to Olympia High School, patrol the hallways, teach classes, interact with students and are there to respond immediately to crises....

The officers would have been returned to patrol duties under Hall’s initial budget proposal. But the council restored $150,000 in police funding through utility tax increases.

Of course, the pinch is felt elsewhere:

[Dick Machlan] said the department is reorganizing and cutting several vacant positions – a lieutenant, an officer and two cadets. A half-time warrant person is being laid off.

The department’s special operations unit, which includes a downtown walking patrol and traffic emphasis units, will also be folded into the regular patrol unit. A jail contract with Benton County will be reduced.

Will the state follow suit, matching further cuts by closing tax loopholes or--horrors--even raising taxes?

We'll see. One more reason to greet 2010 with trepidation. Happy New Year, everyone.

toward smarter teaching

2009-12-21T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's winter break, which, of course, means two weeks for teachers to relax, unplug, unwind and... think about teaching.

1. Are you one of those "brain-based" teachers? If so, how much of your curriculum is based on reproducible empirical research, rather than intuition and anecdote?

For much of the last century, educators and many scientists believed that children could not learn math at all before the age of five, that their brains simply were not ready.

But recent research has turned that assumption on its head — that, and a host of other conventional wisdom about geometry, reading, language and self-control in class. The findings, mostly from a branch of research called cognitive neuroscience, are helping to clarify when young brains are best able to grasp fundamental concepts.

In one recent study, for instance, researchers found that most entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division, by distributing candies among two or three play animals. In another, scientists found that the brain’s ability to link letter combinations with sounds may not be fully developed until age 11 — much later than many have assumed.

[Link via Venice Buhain.]

2. Speaking of assumptions, "learning styles" is another educational buzzword that seems intuitive, until you start testing your intuitions.

In almost every actual well-designed study, Mr. Pashler and his colleagues write in their paper, "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence," the pattern is similar: For a given lesson, one instructional technique turns out to be optimal for all groups of students, even though students with certain learning styles may not love that technique.

Read the whole thing to find out why, and why "learning styles" proponents aren't thrilled with Pashler's research. The strongest finding, which no one in educational research will dispute, is that single-mindedly employing the same teaching method--day after day, subject after subject--is pedagogically unsound.

well, this is heartening

2009-12-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

In a story straight out of a Law and Order episode, drugs and weapons were recovered across the street from Capital High School, The Olympian reports:

Acting on a tip, narcotics detectives arrested a registered sex offender and a 17-year-old at a West Dundee Street residence across from Capital High School where detectives seized three ounces of methamphetamine and more than two pounds of marijuana.

Detectives also seized seven firearms from the juvenile’s bedroom, including a loaded AK-47 assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun.

Read the story for all the details. Although the thought of a nearby weapons cache is more than a little unsettling, I'd imagine the weapons (and bulletproof vests) found at the scene were the typical arsenal for a low-level drug dealer living in fear.

As a teacher who mostly thinks of drugs in the abstract, I know there's more going on in the world than I'm aware of. But sheesh:

The juvenile’s mother, who apparently also resides at the home where the narcotics and guns were found, said she was unaware of the alleged illegal activity going on there, Peters said in court.

Colossally bad parent, or tracks-covering accessory?

Either way, a tragedy might have been averted.

education amputation

2009-12-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Send your local legislator an email and ask 'em to read Ryan's latest: 50 ways to cut education costs in the Upcoming Budget from Hell. Heck, it might even inspire 'em to consider "revenue enhancements."

standards-based grading in Spokane

2009-11-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Spokane's elementary schools will now employ a 4-point grading scale based on state standards, the local newspaper reports.

Most elementary students in Spokane Public Schools are seeing their new report cards for the first time this week; instead of A, B, C, D or F, it’s 4, 3, 2 or 1...

Instead of one letter grade for a whole topic, the numbers correlate to specific elements of learning within that topic. Instead of a grade for “writing,” for example, a student might receive separate grades for “writes in complete sentences” and “understands punctuation and capitalization.”

Spokane tested the grading scheme for three years before implementing it district-wide, a smart move.

I hope someday high schools adopt a similar scheme--one that translates directly into a grade point average, rather than the percentage-based adjustments we use now.

"bleak" isn't bleak enough

2009-11-19T21:33:00.001-08:00

Ryan liveblogs the state revenue forecast, estimated at a 2.6 billion deficit.

how bleak is it?

2009-11-17T06:47:00.000-08:00

Last night's Legislative Forum had a theme: the future is bleak.

How bleak?

Check out The Olympian's article about Gregoire's decision to not call a special session.

She said the gap is huge, and puts unprotected programs at serious risk of cuts – including any discretionary programs fully funded by state dollars. Examples include the Basic Health Plan, which after budget cuts this year is projected to give subsidized health insurance to about 65,000 low-income working adults.

Another program facing threats of cuts is the General Assistance Unemployable program that gives cash stipends of about $339 a month and health care to people who are disabled or in some way unable to work. That program has been retooled into a managed-care health-delivery system; however, that is supposed to save $40 million in the next 18 months, unless it is scrapped.

Financial aid to college students is also at serious risk.

All that echoes exactly what our local legislators said yesterday. It's going to be a painful 2010. With Brendan Williams being the only one keen to discuss raising taxes, and with 2010 being an election year, you can pretty much count on steep cuts to the existing budget.

liveblogging the WEA Chinook Legislative Forum

2009-11-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

4:56 p.m.
Why am I at the WEA Chinook Legislative Forum?
a. To hear legislators talk about the issues.
b. To grab my local representatives by the collective earlobes.
c. To avoid the deluge outside.
d. All of the above.

5:34
Oh. I guess it was snacks and chit-chat until 5:30. Guess I could've rolled in a half hour later. Gary Gerst emcees, asking folks to "keep it rolling."

5:37
In attendance: Brendan Williams (22nd), Sam Hunt (22nd), and Kathy Haigh (35th). Gary Alexander is rumored to be on the way. (And he showed up.)

5:40
A question: what should we expect in the upcoming session?

Kathy Haigh: "I think it's going to be short." "Another $2 billion down, and no significant funding coming from the feds.... It's going to be significant cuts.... We should all be keeping a close eye on [the] health care issue." If the feds stepped in to fund our "Apple" health care for kids, that'd help. ECAP is the "absolute wrong place" to cut from. I-728, 732 are (still) at risk. Levy equalization funds won't be touched. Higher Ed--expect another tuition increase, even letting schools set their own tuition rates.

Brendan Williams: "At the risk of sounding like a liberal Democrat..." The legislature could have raised taxes, but "the votes were bought to keep that from occurring." "I did not vote for [728 and 732] to be suspended." Cutting programs from K-12 education is "the pricetag for political careerism." "It's time to meaningfully distinguish ourselves, with all due respect, from the opposition."

Gary Alexander: "Unlike my friend to the left, I think our first challenge is to see what we can do to reduce the budget. Government will not pull us out of the recession." "We can't continue to cut around the edges... We have to go back and talk about what our priorities are: public health, public safety, and public education.... This may mean the elimination of entire services... that can be replaced by the private sector." "We have to basically produce results that will be sustainable on a long-term basis." I'm not going to vote for a policy that doesn't have any funding."

Sam Hunt: For years this state has kept the crazy old aunt in the closet... our broken tax system.... We have a "crazy tax system." "The sales go down and the caseloads go up every damn time you look at it... We've cut all the edges, we've cut all the low-hanging fruit." "I have some hope that the feds will help with Title I, and health care."

5:57
Question for Gary Alexander: Where do we cut?
Things that aren't basic public health, safety, or education: Public health care assistance that isn't matched by federal dollars. Privatize state liquor control board, state printing operations. (Question: Is that enough to find $2 billion? Answer: I don't know.)

6:04
Loopholes are discussed. Sam Hunt notes that it was the Lieutenant Governor's move to declare closing a loophole a "tax increase" that shut down debate at the outset. Kathy Haigh notes that we can't necessarily bank on a tax increase that won't take effect until after passing a plebiscite next November.

6:07
What about the recommendation to close the Maple Lane juvenile school?

Sam Hunt: It was unfair to put the option, Do we close Green Hill or Maple Lane? "I was very happy to see that the consultants' study recommended closing neither one; there was no cost savings to closing either one."

There's some further crosstalk on this issue, but I'm not an expert in these matters.

6:14
What's going to happen to the last remaining LID day?

Weeeeelllllll.....

6:16
David Johnston, OEA, discusses HB 2261, which broadened the definition of basic education--but without any attached funding. (It's the bill Alexander referred to earlier, having voted against it because of its precipitous ratio of expectations to appropriations.) Now that we're "living under it," what will the Legislature do to fund it--or will they repeal it?

Kathy Haigh: if we fund it, it has to be prioritized. Funding will come out of GAU and healthcare for those in poverty, some of the places in the budget where we have the "least accountability."

Brendan Williams: I doubt it'll be funded by its target date, 2018. "I'll bet your PAC $500" that it won't.

6:28
There's a discussion about Physical Education and obesity. I'm sitting in a chair clickety-clacking at a keyboard, so I'm not going to opine, simply out of fear of hypocrisy.

6:29
Kathy Haigh: "Everybody should do the Thriller dance at 8:05."

6:34
Sam Hunt talks about the "Core 24" provision, another unfunded mandate. Teachers aren't thrilled by it. He then answers a question about income tax--talking about a potentially more equitable tax system, a chance to reform a structure that hasn't been seriously debated since Booth Gardner was in office.

7:00
A few questions and comments came up after that, but my laptop battery decided it was done.

I may post some concluding thoughts in a while. That is, if the gale outside hasn't made mincemeat of the grid.

visualize data, visualize success

2009-11-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Blog-neighbor The Science Goddess, who is leading the charge in Washington state toward standards-based grading, shares some of her research-based data visualization practices. The upshot:

When I look at this with my teacher eyes, I see so much more of a story appearing about each student. It is no longer a sea of numbers. Now, these fancy-dancy charts won't help me know what to do next (e.g. If students are still below standard, what should the intervention be?), but it may be a better start for identifying issues.

Absolutely. I'll go one step further:

Have students visualize their own data.

Google Docs offers a basic spreadsheet program with enough chart-generating bells and whistles to make it effective for student use, provided enough teacher input. Here's how I set it up: first, I create a spreadsheet with a title row, formulas, and a blank chart inserted. Then I make copies, renaming each after its intended student, and share that copy with that student.

Then, with a little guidance, I have them input data that they've recorded on paper--gotta have a backup!--and the chart appears as if by magic.

It ends up looking like this:

I'll report back at the end of the semester as to whether it's an effective strategy for tracking progress in reading fluency. My gut says it's working, but then, my gut also thinks bacon is a food group.

Update: The Science Goddess adds Part II, with a sample report card.

Federal Way lawsuit fails

2009-11-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

In a 9-0 decision, the State Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling and rejected the Federal Way School District's suit against the state for, among other things, failure to equitably and amply provide funding. The Washington State Constitution provides for a "general and uniform" public school system, which, in practice, is anything but. However, the Court argued that disparities have lessened, and that Federal Way is a victim of its own success, since its higher test scores (relative to lower-funded neighbors) are evidence that its funding is adequate.

Today's loss is a practical disappointment, but a legal inevitability. It remains to be seen whether a similar lawsuit in King County, to which the Olympia School District is a party, will fare any better.

OSD could learn from City of Olympia

2009-10-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last year, in the middle of some of the toughest budget decisions in recent Olympia School District memory, the District publicized a list of potential cuts, allowing citizens an unprecedented level of transparency in the budget process. What was missing? Interactivity.

To fill in the gap, I took data from District PDF files and created a somewhat hurky spreadsheet, so you could play around with the figures and try to balance the budget on your own.

If I had any coding skills, I would've added something like the City of Olympia is offering now. "Constrained prioritization" is the name of the game: you rate services or priorities from 1-4, but you're forced to limit each rating to only 11 out of the 44 choices--in other words, you can't put everything as a "1" or a "4." It's hard. (Sorry, Parks and Recreation.)

It's not a perfect survey, but it's a step. Next time the OSD stares down another tough budget--and you can bet that's going to be soon--it would do well to collect its constituents' input in a similar fashion.

[Link via Mathias Eichler.]

OEA recommends school board candidates

2009-10-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Olympia Education Association's Candidate Interview Team recently interviewed the three candidates running for election to the Olympia School District Board of Directors: Allen Miller, Mark Campeau, and Eileen Thomson. In this unusual election season, all three are running for the first time after having previously served via appointment to their respective positions--and all three are running unopposed.

Allen Miller
The OEA Candidate Interview Team recommends Director Allen Miller for the Olympia School Board District 2 position. Director Miller expanded on his written responses during an interview on October 15th at the OEA office. He emphasized the importance of open communication, trust, respect and collaboration as key elements in his role as a Board member and across groups and interests in the district. Director Miller stated that he would use the District’s Strategic Plan to guide his decisions on policy and the district budget. In budget development, Director Miller listed his priorities as, first, keeping future cuts as far from the classroom as possible, and second, employing a transparent, inclusive process. Director Miller invited communication from teachers and suggested that email was the best way to contact him with questions or concerns. We encourage Director Miller to take a more proactive role in reaching out to faculty and staff across the District.

