Saturday, March 6, 2010
Drug Survey for The Roosevelt News
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Direct Posting Removed
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
One document will govern what students will or will not be exposed to
Why should everyone be forced to read the same books? If the US government decided what books students would or would not read, what would be the reaction to that? Even if the books provided a "fair and accurate" survey of literature, they still only represent a very limited view on what is "fair and accurate". This system is completely undemocratic and is spookily similar to the society described in Orwell's 1984.
Take a look at our future:
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/literacy/LA%20Textbook%20Adoption%20_2_.pdf
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Language Arts Realignment posting below
Ms. Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D., Superintendent
Ms. Cathy Thompson, Director, Curriculum,Instruction & Assessment
Mr. Michael Tolley, Director of Instruction, High School
Ms. Kathleen Vasques, School Coach, Secondary Literacy
Ms. Sherry Carr, School Board Member District II
Mr. Harium Martin-Morris , School Board Member District III
Mr. Peter Maier , School Board Member District I
Ms. Cheryl Chow , School Board Member District VII
Mr. Steve Sundquist , School Board Member District VI
Ms. Mary Bass , School Board Member District V
Mr. Michael DeBell , School Board Member District IV
I am also mailing hardcopies via snail-mail to them, since in some cases that is more effective.
I am pretty sure that more concise communications than mine have a chance of being read all the way to the end, but verbosity seems to be my style.
Well thought out, logical, factual and reasonable letters to the members of the Seattle Public Schools administration may help your opinions be heard. It would be great for them to hear from some students as well as adults. Some recommendations for communications:
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Language Arts Realignment
This is in response to the Seattle school district's efforts to create a common core curriculum for all grade levels and content areas. Specifically I would like to address the Language Arts unification for the 11th and 12th grades.
My understanding is that this "Core Curriculum" is going to remove or greatly reduce the current Language Arts options for 11th and 12th grade students at Roosevelt High School. If that is not the case, then you needn't read any further and I will be assured that my daughter will have a variety of classes to choose from that will help her remain engaged in her learning as well as provide her with the skills she will need as she moves into college.
In a memo or email written by Cathy Thompson that was published on the Voice of Roosevelt website (http://voiceofroosevelt.blogspot.com/), she states:
"There are many purposes for developing and implementing a core
curriculum within a district…"
Below, I will respond to each point she made.
"1. To improve instruction and student achievement overall."
You cannot be assured of improving instruction by changing the curriculum; you can improve instruction by improving the instructors. A poor instructor will teach new curriculum just as poorly as he or she taught the old curriculum. A good instructor that has a passion for teaching Shakespeare may lose heart and become a mediocre instructor of a generic high school curriculum.
To improve student achievement? By whose standards? What if a student who has the talent and desire to be an excellent journalist was in a top-notch journalism class as a reporter or perhaps even editor of her school newspaper? That would be an achievement that would go far on a resumé out in the larger world when she seeks a career in journalism.
"2. To ensure equitable experiences for all students."
Equitable does not mean 'the same'. At a fair a friend once separately bought a bracelet for my daughter and a henna tattoo for his daughter. When his daughter later found out about the bracelet she became pouty because he didn't buy one for her. He said to her "Imagine a world where everyone gets what they want and need, but it isn't all the same thing."
By high school our kids have a good idea of their personal talents, and interests. To keep them engaged and prepare them for their own personal futures we need to give them high quality educational options, not a one-size fits all regimen.
This year Roosevelt High School started requiring all sophomores to take AP Human Geography. My daughter was very eager to take AP Euro and was extremely disappointed that she couldn't. Would AP Euro have been an equitable academic experience compared to AP Human Geography? I think so, not the same, but equitable. She is now less engaged in her learning than last year, in part because she is not in AP Euro.
"3. To ensure that all courses with the same titles achieve a common
standard of quality."
This would be great. I would like to see the same standard of quality for all journalism classes, all speech classes, all Shakespeare classes, all poetry classes, all creative writing classes, all research paper writing classes and all the other language arts classes taught in the Seattle public high schools. But I want the students to have a robust choice of classes to choose from to help them forward their personal interests, talents, and future goals.
"4. To provide a systematic approach to what is targeted and tested."
Are we planning on continuing and expanding the "teaching to the test" mind-set?
"5. To provide consistency and clear expectations."
I am all for setting clear expectations of excellence; however Ralph Waldo Emerson said "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds". To determine if it is a wise consistency or not I would like to ask why it needs to be so consistent. So that it is easy to test whether a student has learned what a committee has deemed best for them to learn? What is it that needs to be consistent? The content? The quality of instruction? The ability for the students to all pass the same test?
I'm all for a clear expectation of a consistent excellence in speech courses across the district, for consistently great creative writing classes for those who are interested in publishing their literary works, for consistently top notch courses in writing research papers for those who intend on college and post-graduate work in the sciences. That is the kind of consistency I can get behind, but not consistency for the sake of being able to cram the same knowledge into every student's head so that they can spit it back out on a test.
"6. To enable continuity of learning for students who face frequent
school changes."
Perhaps the freshman and sophomore years could provide a core curriculum that gives the students a foundation in language arts to prepare them to be able to take full advantage of a broader selection classes that fit their talents in their junior and senior years. It's like in a job where you 'pay your dues' or 'learn the ropes' at first and then later you get to move into the more creative, fun, or challenging work where your interests really lie. Do our kids have to 'pay their dues' all the way through middle school and high school? And then again in college with English 101? If they move to a new school in 11th or 12th grade they could select an option they haven't taken yet if they are afraid of repeating the content of a previous course.
"7. To create a supportive and effective infrastructure."
Supportive and effective for whom? The students? The parents? The teachers? The administrators? The testers? It doesn't seem supportive to eliminate the rich variety of language arts curriculums that the teachers at Roosevelt have developed over the years. It doesn't seem supportive to eliminate student choices in the areas of Language Arts that they want to explore.
"8. To clarify predictable accountability for students and teachers."
Do we want our kids to be predictable? What about giving them the wings to fly? Is it the accountability that you want to be predictable? Dynamic teachers, engaged students, clarified predictable accountability? Accountability is good. Clarified predictable accountability? Do we have to change curriculum to have accountability? I guess it is easier for administrators to verify that accountability has been met if things are all the same. Is the goal to make the administrators' jobs easier