Mark Campeau
The OEA Candidate Interview Team recommends Director Mark Campeau for the Olympia School Board District 5 position. Director Campeau responded to questions during an interview on October 15th at the OEA office. He identified the importance of the Board’s role in providing clear, strong policy leadership as a key element in improving student learning. Director Campeau felt that the District’s Strategic Plan was a good guiding document for the Board to use in its decision-making processes for budget and policy issues. He emphasized the need for adequate resources to allow teachers to meet the needs of their current students. He stated that he had enjoyed visiting buildings and talking with teaching staff and emphasized the importance of hearing from a variety of sources about concerns and successes in the District. He plans to continue his visits. Director Campeau included maintaining class size and programs focused on improving student learning as key considerations in the budget development process. We applaud Director Campeau for his efforts to build relationships with faculty and staff across the District.

Eileen Thompson
The OEA Candidate Interview Team recommends Director Eileen Thompson for the Olympia School Board District 3 position. Director Thompson responded in writing to questions from the Candidate Interview Team. In her responses, she included open access, improved communication and improving student learning as critical elements to be addressed in her role as a member of the Board. Director Thompson felt that the District’s Strategic Plan should serve as the guiding document for her decisions on the Board. In the budget process, she emphasized maintaining an open, inclusive process and keeping future cuts away from the classroom as priorities. Director Thompson stated that she has enjoyed spending time in buildings and welcomes communication with staff members. We applaud Director Thomson for her efforts to include new voices in the District conversation.

For the second election running, the OEA Candidate Interview Team included myself, Sharyn Merrigan, and Dan McCartan.

saved by the stimulus, or adventures in accounting

2009-10-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

How has the stimulus affected public education?

Teachers appear to have benefited most from the effort to save jobs with the $787 billion recovery package, which sent billions of dollars to states that were on the verge of ordering heavy layoffs in education.

The national data on the impact of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan won't be available until later this month. But based on preliminary information obtained by The Associated Press from a handful of states, the stimulus spared tens of thousands of teachers from losing their jobs.

Not surprising. We saw this very scenario play out here in the Olympia School District earlier this year. A potentially heartbreaking RIF was avoided in large part due to a sudden influx of federal cash, mostly averting--or, perhaps more accurately, delaying--a crisis.

But the article is also a commentary on the government's new attempt to bring transparency to the doling-out process. The brutal honesty quote:

The White House says more than 1 million jobs have been saved or created so far, a figure that is so murky it can never be verified. That's because the White House estimate is based on economic models that try to calculate the effect of tax cuts and the ripple effect of government spending.

And the good news/bad news quote:

Officials have said the unprecedented accounting could become standard for government programs in the future, and this week's data release will offer the first indication of how it's working.

The good news: translucency bordering on transparency. The bad news: somehow this is a new idea.

Obama plans to ruin your summer vacation

2009-09-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Kids who creepily sang Obama's praises the other day: might want to rethink that. Obama wants to amputate your summer break.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

Just give the plan a snappy title--No Child Left Outside?--and watch it sail through Congress.

In all seriousness, reconfiguring the summer break is way, way overdue.

grades are arbitrary?!!

2009-09-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Yep.

A "D" average is good enough to earn a diploma, according to the Seattle Public Schools.

The district is considering dropping graduation standards from a "C" average to a "D" average in order to boost the number of college-ready students.

The school board is doing its own math on the district's logic.

According to an administrator, the district wants to offer more advanced classes and raise the bar. In order to do so, it needs money. To get that money, it has to find a way to keep more kids in school. So a "D" might be good enough to graduate.

What does a "D" mean?

Some places, you pass with a C. Others, you pass with a D. Some places, a C starts at 70. Other places, a C starts at 62.

Yep. Grades are arbitrary.

Which is what makes arguments over changing grading schemes so much fun.

in today's education headlines

2009-09-08T17:11:00.001-07:00

1. Kent teachers defy court order; continue strike. (There's no Becca Bill for teachers.)

2. Obama urges all children to assimilate into the Borg.

3. An instrumental version of "Ave Maria" breaches the wall of separation, apparently.

Happy school year, everybody.

(Oh, and one more: Washington's doomsayers predict swine flu for a third of us.)

Obama's speech to schools echoes a previous president

2009-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

In the Olympia School District, we won't be in school on Tuesday when President Obama delivers a speech to the nation's students. Nevertheless, the controversy over the speech has prompted Superintendent Lahmann to issue a statement:

On Tuesday, September 8, President Obama will do a national address to students about education. The national media has focussed on concerns that have been raised about the address being shown in schools. We have received a few emails and phone calls of both support and opposition about having students watch the broadcast.

Since our students do not start school until Wednesday, September 9, it seems obvious that we will not be broadcasting the President's message to students live. If parents or community members contact you about this issue, please remind them when school starts.

I have attached a copy of a Question & Answer release that the Department of Education sent out related to the President's speech. If staff wants to record the President's speech and use it later as part of a lesson, they may do so just as they would use an other supplemental resource. Given the concerns that have surfaced, please be sensitive to the controversial nature of any use.

The last time a president asked for a bully pulpit at the front of your classroom? Back in 1991, when Bush--George Herbert Walker Bush--asked for support of his educational goals.

Jim Lindgren links to the story, and does a little WestLaw digging to find media reactions.

In October of 1991, I must have been in seventh grade. I don't remember Bush's speech in the slightest.

strikes and lawsuits and swine flu...

2009-08-30T10:37:00.001-07:00

...add your own "Oh my."

The school year commences in Washington state with a strike in the Kent district...

More than 1,000 striking teachers packed the picket line outside Kent School District headquarters Friday to let everyone know about their unhappiness with contract talks.

With only two days left to work out an agreement before school is supposed to start, striking teachers from every school in the Kent district showed up for the rally.

"We feel very put against the wall, painted into a corner - very disrespected that the district wasn't willing to bargain," says teacher Pat Deming.

Meanwhile, the Teamsters did a drive-by of support for the teachers' demands from the district as some teachers shouted, "Class size! Class size! Class size!"

(And read Ryan's take for some criticism of a critic; Lake Stevens is striking, too; at least Shoreline seems to have avoided the worst.)

...and a court date for the NEWS lawsuit...

Right in the middle of a recession that has created the worst atmosphere for school budgeting in decades, a coalition of Washington school districts, parents, teachers and community groups is going to court Monday to demand that the state start paying the full cost of education.

Attorneys for both sides say the economy will have little or no influence on the outcome of the non-jury trail, scheduled to begin on the first day of the school year for many district and to continue for six weeks of testimony in King County Superior Court before Judge John Erlick.

School districts have been struggling economically for decades, so while the recession makes things worse it doesn't make them different, said Mike Blair, chair of the group calling itself Network for Excellence in Washington Schools.

...and, of course, a potentially deadly flu strain.

Yay?

swine flu predictions worsen; is your school ready?

2009-08-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Word from a White House report says that 50% of Americans could contract H1N1 this coming autumn.

The virus, clinically called H1N1, could cause symptoms in 60 million to 120 million people, more than half of whom might seek medical attention, and could peak before a vaccine is widely available, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimated in an 86-page report assessing the government's response to the first influenza pandemic in 41 years.

Although most cases probably would be mild, up to 300,000 people could require intensive care, which could tie up all those beds in some parts of the country at the peak of the outbreak, the council said.

If it gets that bad, you know that schools will be hit hard. Education Secretary Arne Duncan offers recommendations:

Duncan said schools should evaluate what materials they have available for at-home learning. The latest guidance provides more details on methods schools could use, such as distributing recorded classes on podcasts and DVDs; creating take-home packets with up to 12 weeks of printed class material; or holding live classes via conference calls or "webinars."

Federal officials said earlier this month schools should close only as a last resort. They also advised that students and teachers can return to school or work 24 hours after their fever is gone; the old advice was to stay home for a week. The virus prompted more than 700 schools to temporarily close last spring.

Online school: a solution that was evident back in April--or sooner, for some.

Upodate 8/29: Some 200 students at Washington State University have reported sick, many potentially with swine flu. In a pattern we're seeing across the country, the flu seems to strike within a week or two of the start of classes.

word to principals: you are not cops

2009-08-14T15:26:00.001-07:00

The drug war has apparently driven an East Hartford, Connecticut administrator to distraction--and resignation.

A middle school assistant principal facing charges related to sending a student to buy drugs in order to catch another student selling them has agreed to resign.

Amy E. Watson, 37, of Ellington, will step down effective Friday, according to school board Chairwoman Mary Alice Dwyer Hughes....

Watson has been on administrative leave pending an investigation into whether she paid a student to buy drugs from a suspected drug dealer March 11.

Edwin Soto, 50, of Suffield, also was arrested in the case. He was the school security officer.

Watson surrendered to police May 8 and was charged with risking injury or impairing the morals of a child and tampering with a witness.

The last time we had a drug-related story this silly, the Supreme Court had to weigh in. Are some principals spending all their free time watching The Shield?

[via Obscure Store]

giddy with anticipation for the last time

2009-08-11T11:40:00.001-07:00

For most, Christmas comes twice a year: once in December, and once in July, when Santa descends from the North Pole to deliver mattress sales.

For Washington educator-types, Christmas comes a third time, in August, when the state releases WASL results.

For one last year. After this, we'll have to get giddy about the High School Proficiency Exam, or HSPE, which, quite frankly, doesn't roll off the tongue.* What else does the future hold?

Students in third-through-eighth-grades will take the new Measurements of Student Progress. It will be shorter than the WASL.

About a quarter of the state’s sixth-through-eighth-graders are expected to take their exams online next spring, according to OSPI.

Dorn plans to have the majority of state testing online by the spring of 2012.

And who knows what the test will be like / called by then.

*Any experts at OSPI care to tell us how to pronounce the shorthand version? Is it H-S-P-E? HissPee? HizzPeh? H-Spee?

a little love for the WASL

2009-07-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

This morning's Seattle Times offers an article on a recent survey of Washington teachers regarding the soon-to-be-obsolete WASL. An unfortunately small, probably unrepresentative sample reports that, yes, there are some good things about having a statewide standardized test that values critical thinking.

Teachers echoed many of the same old criticisms of the WASL — it's too long, the results are confusing and don't come back in time — but they also credited the WASL with improving students' writing and reasoning skills.

They pointed favorably to its "extended response" questions, which are to be eliminated from new exams favored by Randy Dorn, the new state superintendent of public instruction who campaigned to replace the WASL.

The new tests, to be introduced next spring, will continue to have some short-answer questions but will be largely multiple-choice.

That will be true for the state exams given to 10th-graders and those for students in third though eighth grades. The only exception will be the writing section, where students will still be judged on the quality of short essays.

Researchers found that most of the teachers they surveyed wanted to improve, rather than replace, the WASL. The difference is tough to discern. At some point, we enter into Ship of Theseus territory.

And what about the upcoming non-WASL?

[Superintendent Randy] Dorn is working to offer the test online; math sections will be updated; and the superintendent's office is working on classroom tests that would allow teachers to diagnose what help students need.

Missing: by 2014, math tests will be end-of-course exams directly linked to instruction in various subjects, since not all students take the same math sequence. (The way things have gone, who knows what'll be required by then, anyway.)

The key change is the new, technologically-mediated approach to the upcoming non-WASL's diagnostic capabilities. If the test, as its proponents claim, validly points out deficiencies in instruction, then that information needs to be in schools' and teachers' hands within days, not months. (And, as I argue elsewhere, a better diagnostic test might not even need to be linked to graduation to be effective.)

Last, if we can save at least ten of the sixteen hours currently spent administering the 10th-grade WASL, I'll see that as a win.

a very beefcake fundraiser

2009-07-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

Vashon Island dads are baring it all to keep their local school district from cutting staff. No, this is not my attempt at pitching a script:

"By day they are attorneys and bankers, at night they are windsurfers, kayakers, farmers, musicians, cyclists," said Kris Thompson who calls herself a co-producer on the project.

What exactly is the project you may ask?

It's a beefcake calendar, "a la Calendar Girls...if you know the story," said Thompson.

This group commutes daily on the ferry from Vashon Island to downtown Seattle and that's where they came up with the idea. So naturally they've dubbed themselves, "The Dreamboats."

Each month of the calendar features one of the Dreamboats posing in the buff, with their personal areas covered by props from their individual hobby of choice.

They hope to raise $10,000.

Whatever they earn, is the Vashon School District going to take the money? You bet they are.

P.S. Not to rain on their parade or anything, but unless they inspire an army of supporters to join their efforts, $10,000 isn't going to save even one position. Which is sad.

deconstructing merit pay

2009-07-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan at I Thought a Think explains why merit pay is never a simple matter.

So, who is your Most Valuable Teacher?

Is it Teacher A, who added the most value to her class over the course of the year?
Is it Teacher B, who had more of her kids meet the year-end goal?
Is it Teacher C, whose class scored the highest in the spring?
Is it Teacher D, who turned around more failing kids than any of the others?

"Value" is a homophone; there's the value signified by the numbers, but there's also the values of the school, the district, and the state which have to be superimposed atop any effort to link the data to the teacher. If the incentive pay/merit pay/whatever pay in this case goes to only one of the four teachers, you're making a statement about the value of the work the other three did, and it's a pretty lousy thing to say to the other three who also made progress that their success didn't matter as much.

And, of course, there are even more fundamental assumptions at work:
1. That the differences across teachers are statistically significant. (In small sample sizes, chance is magnified.)
2. That there are no mitigating factors that better explain students' growth within and across classes. (How much is due to good ol' maturation? Are all relevant factors controlled for?)
3. That the test measures something important.

We run into more trouble when we deal with mobile populations, or when we consider high school teachers who see their students for only fifty-five minutes a day in a single subject.

This is not to say only nay to the prospect of performance pay for teachers. I'm sure with today's data collecting and crunching powers, some magic formula can be worked out--something akin to the Netflix prize for education--but as Ryan shows, first we have to agree on what we actually value.

math requirements changed again, again

2009-07-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

From time to time, this blog deals with the education standards set by the state, particularly those dealing with graduation requirements. After all, they're important.

They're also as confusing as hell.

Actually, more confusing, because in hell, as Gary Larson, cartoonist and theologian, noted, you get your accordion and off you go. As for passing high school in Washington state, should you fail the math WASL*: welcome to hell. Here's your flow chart.

Which is now obsolete, with yet another in a long line of changes to the math requirements. The Seattle Times explains:

The board decided earlier that beginning with the class of 2013, high-school students will be required to earn three credits of math to earn a diploma.

When the requirement was changed, the state rule said students who took a high-school-level math class without credit as an eighth-grader were required to repeat that same course for credit in high school.

The state board decided Friday that students can choose to start with a different math class in high school and don't have to repeat the eighth-grade class if they don't want to.

Hurrah for flexibility, I suppose. And, hopefully, someday, hurrah for clarity.

Someday.

Until then, here's your accordion.

*Which won't be the WASL for long. Progress!

detailed Olympia SD budget released

2009-07-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

We already knew that the Olympia School District Board of Directors approved the 09-10 budget; the summary of changes is available here [pdf].

More important from a long-term accountability and public relations perspective, yesterday the District, on its website, released one of the most detailed budget breakdowns I've ever seen [pdf].

Peter Rex, if you're out there, correct me if I'm wrong--but this seems groundbreaking.

Truth loses; Kent wins

2009-06-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Another day, another educational--in both senses--opinion from the Supreme Court. This time, students who had sued Kentridge High School to allow a Bible club were turned down.

The court refused to hear an appeal from the high school students who wanted to form the Truth Bible Club at Kentridge High School in Washington state in 2001.

The school refused to let the group be chartered as a school club. They cited the group's name, the fact that students would have to pledge to Jesus Christ to vote in the club and that allowing the club in would bring religion into the school. The club's would-be founders then sued the Kent School District, claiming discrimination.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the district did not violate the students' First Amendment rights by requiring them to allow all students full membership in their club.

I don't see anything unconstitutional about allowing a Bible club on campus--but the club's requirement that members pledge loyalty to Jesus seems out of place in a school environment. School clubs should be open to all students, period. If students want to exclude others, they're free to form their own clubs on their own time--and own dime.

SCOTUS says no to strip search in school

2009-06-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last April, when the Supreme Court was hearing oral argument about whether school officials could strip search a student suspected of carrying contraband ibuprofen, I wrote,

No middle school authority figure anywhere should be given the legal authority to strip search a student when looking for prescription-strength ibuprofen. This should not be controversial.

Two months later, the Court has ruled--and they got it right.

Thankfully.

The only unsettled question: whether Savana Redding, the student in question, can hold school officials individually liable. Though I'm no fan of excessive litigation, I hope Redding wins that argument in a lower court. Students keep their rights--and their dignity--when they enter the schoolhouse door.

budget passes; Cispus gone, sports saved (for now)

2009-06-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last night the Olympia School Board passed a budget for 2009-10. Venice Buhain reports:

The board restored about $162,500 in programs at its meeting Tuesday night, including the district-wide bus for the Lincoln Options program, a half-time counselor at Avanti High School, and high school gymnastics, drill team and boys swimming.

Cutting the music and physical education specialists for kindergarten through third grade to save $261,000 had been considered, but none of the board members brought it up as an amendment.

“It wasn’t necessary,” board president Carolyn Barclift told the other board members.

Superintendent Bill Lahmann’s original budget proposal had included about $1.9 million in cuts, and relies on spending about $815,000 from reserves, also known as the ending fund balance.

The board upheld the original budget proposal’s call for administrator furloughs and cutting the overnight trip to the Cispus Learning Center.

To save Cispus, the community would have to raise about $70,000.

The Board also voted to set up a committee to study sports funding. Unless a miracle occurs in the state economy and educational funding structure, we'll be talking about further cuts same time next year.

Update: Buhain's blog entry on who voted for what when is quite useful.

Olympia School Board incumbents face no opposition in '09

2009-06-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

Due to our ongoing budget crisis, this isn't at all surprising: not one of the incumbent Board appointees will face any opposition in this year's election. Allen Miller, Mark Campeau, and Eileen Thomson will each retain a seat on the Olympia School Board, barring the bizarre.*

Turns out that this year, the only race with any drama was the student representative election. Congratulations to Capital's Vamsi Chunduru, who won last week.

At least the City Council races are all competitive...

*Which we've seen, from time to time--after all, how else would you get three appointed members on an otherwise democratically elected Board?

breaking: Capital HS to open on schedule this September

2009-06-04T20:53:00.001-07:00

This just in, from Capital's principal, Nancy Faaren, via email:

June 5, 2009

Dear Capital High School Students, Staff and Families:

As you can imagine, all of us at Capital have been eager to hear the results of the tests on the roof trusses so that we can begin to move forward. Earlier this week, officials from the Olympia School District and I met with our structural engineer to hear their preliminary conclusions based on the tests they have performed thus far on the trusses. Here is what we know as of today:
Capital High School will operate as scheduled for the 2009-2010 school year. Our first day of school will be September 9th, the same as all the other schools in the District.
Contractors will work during the summer to finish repairs on the library and visual communications rooms. They will also complete the finish work throughout the school that was left over from the repairs this winter. At this point, we anticipate that all of this work will be completed before the first day of school.
Contractors will reinforce the gussets that support the roof trusses in several areas. The structural engineers have not definitively determined all of the factors that may have led to the roof collapse. Obviously, the extreme weight of the record heavy snowfall caused the failure. It also appears some of the trusses were not constructed as designed, hence the work this summer to reinforce some of the gussets. The posts that were built as part of the roof repair work this winter will remain in place as an additional precaution to provide extra support under the heaviest mechanical units.
Based on the test results, the Olympia School District will be working with the City of Olympia to amend the occupancy permit to allow Capital High School to remain open with a snow load of approximately 5 inches. This would bring us in line with the rest of the schools in the District as past practice has been to close schools when snow accumulations reach that level (or many times, less than 5 inches).
As an additional precaution, the Olympia School District is reviewing the feasibility of installing a snow melting system on the roof, similar to one that is used on buildings with flat roofs in the mountain passes. We will know more about this in the weeks ahead.
The long term plan for the roof is still under development. Tests on the remaining trusses will be completed this week. We expect to have a final report and recommendations from the structural engineers in the next couple of weeks. As soon as I receive that report, I will make sure it is posted to our Capital High School website for your review.

Once we have received the report and recommendations, we will work with District staff to evaluate the options for any remaining work that will need to take place to permanently fix the roof.

That we could be open on time, and on as normal a schedule as is roofly possible, is a relief.

filing week for elections

2009-06-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Today, filing week begins for all sorts of elections.

“Coming off 2008, it was such an exciting year, people were so energized. I think there is a little of that momentum and people starting to get interested in politics again,” Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman said Friday.

“You also have a number of races on the ballot that have very low filing fees. I expect we’ll have a few wild cards next week that go under everyone’s radar,” she added.

Wyman said filing runs Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Online filing is accepted from 8 a.m. Monday until 3 p.m. Friday, but online filers also must bring their online printouts by 5 p.m. Friday.

All of the sitting Olympia School Board members who are up for election*--Mark Campeau, Allen Miller, and Eileen Thomson--plan to run, according to the paper. By Friday, we'll find out if they'll have any competition.

*Miller was appointed by ESD 113; Campeau and Thomson by the Board.

public to District: save our sports

2009-05-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

At the first of two public forums concerning potential budget cuts, Olympians showed up to advocate for activities facing the axe.

Swimmers, golfers, gymnasts and drill team members, their parents and coaches urged Olympia School District officials to reconsider cutting or reducing their activities during a forum Tuesday night.

About 100 people came to Marshall Middle School to share their thoughts about the latest 2009-10 budget-cut proposals, which addresses a shortfall of about $2 million....

What hopes might students, parents, and coaches have? Superintendent Bill Lahmann:

Lahmann said that last year’s forums made a difference to the final proposal; the outdoors school and drill team were saved from cuts last year after the public forums.

“Last year, we had a little bit of flexibility, but I don’t know how much flexibility we have this year,” he said. “But we have a school board that really does listen to our community.”

Flexible points still include administrative positions, systemic efficiencies, and the ending fund balance, which could dip below the 5% recommended by the District.

Gregoire rides the wish-horse of reform

2009-05-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today Governor Gregoire signed a galloping reform bill.

The plan would create smaller classes, full-day kindergarten and a longer high school day to give students a chance to meet higher credit requirements.

It would also distribute state education dollars based on a new formula, but does not include a plan for paying for the changes....

In a room filled with supporters of the reform bill, the governor echoed the sentiments of its critics by also speaking about what was missing from the legislation: a way to pay for it....

Lawmakers and government officials have estimated the reforms could add as much as $4 billion a year to the just under $7 billion the state already spends on K-12 education annually.

Gregoire noted that the Legislature is working to address the lack of money by phasing in the reforms over about eight years and assigning a Quality Education Council to make sure the financing system is put in place.

"If wishes were horses," goes the old saying, "beggars would ride." Step one was beggaring education. Now we get our wish-horse.

a call for grading reform

2009-05-18T21:06:00.001-07:00

In the pages of the vaunted Onion A.V. Club blog, noted educational theorist Josh Modell provides one of the best possible arguments for grading reform.

Letter grades are relative, and nowhere on the site (or in our reviewers' minds, I don't think) does an A or A- mean that a movie (or CD or book or videogame) is one of the best ever made. I certainly don't believe that Crank 2 is one of the best movies ever made. But what that A- did signify, and what I think high grades on The A.V. Club generally signify, is success. In my eyes (and in the eyes of Keith Phipps and Scott Tobias, who both enjoyed Crank 2), the movie was successful at what it was trying to be: weird, almost parodic, and over-the-top. Those seemed to be its goals, and it delivered. It was certainly never boring or cliched, and much of the time it was actually pretty incredible. For people who like these types of movies (and I can think of very few analogs for this particular movie), Crank 2 was pretty great. So what grade do you give to a movie that you think is highly entertaining and successful but exists in a genre that's not allowed a high grade?

That gets into what I like to think of as "genre profiling." You haven't seen the movie, and yet you know it's not possible that it deserves an A-. To some degree I agree with you: Action movies (even outliers like this one) are, by definition, incapable of being among the greatest films of all time. And that's fine, but it's a bit unfair to ghettoize them so much that an A (or even a B) grade is off the table. It's like deciding that the fat kid in gym class couldn't possibly do better than a B-, and then grading him accordingly. (What if he's a phenomenal goalie?) All of our writers understand--and I think our readers are sharp enough to understand--that Crank 2 isn't even in the same universe of greatness as The Godfather or (insert your all-time fave here).

It's true that A or A- grades in film are pretty rare at The A.V. Club, and I appreciate that that makes them more trustworthy. What I tell the music writers is that if something is getting an A or A-, it should be one of their personal favorites--top 10, if not higher--of the year. Crank 2 could very well end up one of my favorite movies of 2009. (And no, I'm not some sort of action junkie--my faves of last year were Synecdoche NY, Ballast, Snow Angels, Dear Zachary, and Wendy & Lucy, and I think this year's action hit, Taken, is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It got a C-.)

By now you've guessed that Modell isn't actually an educational theorist. Which is too bad.

breaking: Olympia SD's budget cut recommendations for 2009-2010

2009-05-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the Olympia School District released its list of recommended budget changes for the 2009-2010 year [PDF]. The largest cuts would come from reducing the Ending Fund Balance to 5%, saving $850,000, and backfilling special education with $400,000 in stimulus funds. Other significant recommended cuts are included in the graphic below.

(Some cuts--notably those made to particular high school athletics--are bound to be unpopular. Some cuts are a little opaque; for instance, I'm going to find out what that "Special Events Fund" includes, since $100,000 probably represents a goodly number of stipends at all levels.)

The community is invited to comment on the proposed cuts at upcoming meetings.

May 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Marshall Middle School, 3939 20th Avenue NW, Olympia 98502

May 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Washington Middle School, 3100 Cain Road SE, Olympia 98501

An overview of the budget is available here [PDF].

Update: More details available at Venice Buhain's blog at The Olympian.

Update II: The "special events fund" is used differently at each school. For instance, it might include stipends to support teachers who run charity campaigns, or who write letters of recommendation for seniors (the case at CHS), or who advise clubs. It's a lot of little stipends rolled up in one $100,000 cut.

your cheatin' WASL

2009-05-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Surprise to no one: a high-stakes test induces "irregularities," including cheating by both students and teachers. KIRO's breathless story:

A four-month KIRO Team 7 Investigation uncovers hundreds of cases where students and teachers failed to play fair on mandatory assessment tests.

Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne proves how a little cheating can go a long way in improving scores and reputations.

Under the Washington Open Records Act, KIRO Team 7 Investigators acquired reports of around 650 WASL "irregularities" filed in the past three years.

We dug deep into that data and found accusations of cheating, which could falsely improve scores, spread out in 317 different schools in more than 100 districts.

Texting answers, using dictionaries and calculators, and teachers helping kids score math points are just a few examples of cheating reported to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Our research also found that plenty of classroom cheating goes unreported – something students we interviewed confirmed.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the 2008 data for some local districts. The results are a little less than overwhelming. Some calculator mistakes (that didn't affect the outcome, apparently), an overzealous scribe, students passing notes, some "non-allowed accommodations," and, my personal favorite, "staff members [sic] cell phone went off during testing."

breaking: Olympia School District avoids full RIF

2009-05-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

The Olympia School District RIF communication team announced this morning that a RIF of certificated staff with continuing contracts is no longer on the table. Via email:

We are happy to report that earlier today the RIF Communications Team received word from Superintendent Lahmann that there will be no certificated reduction in force for the 2009-2010 school year.

Please keep in mind that the decision to not implement a reduction in force maintains the employment status of continuing contract employees only. There are many employees of the District who do not hold continuing contracts. The District still has a significant budget shortfall and will need to make difficult decisions both about employment and placement status.

Superintendent Lahmann also emailed to comment on the situation:

While I believe we fared better than expected in terms of our budget, the decision to retain our continuing certificated employees in the face of a $2 million budget shortfall means we will need to cut back other programs, activities and services people have come to rely upon and enjoy. Of course, I welcome your involvement and input as we work with the School Board to write a budget that supports our mission of promoting student learning.

As you can tell, difficult days are still ahead. Upcoming meetings to discuss our remaining options include...

Thursday, May 14 – School Board Study Session, Knox Administrative Center, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 19 – Community Forum on the Budget, Marshall Middle School, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 21 – Community Forum on the Budget, Washington Middle School, 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 17 – Public Hearing on the Budget, Knox Administrative Center, 6:30 p.m.

Note that the study session is the only meeting at which public comment will not be taken.

Lahmann will release a detailed list of potential cuts "later this week." I'll be certain to post them as soon as they are available. More budget information can be found here.

Update: The Olympian has more.

In Olympia, teachers will not receive layoff notices, but other Olympia district job cuts are “not certain at this point,” and will depend on the final 2009-10 budget, said district spokesman Peter Rex.

Superintendent Bill Lahmann’s budget recommendation will be discussed at a board work session on Thursday, though no testimony will be taken at that meeting. Public forums on the budget will be next week.

“So it’s not going to be a painless budget, but we are able to protect the classroom and move forward on our strategic plan,” Rex said.

“A couple factors came into play. The district was committed to protecting the classroom and retaining teachers. Second, employees have done a great job of saving money this year, which has left us with a larger ending fund balance than we anticipated. And third, the federal stimulus package passed by Congress and President Obama have helped us devote resources to special education and Title I,” Rex said.

what the legislature did--and didn't--accomplish

2009-05-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

The Tacoma News-Tribune's Joe Turner runs down the list of legislative feats from the 2009 session. Excerpted, some of the educational laws already signed by Governor Gregoire:

Special elections: HB 1018 will get rid of two of four spring dates that most school and fire districts use for special elections. The March election will be eliminated right away. May elections will be eliminated after 2011. Elections still will be held in February and April, but the specific dates will be different hereafter....

Military school kids: SB 5248 will enroll Washington in an interstate compact and set uniform rules that govern how schools handle children who transfer from one state to another because their military parents have been reassigned....

Some of the pending education items in the budget:

Pay freeze: Cost of living adjustments (COLA) for some 250,000 state and public school workers will be suspended for two years, but workers will receive “step” increases based on how much time on the job they have....

Bethel skills center: There is $10 million in the capital budget to proceed with the skills center in Spanaway that will be shared by a dozen school districts in Pierce County.

And, of course, let's not forget the $600 million in "savings" due to the evisceration of the class size initiative, I-728.

Other bills still pending:

Teachers pay raises: HB 2363 would suspend the cost of living raises that public school and some two-year college workers are automatically entitled to in 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. However, the bill also obliges the Legislature to make up for the estimated 4.2 percent raise that teachers are losing no later than the 2014-15 school year....

Stun guns in schools: SB 5263 would add stun guns and Tasers to the list of weapons that cannot be brought by students onto school property, buses or playgrounds, and school security must be trained before they can possess them at schools....

Four-day school week: HB 1292 would let mostly rural school districts with fewer than 500 students shorten their school year to fewer than the required 180 days as long as they provide students with 1,000 hours of instruction.

Basic education: HB 2261 would broaden the definition of basic education to include all-day kindergarten and other programs, oblige the Legislature to fully fund that broader definition by 2018-19 school year and develop new standards for evaluating teachers.

The last is by far the most controversial measure; the WEA is pressuring the governor for a veto, since the bill proposes massive changes without even a smidgen of foreseeable funding.

All in all, the legislature passed a record 583 bills in the 105-day session.

That's an average of over five per day.

Crazy.

And yet they still couldn't provide districts a way to preserve at least 3,000 teaching positions by lifting the levy lid.

Crazier still.

Puyallup sends out pink slips; more districts to follow

2009-05-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Puyallup began sending out 69 RIF notices.

The district hand-delivered its first “reduction-in-force” notices to teachers Friday, and will issue the rest Wednesday, a district news release said. The state requires notification to teachers by Friday if their contracts might not be renewed.

Classified staff members – such as bus drivers and teacher aides – will be notified by the end of the school year if they’ll be laid off. Year-round employees will be notified by Aug. 31.

At least [!] it wasn't 160-odd positions, as the District had prepared for in its worst case scenario.

So, Rep. Kessler, are we urgent yet?

swine flu headed here, for reals?

2009-05-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I wondered if/when swine flu was going to hit the South Sound. The nearest purported case, in Lakewood, turned out to be a bust. Maybe this one will, too:

Thurston County likely has its first reported case of swine flu, according to the county's Health & Social Services Department.

The case involved a 31-year-old man who was sick with Influenza A; tests have not yet confirmed that it was swine flu. Most Influenza A cases end up being confirmed as swine flu by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the health department.

The man since has recovered.

“This confirms what we already knew; that Swine Flu H1N1 is present in Thurston County” Sherri McDonald, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services director, said in a news release.

Well, only if that "most" includes this instance. I'll wait for confirmation before extending my weekend.

"What's the urgency?" asks Kessler; layoffs loom

2009-05-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam) said something today for reasons I can't fathom. Asked about the now defunct special session, which would have brought back a levy lid lift bill that could literally save thousands of teaching jobs, Kessler stated, "“What’s the urgency?”

Is that a joke, Representative Kessler? Districts have until May 15th to issue RIF notices to the teachers who might have otherwise kept their jobs, or to ax other programs and personnel in order to keep teachers onboard, now that the levy lid lift is doomed.

Even if a solution magically arises by September, when Kessler thinks the legislature can return to action as if nothing is wrong, it'll be too late for the thousands of mostly young teachers who've lived in limbo, or left the profession.

It's not as if Kessler couldn't know better. Hoquiam isn't exactly flying above the storm:

The Hoquiam School Board authorized layoff notices to the equivalent of 10.6 teachers Wednesday night in its first crack at dealing with a higher-than-expected $1.3 million revenue shortfall to its current $20 million operating budget.

Other budget reducing options the board is considering include elimination of the high school girl’s swimming team, the Young Authors and Math Olympiad programs, the middle school drama program and all elementary sports. Also being considered is the elimination of six full-time support staff workers and the reduction of hours for even more workers.

“We’re also closing a school,” School Board member Judy Morgan said, referring to the impending closure of Washington Elementary at the end of the year.

No urgency, Representative Kessler? Really?

North Thurston slashes budget; axes 36 FTEs

2009-05-06T16:51:00.001-07:00

The North Thurston School Board has voted to slash nearly $5 million from their budget. The lowlights:

The cuts include eliminating about 36 full-time-equivalent teaching positions throughout the district, but that will be reached through retirements, resignations and not renewing one-year contracts....

Other cuts include:

• Eliminating the Talented and Gifted program for first-graders.
• Raising high school athletic fees from $75 a sport to $100 a sport. The football fee would be $125.
• Raising middle school athletic fees from $40 a year to $60 a year.
• Reducing full-time librarians at the elementary schools to half time.
• Cutting several district-level administrator or director positions.
• Increasing lunch prices by 25 cents.
• Eliminating food reimbursements for teachers, administrators and other adults who are traveling or at meetings.
• Lowering the temperature of the district’s pools and pool buildings, which a North Thurston district resident suggested could save $36,000.

Other staff reductions include eight administrators or supervisors, one office professional at each of the middle and high schools, a mechanic and 3.5 full-time-equivalent custodians.

It should be noted that, compared to personnel cuts, the savings from efficiencies and user fees are rather small.

In his reluctant defense of the cuts, Board member Bill Williams is quoted as saying, "[B]asically, we have no choice." Until all our options are exhausted--and they aren't--that isn't the case.

About a week ago, I urged the Board to let the voters decide whether to accept any potential earnings from a levy lid lift, which NTSD has forsworn. Although Gregoire hasn't convened the legislature for a special session to lift the lid, it's still an option. If that effort falls short, then Williams will be right.

If it falls short.

We'll find out by the end of the week.

Update: It appears that Gregoire's plan to call a special session has crumbled into pieces. Sucks to be us, eh North Thurston School District?

how to solve the budget shortfall

2009-05-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted a recent RIF update from the District, promising to post some information from David Johnston on some figures under consideration. These are his words, from the OEA newsletter, on how the District might make up its roughly $2 million shortfall.

Reduction of certificated employees. (The board previously approved a possible reduction of 37.5 FTEs but can reduce or even eliminate that number.)
Lowering the Ending Fund Balance (EFB). Currently the projected EFB will be 7%. Board policy is to attempt to maintain the EFB at 5%. Each 1% reduction in the EFB means $850,000 available to make up the $2 million shortfall.
Reduction in programs. As the recent OSD survey determined, community and staff certainly value current programs but OEA firmly believes that in the matrix of competing values, certificated positions, people teaching kids, are valued even more. The District will come out with a non-certificated cut list soon. We should all look at it closely and give input. A line item OEA is particularly interested in is for curriculum adoption. Delaying adoption for next year saves $450,000.
Increasing Revenues. Never an easy thing to do, but other districts are looking at increasing pay for play. An even more viable possibility is if the Legislature goes into special session and approves a levy lid lift. This action alone would free up $1.5 million that voters have already approved, but that OSD cannot collect without legislative action. This option alone nearly solves the current shortfall in Olympia.

The levy lid option seems more and more feasible every day.

Meanwhile, today's Olympian covers the extracurricular angle.

In the Olympia School District, a middle school committee recommended reductions that would cut $61,000. Part of those recommendations include moving track from an interscholastic program to an intramural program and reducing the number of turnouts from five to four days a week.

“We’re waiting to see what the number amount of what the cuts would be and then we’ll make some recommendations,” said Jeff Carpenter, coordinator of health, fitness and athletics for the Olympia School District....

Carpenter said there might be reductions in programs, coaching positions and travel restrictions. However, the district is not expected to increase its pay-to-participate fee from $120 per sport.

Lots to chew on before the upcoming budget forums, May 19, Marshall Middle School, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., and May 21, Washington Middle School, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Olympia School District RIF update: May 4

2009-05-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I'll post some information from WEA Prez, David Johnston, on some RIF and budget figures under consideration. Today, though, via email from the RIF team:

This is the 11th message from the RIF Communication Team. We have two questions to respond to today.

Question: After a RIF has occurred, if circumstances change, will certificated employees have an option to be placed back into their original job if it becomes available?

Answer: Under the OEA/OSD contract Appendix A Section V, Sub C "Individuals who do not retain their original position during this reduction-in-force process will be given involuntary transfer status."

Individuals with involuntary transfer status may request assignment to a vacancy that is announced and to which they are qualified. Employees with involuntary transfer status have preference over other equally-qualified applicants who have not been involuntarily transferred.

If more than one employee who has been involuntarily transferred applies for a position, the most senior employee has highest preference. Once any employee in this scenario selects a position, he/she is no longer considered an involuntary transfer.

The key question, of course, is just how many teachers will find themselves in this situation. As I'll explain tomorrow, it's still impossible to say.

Question: Why do you send out emails even when you have nothing to report?

Answer: One primary concern in the previous RIF a few years ago was that employees didn't have timely information. The RIF Communication Team feels it is important that employees know both when there is new information and when there is not. In the future, when the team has no new information, we will put that in the subject line of the email.

That's a welcome improvement, since about 3-4 of the previous emails were essentially "no new information."

Overall, this RIF process, despite the calamitous circumstances, has been vastly better managed than previous editions. Hopefully it'll be the last.

thoughts about the roof collapse

2009-05-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

Over four months later, Capital High School continues to live in suspense.

We are still waiting to hear the results of the tests to the CHS roof trusses that collapsed on Christmas Day. We expect that these results will include recommendations from the structural engineers as to how to proceed with a permanent repair to the roof. As soon as we receive some information about these tests, we will share it with our CHS community. Thank you for your patience.

If you've followed the story, you know that CHS has been a little out of sorts since the roof collapsed, dealing with missed school--including cancellations two hours into the school day--and an overall sense of uncertainty compounded by the roiling financial situation and swine flu outbreak.

Despite all that, we can consider ourselves fortunate that the roof collapsed when the building was empty, so that no one sustained injury. Today's news out of the Dallas Cowboys training camp in Irving, Texas put this fact in sharp relief.

Winds that were just shy of tornado strength, and perhaps stronger, ripped through the roof during a rookie minicamp practice, essentially popping the so-called bubble. Between the falling debris and the furor to get out, special teams coach Joe DeCamillis broke his back and 11 more people were hospitalized.

About 60 others felt lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises....

The no-frills building was pretty much a 100-yard football field with a few more yards of clearance all the way around. The roof was 80 feet high, the equivalent of an eight-story building.

On Saturday, there were 27 players -- almost all drafted last weekend or signed as undrafted rookies -- working out when the storm hit. Also in the building were coaches, support staff and media.

Overhead lights swayed violently, prompting players, coaches, staff members and reporters to vacate the building. Several people were trying to exit the facility as the roof came down at about 4:30 p.m. ET.

Yesterday I greeted the "trusses are still being tested" announcement with a dissatisfied groan.

Not today.

swine flu headed for the Sound?

2009-05-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Have to start wondering if/when the swine flu outbreak will finally reach the South Sound. Lakes High School in the nearby Clover Park School District is closed today, due to fears of potential H1N1 case.

It's the sixth school in the Puget Sound area to close as a precaution against the spread of swine flu. Three others are in Seattle, one in Des Moines and one in Mukilteo.

As long as I have cable internet, a staycation won't be so bad.

Update: It wasn't swine flu, the News Tribune reports.

Friday night, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced that additional tests from the state health lab showed that while the students remain hospitalized with influenza, it’s not the swine flu strain.

That's one thing being lost in the swine flu shuffle: non-swine varieties can be just as pernicious.

Here's hoping that's the last we hear of swine flu this close to the South Sound.

special session coming; 3,000 to 5,000 layoffs possible

2009-04-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Governor Gregoire's going to call a special session to deal, among other things, with the prospect of massive education layoffs.

Gov. Chris Gregoire wants state lawmakers to return to Olympia for one day to pass bills they dropped when they adjourned in the wee hours Monday morning....

[Speaker of the House Frank] Chopp, a Seattle Democrat, said he’s open to a special session that gets loose ends tied up quickly. He indicated there are just a couple bills that need to be done, including one on deporting immigrant criminal offenders that could save $8 million a year and – more important – a bill on school levies....

The bill would let districts collect the full measure of school levies already approved by voters, but most districts cannot collect more than 24 percent of their operating revenue from levies.

The bill raises it to 28 percent temporarily, allowing $68.6 million more to be collected locally. Olympia would collect $3.3 million, North Thurston $2.1 million and Tumwater $890,000.

The bill's potential to stanch the bleeding has kept several districts from initiating their RIFs. And if the bill fails?

The state Superintendent of Public Instruction's office thinks 3,000 to 5,000 teachers could lose their jobs. The Washington Education Association (WEA), the state teachers union, predicts 6,000 in public schools and higher education could be notified of layoffs.

"It is going to be very tough," said WEA spokesman David Phelps, calling it the worst teacher cutback in the state in 30 years.

David Phelps, Undersecretary of Understatement.

North Thurston: let the voters decide

2009-04-28T22:25:00.001-07:00

Although I teach in the Olympia School District, I live within the confines of North Thurston SD. This absolutely bewilders me:

[T]he governor claims that Seattle schools could collect nearly $14 million, Tacoma $1.7 million and North Thurston could bring in $2 million.

The North Thurston School District disputes the governor's estimate, but said even if the governor's math is right they would not plan on collecting the cash.

District spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve said taxpayers approved a levy expecting to pay a certain amount and taking more out of their pockets now isn't fair.

"We just don't feel like it's the right thing to do. Even though we're having to cut 65 staff positions," Schrieve said.

It isn't fair only if the voters don't approve of the increase--and when the last levy passed, we had no idea a $9 billion shortfall was in the works.

Why not commission a poll and find out what the voters want?

Olympia School District RIF update: April 27

2009-04-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Due to the potential for changes coming in the anticipated extra legislative session, the RIF has been suspended. The latest email explains:

Passage of a state budget
The legislature passed the state budget on Saturday. The District is currently reviewing the fiscal impact of that package. Here’s what we know today: The Senate budget, which was used to make initial budget projections, would have meant a reduction of $4.2 million in state funds to the Olympia School District. The final budget appears to reduce state revenues to the Olympia School District by approximately $3 million. The overall budget shortfall for the District looks closer to $2 million based on complex collections rules regarding local levy funding.

Passage of a measure allowing districts to lift their local levy cap
The measure allowing school districts to lift their levy lid did not pass prior to the end of session. This legislation would allow the Olympia School District to collect up to $1.5 million more in voter-approved funds for next school year. It is possible a special session of the legislature will be called to consider this and other measures. The OSD will closely monitor any decision to call a special session and the subsequent fiscal impact any new legislation would have.

We have until May 15th for a final RIF decision.

Added: The Bethel School District sent out 220 RIF notices. Ouch.

waiting for the pandemic

2009-04-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Swine flu.

It's now a "public health emergency," having sickened hundreds across North America, leading to roughly 86 deaths in Mexico. Events in affected regions have been postponed or canceled--schools, shops, churches, offices shuttered to keep exposure at a minimum. In our area, authorities are already considering their options, which seems wise, given that cases have been reported in neighboring British Columbia. (Sensible advice is found here. Panicking won't help, but it might be wise to make sure you have enough around the house so could stay home for a few days.)

A few years ago, when the avian version was in the news, I blogged about how it could precipitate a change in the way we do education.

I enjoy teaching in a traditional classroom, with all the advantages and difficulties of seat time and face-to-face instruction, and I'm sure those who are entrenched in that format aren't going to let it disappear without a fight. The technological capability is there, though, waiting for the right social and political context. (As a hypothetical, think how readily people would accept online instruction in the advent of an avian flu pandemic.) When it happens, will you be ready?

I am.

Olympia School District RIF update: April 24

2009-04-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday's budget announcement, the situation on the ground appears to have changed, likely for the better. From another District RIF update email:

Earlier today the legislative leadership released a preliminary state budget proposal. Although it continues to contain significant cuts to K-12 education, in combination with other proposed legislation to be considered this weekend, the state budget proposal appears to be better than the worst case planning scenario.

As a result we will not be issuing RIF notices next week and there will be no 4:00 email containing a RIF number.

We will be watching the legislature closely as they complete their work on the state budget. Until the state budget is finalized, we are not certain as to what extent a reduction in force may be necessary. If needed, we will re-schedule the RIF meetings as indicated in our earlier communications.

Looks like the pre-RIF notice I received in today's mail is already obsolete.

close to the worst case

2009-04-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

The Senate and House compromise budget is ready for debate in both houses.

Should it pass, and be signed by Governor Gregoire... well, let's just say it isn't the worst case scenario, but it's close.

According to Gregoire's proposed budget, last year the state spent 732.9 million on Initiative 728; The Olympian says the compromise budget slashes $600 million from "class size funding," which I presume to mean I-728.

82% gone.

In the Olympia School District, that would equate to roughly $3.25 million. The District had estimated that the worst case scenario, a $3.7 million cut, could require the elimination of 37.5 FTEs, or full time equivalencies--teaching positions. A little math, and the current estimate falls a bit to 33.

This is highly speculative and subject to change. I'm emailing Jim Crawford to find out if my estimates are based on correct assumptions. If I'm wrong, I'll be sure to correct this post.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Olympia School District RIF update: April 23

2009-04-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

Pre-RIF notices are heading out to the yet-unknown number of Olympia teachers, starting today. Via the District's communication team, in email:

This afternoon, letters will be mailed home to teachers who have been identified to receive RIF notices. These letters are being mailed to homes in order to honor the intent of the collective bargaining language that notification not be made at school sites. We will also follow up with an email message to all teachers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24th. This email will indicate the total number of teachers from the seniority/experience list that will be receiving RIF notices. Actual RIF notices will be delivered to teachers beginning Monday, April 27th. [emphasis added]

All teachers who receive information that they will be affected by the RIF should plan on attending one of the following meetings:

Elementary School Teachers
Monday April 27th Knox Board Room 4:00-5:00

Secondary School Teachers
Tuesday April 28th Knox Board Room 3:00-4:00

As you may already know, in the pessimum outlook, 37.5 positions would be eliminated. The House and Senate have decided on a budget, but haven't released the details; regardless, Governor Gregoire will have the final vote on any education-gutting about to take place. (Reason for pessimism: the sales tax boost proposal went down in flames.)

If you know a young teacher in any district around Washington, give them a hug, now.

House, Senate agree on slashed budget

2009-04-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

The House and Senate have reached budgetary accord.

Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate have reached agreement on deep cuts in funding for public schools, higher education, health care and other state services totaling nearly $4 billion.

The agreement was announced moments ago and details are still coming.

Details. We all know who lives there.

Update: As the article expands, we get this juicy quote:

"There are a lot of cuts that we made that rip the hearts out of all of us having to make them," said Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Write your own punchline.

Olympia officially initiates the RIF process

2009-04-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

We'd been hearing about it for weeks, and even received an email from District higher-ups warning that it was about to happen. Still, the official call to inaugurate an exploration of the RIF process, Resolution #451, hadn't been passed by the Olympia School Board of Directors, nor had its follow-up, the actual official setting-of-the-process-in-motion, Resolution #452.

Tonight, both were passed unanimously by a Board hamstrung by a depleted economy and a state budget outlook that, in the nicest possible terms, disconcerts. This means that a good chunk of teachers in the Olympia School District--the upper bound is probably 100--will soon receive a letter notifying them that the RIF is in play, and it may include them.

This will not be a pink slip. It'll be a warning that the pink slip virus is contagious, a painful and frightening but legally necessary step. If a district fails to warn an employee that their position is at risk, the district can't make the cut.

In tonight's freshly-released worst case scenario, Assistant Superintendent Jim Crawford estimated that in 2009-2010, the District will have to eliminate 37.5 FTEs, or Full Time Equivalents. That's based on the Senate budget, which would completely eradicate I-728 funds.

Will we get the worst case? Only the legislature--and Governor Gregoire--can say for sure.

You might want to help them make up their minds.

Olympia School District I-728 Forum liveblog

2009-04-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the annual I-728 Forum, in which the Olympia School District takes public comment on its prioritization of I-728 funds. Usually only 2-3 people show up; this year, despite the sunshine and pre-summer weather outside, about 17 are here. The reason: depending on the budget that ultimately comes down from the legislature, the District stands to lose anywhere from $940,000 to $3.7 million.

Most of that money pays for teaching positions.

6:02
The Pledge aside, Jim Crawford begins the meeting by discussing the basics of I-728--where it came from (the voters), what it's used for (smaller classes / more teachers, mostly) and where it's going (la mort, as the French would say).

6:09
Crawford runs down the state spending, which is pretty different from our own. Example: statewide, schools use about 19% of their I-728 funds for professional development. We use 6%-13% depending on the year.

6:14
A few more folks have trickled in. Crawford, taking a quick break from his summary, asks if anyone wants to comment during the forum. Nope. Guess everyone came to listen and learn, at least for now.

6:18
Crawford notes that "by itself, reducing class size is not sufficient to improve student outcomes to the desired level." Indeed. At the secondary level, the effect on learning is smaller--likely because students change classes throughout the day. However, I-728 money currently allows our area high schools to offer a wide variety of courses. If it's gone, so are many electives.

6:33
Crawford finished and the Board recessed for five minutes at 6:25 or so. Now the room is filling up, around fifty people in attendance. We'll have to see what's brought everybody here tonight.

6:35
Pledge #2. I'm banking it alongside my sick time.

6:38
It's not all bad news. Entertainment Explosion just presented the District's homeless program with a $2,000 check.

6:47
Jeff Carpenter, facilities guru for the District, is talking about allowing greater community use of Ingersoll Stadium. I don't have a cowpoke in this rodeo, so I'm checking out to grade papers for a few minutes, unless something crazy happens.

7:12
Public comment begins on the Ingersoll Stadium issue. The first speaker is doing a line-by-line rebuttal of the District's recommendation, so I'm going to duck back down and get more homework done.

7:30
To the woman who, when notified of her turn to speak, replied, I don't need to, everything's already been said: bless you.

7:41
Regarding the ongoing Ingersoll complaints, a citizen who couldn't attend, one Ray Dinwiddie, has his letter read by a neighbor. There's a brief question about his precise address, but really, no need. Dinwiddie's spoken before the Board the last time the stadium was a hot topic, back in 2003. From the archives:

He stated that the District’s credibility with respect to the management of the stadium is not good because of its unwillingness to take responsibility for its actions. He recalled complaining to the District about a revival event, a dog show, walk-a-thon, that they are upset about policies that are so wide open. He stated that the neighbors don’t trust you, that this is a very grave issue that must be addressed, that the stadium is not an asset, but a liability because of the problems it presents to the neighborhood.

Oh, and Dinwiddie invented a fireplace insert a while back. Amazing thing, Google.

7:59
After a brief break, we're back in action. By the way, this is a regularly scheduled Board meeting we're in, no longer the I-728 Forum in the title of the post. If you're still reading.

8:10
Bonnie Guyer-Graham asks the District to consider the differences between schools when apportioning funding. (She said about the same thing last budget go-round.) Ellen Rice (this Ellen Rice) asks the district to consider smarter ways of managing personnel, similar to the substance of the linked comment. Oh, and Ellen, a clarification: the District hasn't sent any RIF letters yet; they've merely set the process in motion. Last week I erred in saying they'd voted to do even that--it was expected, but the vote took place about fifteen minutes after Ellen spoke, and that after a vote to inaugurate the process of setting the process in motion. First--and last meeting--they had to hear the resolution to inaugurate the process of setting the process in motion. (I don't have a law degree, if it isn't obvious.)

8:23
Jim Crawford again, dishing out the bad news that we've all known in our guts for some time: we're going to have to make reductions and modifications at all levels and in all programs, certificated and classified. Ax or chainsaw, take your pick. And, of course, all of this depends on how vicious the legislature will be.

8:33
A moment of gallows humor. Frank Wilson tosses out the idea of squeezing the end fund balance even tighter, instead of making steep cuts. Wouldn't work, says Superintendent Lahmann, because it's not sustainable for more than a couple years.
Wilson, joking: "Except by that time, the state's going to fully fund education."
Barclift: "What's in your cup, Frank?"

8:36
Once the vote on Resolution 452--the one that really sets the RIF in motion--is done, I'm outta here. I'll update tomorrow, after I see how The Olympian's Venice Buhain covers the story.

8:39
With a heavy heart, Allen Miller moves, and Frank Wilson seconds. Motion passes unanimously. Welcome to the RIF, youngsters. (I'm 30 now. I can say that.)

please, SCOTUS, get the strip search decision right

2009-04-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

No middle school authority figure anywhere should be given the legal authority to strip search a student when looking for prescription-strength ibuprofen. This should not be controversial.

Especially not...

When the suspect has already consented to have her backpack and outer garments searched.
When the only rationale for the search comes from a dubious informant.
When a parent is not previously informed of the search, or present during the proceedings.

It's going to take a Supreme Court decision to make legally plain the painfully obvious. If they get this one wrong...

Update: Orin Kerr thinks they'll get it right--for boring legal reasons.

Tumwater proposes cuts; Olympia to follow

2009-04-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Tumwater School District could lose as many as twelve teachers in the coming months, The Olympian reports.

Tumwater classrooms might have 3 percent fewer teachers next year as part of the district’s $1.7 million in cuts for 2009-10 to meet a projected budget shortfall.

That would be the equivalent of six full-time certificated staff members at the elementary school level and six at the middle and high school levels. It also would be the first time the district has responded to a budget shortfall with teacher layoffs in recent memory.

The pain is going to spread all over Thurston County. The Olympia School Board recently voted to send RIF notices to roughly 100 teachers by May 15. According to a union rep, in the worst-case scenario, as many as 55 positions might be eliminated.

Fifty-five. No way normal attrition covers that.

I have no idea what to expect for next year. I'm #97 on the RIF list, so even if I keep my job, I may not stay at my present location. No matter where I end up, it'll be a packed house.

Like many coaches, I could see a significant reduction in my supplemental contract, or its outright elimination. How this would affect the future of activities and athletics district-wide is an open question.

Makes this meeting pretty important:

The Olympia School District Board of Directors will hold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20, 2009, at the Knox Center, 1113 Legion Way SE, Olympia, Washington 98501. The forum is being held to receive input from the community on the use of Initiative 728 funds for the 2009-2010 school year.

A regular meeting of the Olympia School District Board of Directors will follow at 6:30 p.m.

You might want to attend.

the report card, 167 years later

2009-04-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last week, while visiting the Cabildo, a New Orleans museum chronicling the history of Louisiana, I chanced across a report card from 1842:

PUBLIC SCHOOLS -- SECOND MUNICIPALITY
Monthly Account of George Leahy from Monday, March 7, to Saturday, April 8, 1842

Credit Marks for Correct Lessons, 67 --duty requires 96
Merit Marks for Correct Conduct, 17 --duty requires 21
Checks for Misconduct,
Absent, 6 days Tardy, times
Remarks:--

The Parent or Guardian is requested to signify that he has examined this account, by signing it below the Teacher's name and returning it.

A few random thoughts.

1. I would love to see a report card coming from a contemporary public school that uses the word "duty" in any context.

2. Do public schools do "merit marks" these days? Mine sure doesn't.

3. As the Washington legislature plans to return education to 1842 funding levels, perhaps we oughtta return to 1842 pedagogy, too. Slates! Primers! Corporal punishment! (Double bonus: no more Dornian pseudo-WASL.)

playing chicken in the legislature

2009-03-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

The budget details from the Senate are out, and if you're an educator, or anyone who cares about educational quality in Washington... better grab your beta-blockers.

Senate Democrats delivered on a promise to slash state spending, unveiling a proposed budget this morning that includes more than $1.3 billion in cuts to public schools and higher education.

Budget documents indicate cuts of $877 million for public schools. Lawmakers would reduce funding for Initiative I-728, which was approved by voters in 2000 to reduce class sizes; trim levy equalization money for property-poor districts, and cut spending for other programs. Exact cuts by category were not immediately available.

I-728 would be practically eliminated--a 93% reduction. In the Olympia School District, where I teach, that would mean the loss of 48 full-time teaching positions. There's simply no way retirement or other normal attrition can account for that, which means that should this budget pass, we're facing steep, painful cuts.

Or is all this a ploy to get Washington's citizens to pay higher taxes, and to force Governor Gregoire into a political corner? A spectacular game of legislative chicken?

Update: The House budget is only slightly less painful.

RIF option on the table for Olympia School District

2009-03-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Anyone who's been following this year's state budget implosion will have seen this coming. The Olympia School District is investigating a RIF process as a way to balance the budget in the face of declining revenue, an email from the District's HR Director Beth Scouller reports.

This evening at the Board of Director's meeting, the Board of Directors will be asked to approve Resolution 451. This resolution directs the Superintendent to recommend a reduced education plan, including a reduced staffing plan, for the 2009-2010 school year. As required by state law, such action is necessary when the District does not anticipate the financial resources to maintain programs and services at the present levels.

At this time it is unfortunate that the District does not know the extent of the impact on District revenues due to our current state and national economic situation. Although we are hopeful that cuts and reductions will be minimal, the District is preparing for a reduction-in-force in case deep cuts to programs, staff and services become necessary.

Appendix A in the OEA/OSD Bargaining Agreement addresses the specific steps and processes for a reduction in our certificated staff. Please feel free to contact your OEA building representative, OEA President, or me if you have questions regarding the language or process of a District reduction in force. At this time, no reduction-in-force (RIF) notices are being prepared. You will continue to receive communication from me as we move through this process.

I couldn't make the meeting, so I don't know what action has been taken on the resolution. (My guess is they passed it; the RIF process isn't binding, but it's necessary to make any future cuts.) I'll post an update when I know for sure.

Seven years of teaching in the district; three RIFs, potentially. I'm not the albatross, am I?

First Update: Perusing the minutes, it appears the resolution was presented for first reading, which means it wouldn't be approved until the next meeting, April 20th. I'll update again when the podcast is posted and I can have a listen. (If you were there, feel free to comment. The Olympian--which we should now refer to as The Tacoma News-Extension--isn't much help today.)

Second Update: I spoke with a source in the District who noted that I-728 funds are potentially going to be axed by the State. The District employs 50 teachers using these funds, which would not only necessitate a RIF process, but likely deep cuts in other programs as well. One thing is certain: class sizes will be larger next year.

math WASL: one and done?

2009-03-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

If Governor Gregoire signs HB 1562, students who fail the math WASL wouldn't have to keep taking it and taking it. Instead, they'd have to earn at least two more math credits during their high school career.

"To me, it makes perfect sense rather than retaking the WASL," said Jean Lane, Richland School District superintendent.

What students need if they're failing the 10th-grade math test is more math education, not more testing, she said.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn has proposed phasing in a replacement for the WASL that would be less on general knowledge and instead test students at the end of a course on knowledge they gained in that class.

Dorn spokesman Nathan Olson said that form of assessment should be in place by 2013, when the proposed law would expire.

Why change things now?

Ron Williamson, assistant superintendent for secondary education for the Kennewick School District, said dropping the requirement to retake the test in 11th and 12th grades would cut down on confusion.

"From a school perspective and a parent perspective, this probably helps because there is so much information about the WASL and the changing requirements that parents get mixed signals," he said.

So another change will help cut down the confusion caused by all the changes.

Yeah.

Update: She signed it.

for the love of the Olympia School District

2009-03-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

If you in any way care about the future of the Olympia School District, I urge you to take the ten minutes to fill out the 2009-2010 Budget Survey. It's not difficult, and if it helps set better priorities for spending, then it's well worth the time.

Below are the really tricky questions. What are your crazy/brilliant ideas? Share them!

breaking news: CHS may now stay open in light snow

2009-03-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

This just in from the boss:

Today Tim Byrne worked with the city and reached an agreement that we could hold school at Capital with more than a dusting of snow on our roof. School will be closed if there is more than two inches of snow.

In March, what are the chances?

(Please don't answer that question. Thanks.)

roof collapse leads to mysterious Public Records Request

2009-03-13T16:25:00.001-07:00

This crawled into my email inbox this afternoon, via Peter Rex, the communications guru for the Olympia School District:

Earlier this week, we received a public records request for any documents, emails, reports or correspondence related to the roof collapse at Capital High School. Under state law, citizens have the right to request any document that we produce as public employees. Failure to comply with the request can lead to significant financial penalties for the District.

The request is for any emails, reports, correspondence or other documents that you have relating to the roof collapse for the period of January 8 through March 10, 2009....

I would like to have all documents to me no later than Tuesday, March 31st so I can process them and run any questions I have by our legal counsel.

I understand that this is an inconvenience and not the most productive use of your time, but I do appreciate your cooperation. Call me if you have any questions.

Thank you.

I have reviewed the (very few) emails I sent about the collapse. They are uniformly boring.

I'd love to know what the request is about, but I'm willing to live in suspense for now.

Bonus: Read the latest info on the collapse here [pdf].

Barack Obama hearts merit pay

2009-03-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Perhaps as a way to help Americans escape from their economic nightmares, Obama's talking about merit pay. It's working.

In his first major speech on education, Obama said the United States must drastically improve student achievement to regain lost international standing.

"The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens," he said. "We have everything we need to be that nation ... and yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us."

His solutions include teacher pay and charter school proposals that have met resistance among members of teachers unions, which constitute an important segment of the Democratic Party.

I am--gulp--a union member who sees room in educational compensation for merit pay. I know this means coming out of a closet of sorts, but if research connects teacher quality to student achievement, and teacher longevity to competitive compensation, then some reasonable form of merit pay combines the best of both worlds.

What I haven't seen is a merit pay scheme that is truly fair. I can't see any worthwhile use of test scores. For example, as a high school teacher with two vastly different sets of classes--say, two periods Remedial Math and three periods AP Calculus--then roughly 60% of my performance is not directly comparable to the other 40%. Furthermore, I'm standing on the shoulders--or running with the parachutes--of 10 or more elementary and middle school teachers.

Show me a sophisticated metric to fairly compensate performance, Obama team, and I'll be on board.

Until then, I'll remain cautious, optimistic, and--yep--hopeful.

(Charter schools? Evidence of their success is pretty thin. But I'm open to persuasion.)

nationalizing banks the curriculum

2009-03-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

These days, everybody's talking about nationalizing banks. What many are missing: the nationalization of American education.

I encourage you to go have a look at what people are posting...because I get the impression that this discussion isn't going to subside anytime soon. If anything, we're just at the beginning of this rhetoric...and perhaps not too far from words becoming actions.

I'm not terribly afraid of national standards designed by experts in assessment and instruction. (Call them... teachers.) I am wary though, of national standards dictated by politicians, textbook makers, ed-school "theorists," corporations, lobbyists, and the like.

I disagree with The Science Goddess only slightly: though there's been a recent uptick in national standards rhetoric, this blog predicted its rise over two years ago. It's one of the ironic legacies of the No Child Left Behind Act, which only went partway, allowing states to maintain their own standards, one of the reasons for the act's failure. Now, we're clawing our way out by reaching for a French-made rope.

L'école Américaine normalisée. Bush, père.

school board madness

2009-03-02T19:11:00.001-08:00

Because sometimes it's the only sane thing to do.

HB 1410, SB 5444 die in committee

2009-02-27T06:49:00.000-08:00

Neither HB 1410 nor SB 5444 made it out of the Education and Finance committee on Cutoff Day, The Olympian reports.

Despite those bills dying, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Haigh, who serves as the chairwoman of the House Education Appropriations Committee, both said they expect a big-picture measure to pass into law this year.

And Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said she thinks elements of the task force plan will survive — particularly a piece that would pay for a more uniform accounting and financial-tracking system for schools.

It's too bad in a way; HB 1410 might have been amended into something useful. But as it stood, it was biting off a gargantuan morsel of reform steak, and ended up choking on its own ambition.

collaboration time is baaaaaaaack

2009-02-23T20:13:00.001-08:00

The 2009-2010 calendar was approved by the Olympia School Board on Monday, February 9, with little fanfare, as the saying goes. The biggest change: more collaboration time, in the form of eight 1-hour late start days.

At the high school level, it means the creation of Schedule E.

Take a look at the calendar here [pdf]. It's... colorful.

Dorn and Obama: the mystic bond

2009-02-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

Reading this KOMO article about Randy Dorn's rocky start, I was struck by some compelling similarities between Dorn and President Obama. Think about it: both...

Surprisingly defeated a heavily-favored female opponent by calling for change
Had to deal with a system in crisis at the outset of their term
Stumbled out of the gate, partly because of their own missteps, and partly because of unexpected opposition from entrenched legislators
Are not yet the sum of their expectations

I have, as they say, a theory: Dorn and Obama are stigmatic twins.

HB 1758, Running Start, and the death of high school

2009-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

A while ago, Running Start was in danger of stumbling before the finish line. The current budget mess seemed to present an opportunity to sideline the program, or at least scale it back, but lawmakers seem intent on further strengthening it.

HB 1758, discussed by the Times' Chantal Anderson (no relation), is a case in point.

Running Start students juggling both college and high school may soon be able to graduate from both without completing high school requirements, as long as they complete an Associate's Degree, technical program, or receive a professional certificate....

The Washington Education Association supports the bill.

"If getting an AA degree at an accredited Washington State community or technical college, or completing a professional technical certificate isn't proof of proficiency in basic skills then I think we might as well just give up," said Wendy Rader-Konofalski lobbyist for the organization. "Because I believe that would in fact satisfy those requirements."

Some will complain that this only cements the status of community colleges as High School Plus, and hastens the demise of the traditional high school. I don't know what's so wrong with that--especially if it means that something smarter arises in its place.

replace the WASL... with what, exactly?

2009-02-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

Randy Dorn has already started the chainsaw of WASL reform. That tree's headed for the lumber yard. Gerald Bracey on the plan:

Dorn wants to replace the WASL with shorter, multiple-choice tests. Bad idea. And he wants the tests to be more "diagnostic." Dorn's impossible dream.

First off, in a KUOW interview, Dorn said the new tests would still be valid. He cannot know that. Validity is always an empirical question. Usually, if you make a test shorter, it becomes less valid. Of course, I've oversimplified in that statement. The question really is, valid for what? It's relatively easy to judge the content validity of test items — do they measure what they claim to measure? From the released WASL items I've seen, I'm not certain those items do....

But the bigger validity question is: Does the test make any difference? Are college professors more pleased with students who have passed the test? Are employers? The answer is a resounding, "We don't know." States are afraid to ask this question because, if the answer comes up, "No," they will be seen to have spent millions, even billions, of dollars for nothing. But informal studies by journalists have yet to turn up a positive instance. So forget all the fear-mongering rhetoric that we need these tests in order to compete with China and in the global economy.

The solution is taking the sting out of the WASL. Right now, our school uses a WASLesque reading assessment to help place students in appropriate instruction. It's given on computers, adaptive, and offers near-instant results. It's not perfectly valid for everything, but that's not its point. It's part of a battery of assessments, and it's not a graduation requirement. Its utility has nothing to do with its lack of "high stakes" motivation.

According to Bracey, what alder of progress should arise in the WASL's place? He concludes with a catkin of a recommendation:

What Washington should pursue is a course like Nebraska's, where testing ideas originated with teachers (remember them?) and evolved into something we might call instruction-driven measurement. Right now, what we have is measurement-driven instruction and it is a disaster, both in Washington and in the nation at large.

Bzzt. False dichotomy, five yard penalty. Intelligently-crafted assessment should drive instruction, and instruction should inform assessment. No either-or about it.

save the Naturopathic Advisory Committee!

2009-02-09T20:28:00.001-08:00

Governor Gregoire wants to take a machete to the Advisory Boards that have cropped up, kudzu-like, all over the budget.

The move, which the Office of Financial Management says would save the state about $15 million over the next two years, includes cutting everything from the Ferry Advisory Committees to the Western State Hospital Advisory Board. The state currently has 470 boards and committees.

The list of 150 boards is available in pdf format here.

All well and good, except... the governor includes the Naturopathic Advisory Committee on the list, slated for the chopper by June of 2010.

In a year and a half, do you really want naturopaths running amok in Washington State? Do you?

Okay, so I kid. Really, why are we waiting until then? Cut it now, Governor. Same with the Organized Crime Advisory Board. The dons are doing fine on their own.

$7 million roof repair tab; also, no WASL for freshfolks

2009-02-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Initial estimates for repair costs for Capital's collapsed roof run into the meeelions.

"The $7 million figure is the best estimate by our insurers of the potential magnitude of the claim so far," district spokesman Peter Rex said.

However, that won't necessarily cover the entire amount of what it would cost to rebuild the roof and the school's library, which was gutted after the roof collapsed on Christmas Day. District officials won't know the final cost of the reconstruction until they find out what caused the roof to collapse and who is financially liable, Rex said.

It is unknown why a truss supporting the roof failed after a heavy snowstorm, and district officials said last month that it could be several months before the cause is known. Damage might not be repaired until fall, they said.

On Monday, the district will hold a public hearing before the board amends the district's 2008-09 budget to accommodate $7 million in emergency expenses related to the roof collapse.

Thank goodness for insurance. Of course, costs can be expected to climb...

Which brings us to the second budget-related item, the cancellation of the 9th-grade WASL.

State schools chief Randy Dorn eliminated giving freshmen the option of taking the test, part of an effort to save nearly $500,000, his office announced Wednesday night.

Tenth-graders still are required to take the test, as are third- through eighth-graders and some high school juniors and seniors.

Dorn said last month that he will revamp the entire testing system by next year in favor of shorter exams with faster feedback.

It makes sense and it saves money. Dorn's not perfect, but he's made some good choices so far.

Gregoire borrows from the 5/17 playbook

2009-02-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

Governor Gregoire has to balance a budget with a $6 billion (or so) shortfall. What to do?

There's an interactive budget calculator on her Web site that lets users add and subtract from major spending areas.

Gregoire's office says 60 percent of the budget is committed to mandatory programs, such as basic education, debt service and pensions. That means reductions have to come from the other 40 percent of the budget.

Try it for yourself here.

Oh, and putting the budget process within the average citizen's reach? This blog was there first.

crrrrrazy ed reform in HB 1410

2009-01-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

The WEA is steamed about HB 1410 (2009-10), all 111 ed-reforming pages of it. (Really. You want to read the entirety of the 111-page bill? Go right ahead [pdf].)

What has the WEA in a froth is, primarily, the bill's destruction of the state salary schedule. Adios, degree-based salary advancement (pp. 36ff):

The salary schedule shall not provide increased salaries based on continuing education credits or academic degrees.

No grandfathering, mind you, for the teachers who dutifully went along with the old ways, spending hours, days, weeks, months, or years of their time to get that master's (pp. 41ff):

23 NEW SECTION. Sec. 205. TRANSFER TO NEW SYSTEM.
(1) Certificated instructional staff whose first employment with a school district commenced before the 2012-13 school year have the option to make an irrevocable transfer to the compensation system with salary allocations provided under section 204 of this act....

(3) Any employee subject to this section who has not transferred to the new compensation system by November 15, 2021, shall be automatically transferred effective September 1, 2022.

So you've got ten years to milk that master's for all it's worth. Yet the bill makes it seem like the state is trying to model compensation after the wider professional world, including...

19 (a) Results of the preliminary labor market survey and analysis conducted under this section and other information about average salaries for noneducators in comparable occupations in Washington, including noneducators at the beginning of their careers and various types of educational staff associates working in noneducational settings;

Here's a tip: in other professions, advanced degrees mean a higher salary. Heck, many companies pay for their employees' schooling.

There's more, including a fun phrase, "academic watch," that turns the bill into a miniature NCLB Act, rubrics aplenty, "team-based bonuses," recommended class sizes, Core 24 and much, much more.

The bill's status: it's been sent to the Education Appropriations committee. Here are their phone numbers and emails. They met tonight for a public hearing at 6:00. I wasn't there.

I was too busy reading the bill.

more hard times coming

2009-01-23T17:00:00.001-08:00

In today's email, teachers received news from Superintendent Bill Lahmann that the upcoming fiscal implosion at the state level is going to make recovery from our district's own turmoil that much harder.

The governor and state Legislature are facing a shortfall for the 2009-2011 state budget of about $6 billion, and it is likely to go higher. To provide some perspective, that represents approximately 15% of the entire state general fund budget.

This is not good news for our District or our community which is the home to many state government employees. More than 40% of the state budget goes to K-12 public schools so we will almost certainly see some budget reductions here in Olympia, as will every other district across Washington.

If the Legislature makes only modest budget reductions to schools and they allow the District to collect all of the funds approved by local taxpayers in our 2008 levy, we could avoid the most drastic cut options. (Our local voters approved a four-year levy in 2008 and they have continued to support funding for our District to the fullest extent allowed by state law.) On the other hand, if funds for the class size Initiative 728 are eliminated, the District could face a shortfall of more than $4 million in 2009-2010, in addition to other cuts. Obviously if this were to happen, we would need to consider options that would never be on the table in any normal budget year.

Add to that the continued fallout from the collapsing roof at CHS, and the potential for more missed days if it snows again--the City of Olympia says, no more snow accumulation or they'll shut 'er down--and you can guess why things have been a little quiet around the blog lately. Consider it mild case of shock.

(Oh, and it's bargaining time for the OEA. I don't envy the team one bit.)

enjoy the break

2008-12-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Totally called it. Three straight days of snow = no school until January 5th.

winter break commences early

2008-12-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

Today, school is canceled in the Olympia School District. The way the weather is likely to go, the snow we have now will melt a little this afternoon, then freeze over nicely. Nothing like ice-glazed roads to make a few thousand students' dreams come true.

standards-based grading: more popular by the minute

2008-12-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

Blog-neighbor TRP's school is starting to have the same conversation we are: how to get smarter about grading. The TRP's initial take on one principle--no zeroes--isn't too favorable.

My colleague also said that if a student understands the material, than he or she is "an A student" and should get an A. She cited a positively brilliant kid--one of the best writers I've ever had in 12 years on the job--who got a C for me last year and is getting a C for her this year in AP. Why? She skips assignments. "But you've seen her writing," my colleague says. "She's an A student."

My response: "No. She has an A brain...but A students do the work. Therefore, she's not an A student."

We kicked around some possible alternatives: A 4-point system, where an A is worth four, a B three, a C two, a D 1, and an F zero. It penalizes kids less for screw-ups. (The aforementioned kid with 3 75s and a skip would get a C- under this system.)

I wouldn't buy into that either...it means that the kid who tried and struggled gets the same grade on a paper as the kid who played video games instead. That's unjust.

But then, that's because SBG requires something that most schools aren't doing: meaningful grades. As I explain in a comment over there,

The problem is that one grade (A, B, C) means too much and too little at the same time. I like some of the theory behind standards-based grading--but it requires a smarter report card. If "A" represents only learning, then we need separate categories (on the transcript, natch) for things like behavior, effort, and timeliness.

And it can be done.

We just need to be more--how do I say this gently?--Canadian.

See here for an example [pdf].

future = now

2008-12-01T17:09:00.001-08:00

Today's Olympian article outlining the successes of regional online education...

Full-online public schools have become a draw for about 1 percent of South Sound students and their families. The schools, run by private companies, allow students to take on subjects at their own pace and provide instructors to teach subjects to students who previously were home-schooled.

The programs are free to families with a computer and Internet access. Some programs even provide the computer — because the online schools have been funded at the same per-student rate as traditional brick-and-mortar schools since 2005....

In Olympia, 43 students transferred to other districts for online schools — about one-half of 1 percent. The district's own online school, iConnect, enrolled 70 students from Olympia and elsewhere, said district spokesman Peter Rex.

The North Thurston and Tumwater districts both have online classes at their high schools, but neither operates a full-time online school.

Two years ago, Olympia started a fully online school program, called iConnect Academy, out of the Olympia Regional Learning Academy.

...only underscores a point I made a year and half ago.

Traditional brick-and-mortar schooling isn't yet out of style, but it's getting pushed further and further into the back of the closet.

As the state gets ready to cut billions from its budget, look for online education to get another boost.

grading panacea / grading Pangea

2008-11-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

Blog-neighbor The Science Goddess recently gave a talk on standards-based grading at the National Science Teachers of America conference. It was well-attended, which surprised her.

Instead, I had well over 100 people crammed into the room---sitting in the aisles, up at the presentation table and standing in the doorway straining to listen. I'm not sure how many others turned away when they saw the throng...and I know the fire marshal wasn't poking around because the number of people was well over the posted room occupancy. Wowser.

The experience was very validating---not so much for me personally as for the topic itself. Grading has arrived. When I talked to a few of the attendees about their "hardcore" attitude of staying to the end, they said that this was an area of need for them and I was the only one on the schedule talking about it. Others who chose to stay after the presentation to talk to me mentioned that they were trying to do some of these things at their schools---but it was a lonesome experience. It is indeed hard to implement something like this on your own. I got asked about presenting at other schools. Would I come? Would I talk to more than just science teachers? Would I answer the phone/e-mail if there were questions? Of course. But how sad is that people are all out there struggling on their own little islands of grading.

At my school, a miniature book club has met a couple times to discuss progressive grading practices. I get the same sense that TSG does: right now, standards-based grading is an archipelago in a vast, old-school ocean. But as teachers and principals get excited about it, and as word keeps spreading, within a decade I think we'll see a continent born.

smearing Jeff Kingsbury? stupid plan.

2008-11-22T14:16:00.001-08:00

Via blog-neighbor Emmett O'Connell, word of a story I missed in The Olympian: some idiot* used a mailer to smear Jeff Kingsbury.

The postcard carried a return address for "Kids at Play," a summer theater program run by Capital Playhouse, which Kingsbury founded and operates. The Olympian obtained a copy of a postcard that was postmarked Nov. 18 and mailed to the YWCA of Olympia.

On the front is a picture of Kingsbury and a logo for Capital Playhouse. It reads: "I want your vote for mayor of Olympia, and after that State Senator. As I am destined to be the next Mayor of Olympia I look forward to walking across the street from my business Capital Playhouse Northwest Theater for Youth to my new $35 million dollar City Hall office.

"Lately there has been a bit of an uproar about me calling people 'idiots', what's the big deal, most people are, I am just the guy that's man enough to say it. Just search my name on the local paper's website 'The olympian.com'."

The postcard went on to make suggestive comments about Kingsbury's sexual orientation — he is gay — and his theater program.

There is no race for mayor next year, and Kingsbury abstained from voting on Olympia's planned $35.6 million City Hall, which would be across Fourth Avenue from Capital Playhouse, to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The reference to calling people "idiots" refers to Kingsbury using his laptop computer during a recent council meeting to post that an Olympia resident addressing the council was an idiot. He later said he was referring to someone at the council meeting who called President-elect Barack Obama a "mulatto" and asked if Obama would "save the white people from the coming great famine." He later said he learned his lesson after the private Facebook exchange appeared on a local blog.

It's not the first time an area councilman has made a blogging faux pas--Lakewood's Walter Neary comes to mind--but the response, maybe even by the same obviously unhinged citizen, is beyond ridiculous.

In the end, this lunatic scheme will backfire. Kingsbury is a good man and a passionate representative for his constituents. He deserves all Olympians' support.

*Yes, the word "idiot" is intentional.

2008 Thurston County election results

2008-11-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

... will be posted as soon as they become available, around 8:15 tonight. Should be interesting to see how that 12-candidate judicial race turns out.

Update 8:16 Meyer appears to be winning, with about 23% in the 12-person race. Follow that link to see for yourself.

Statewide, here are the results (in RSS). Enjoy!

a brief intro to standards-based grading

2008-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Want to get the jump on the trendiest trend in educational trends? Visit Dr. Pezz's classroom, where he introduces some of the basic principles of standards-based grading.

Oh, and here's a followup.

If your building isn't talking about standards-based grading, they will be soon. Trust me.

standards-based grading: coming to a school near me

2008-10-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

I read about North Thurston's switch to standards-based grading in elementary schools...

Teachers no longer will include homework or students' behavior as part of a letter grade; the mark only will represent the student's learning achievement, measured by test scores, key assignments and observations. Work habits, homework and behavior will be evaluated separately.

Other changes include:

• Late assignments will not reduce a grade

• Extra credit or bonus points also will not typically factor into the grade

• Grades will not be based on attendance

• Homework will not be factored into grades, but rather used as practice and to guide teachers on what to focus on.

• Grades will be organized by standards or learning goals rather than on one specific subject. For example, the third grade report card will measure students' reading skills based on fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

... and the next day was asked to read a slightly overgrown pamphlet about standards-based grading "fixes," including all the changes listed above. The goal: prepare me to participate in a book group examining Capital's assessment practices.

I detect a trend.

the future of science in the Olympia School District

2008-10-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Is up to you:

A community roundtable forum Monday will help shape what science instruction will look like in the Olympia School District in the future.

Curriculum director Debbi Hardy said the discussion will cover more ground than what's covered in the district's K-12 science.

The forum won't just focus on the science curriculum or the new science standards that are being developed by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It will discuss the way that science is taught, she said.

"This conversation Monday night is a bigger conversation" than just curriculum, Hardy said. "The purpose of this forum is to talk about what our community really values about science and science education. To have the kind of dialogue that will help us as we look at our whole system."

The event runs from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Olympia High School commons, Monday, October 6th.

My two cents: science is fun, and the pace of discovery and change in various disciplines has ratcheted up in recent decades. All teachers should cross-pollinate a little science lovin' into all content areas.

this'd better not start a trend

2008-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

A promise is a promise:

"I'm trying to avoid major freeways. I called a couple of bicycling groups in the area and asked for some route help so I'm driving on the least traffic highways," said Principal Mike Taylor, Columbia Burbank Middle School.

Taylor will leave tomorrow and when he arrives in Olympia 40 of his students will be greeting him there.

Why's he making the trip? Because all of his students improved their scores 4 out of 8 sections of the WASL. If it'd been 6 out of ten, Taylor would be wearing a pink suit as he crosses the Cascades.

Good luck, Mr. Taylor. You crazy, crazy man.

Olympia School District tidbits

2008-08-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

1. The Olympia School District kicked off another year with its annual Learning Improvement Days, this Monday and Tuesday. Andrea Peterson, 2007 Teacher of the Year, gave an inspirational and humor-filled speech about the necessity of relationships to teaching, and how in the new "Three R's," Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships, the latter gets short shrift despite its foundational importance.

I'd have more detailed comments, but my hard drive was destroyed in a series of frightful noises.

2. We have two new School Board members, if you hadn't already heard: Eileen Thomson and Mark Campeau. They were appointed by the remaining three, in order of seniority: Carolyn Barclift, Frank Wilson, and Allen Miller. Now that "crisis mode" is over, it's time for the District to have a thoroughgoing discussion of our values, goals, and weaknesses.

3. No Child Left Behind has caught up to two district schools, The Olympian reports:

Fifty-seven districts and 628 schools statewide are listed as needing improvement under No Child Left Behind in a preliminary report released Thursday by state Superintendent Terry Bergeson.

North Thurston was the only Thurston County district listed as needing improvement overall, but nearly all of the county's eight districts failed to meet federal benchmarks in at least one area, according to the report....

•Avanti High School: Did not meet target graduation rate.

•Jefferson Middle School: Math for the special-education and low-income groups; reading for the special-education group.

Since our results are tied to the WASL, and since WASL scores dipped in many categories statewide, which Bergeson blamed on "something... happening with the kids," one has to wonder if WASL angst is going to be enough to propel her competition, Randy Dorn, this November.

six applicants remain

2008-08-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Olympia School Board has whittled down the list of replacements for Bob Shirley and Russ Lehman. Three each, The Olympian reports:

Those who remain under consideration for Director District 3 are Jim Justin, Doug Pennington and Eileen Thomson.

Those who remain under consideration for Director District 5 are Mark Campeau, Jerry Vick and Ron Wieland.

The paper notes that the public will have a chance to question the remaining candidates. Only problem: no date or time. The district website provides the missing clues.

Members of the public are invited to attend a forum of the candidates for School Board on Tuesday, August 12th at the Knox Administrative Center, 1113 Legion Way SE, Olympia. Candidates for Director District #3 and Director District #5 will answer questions from members of the audience. The session for Director District #3 is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the session for Director District #5 scheduled from 7:45 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.

3 is Shirley's vacated post; 5 belonged to Lehman. Got three free hours?

The Olympian liveblogs a School Board meeting

2008-08-05T22:19:00.001-07:00

The tough one, from a liveblogging perspective, what with all the candidates for the two open positions.

Frankly, it's about time that the old media figured out one of the most basic of New Media maneuvers.

Now I may retire in peace.

2008 primary brings out the crazies: Part II

2008-08-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

The smaller races bring out smaller crackpots, for the most part; and why not? The bigger the audience, the bigger the buffoonery. Still, there are quite a few loose screws in the toolbox below.

John Moyna, Senator, Dist. 3
Charm Rating: Unknown
Most Appealing Feature: Anonymity
Tone: Laconic
Biggest Flaws: Anonymity; Mystique over substance
The Campaign in a Sentence: "All mankind can be categorized into one of two groups: Those who demand the ability to control others, and those not wanting to be controlled."

Chris Bowen, Representative, Pos. 1, Dist. 3
Charm Rating: 3
Most Appealing Feature: Enthusiasm
Tone: Naive
Biggest Flaws: Dubious experience; attended Eastern Washington University
The Campaign in a Sentence: "I was born in 1978 to a nuclear engineer and one of the sweetest ladies you could ever meet."

David M. Morris, Representative, Pos. 1, Dist. 11
Charm Rating: 7
Most Appealing Feature: Lack of experience
Tone: Strident
Biggest Flaws: Lack of experience; redundant punctuation
The Campaign in a Sentence: "SECURE THE BORDER NOW!."

William Glenn (Walkley) Jesernig, Representative, Pos. 2, Dist. 16
Charm Rating: 8
Most Appealing Feature: Brutal honesty
Tone: Devoted
Biggest Flaws: Lack of experience; brutal honesty.
The Campaign in a Sentence:"I am a God fearing father of 9 and grandfather of 7 soon to be 8, Distance runner, Concert promoter, Excavating general contractor, Pyrotechnic operator, Poker Pro, Author, Hole puncher, who never tries; I keep doing till it is done."

Ron Morehouse, Representative, Pos. 2, Dist. 25
Charm Rating: 5
Most Appealing Feature: Parentheses
Tone: Different
Biggest Flaws: Shouting; inconsistent punctuation
The Campaign in a Sentence: "I WILL NOT COMPROMISE MY ETHICS OR BELIEFS."

Leslie Klein, Representative, Pos. 2, Dist. 36
Charm Rating: 6
Most Appealing Feature: Lists "spy" under experience
Tone: Kidding?
Biggest Flaws: Thinking that gaining 16% of the vote counts as a success; hawking a self-help book
The Campaign in a Sentence: "I INTEND TO EMPOWER PEOPLE TO SOLVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS."

Timothy (Cleaver) Stoddard, Senator, Dist. 40
Charm Rating: 8
Most Appealing Feature: Shades
Tone: Goofy
Biggest Flaws: Suspect grammar; inoffensiveness
The Campaign in a Sentence: "All Modern day Ideas for solving current problems can be solved using Karmic principles."

Keith Ljunghammar, Representative, Pos. 1, Dist. 46
Charm Rating: 4
Most Appealing Feature: Family status
Tone: Shouty
Biggest Flaws: Exclamation point abuse; cut-and-paste candidate statement
The Campaign in a Sentence: "Educate, not Excavate!"

Honorable Mention: Michael C. Powell, Representative, Pos. 2, Dist. 2, who, for his family status, put "Single—looking for a date (after November)." What is it with taxpayer-funded personal ads?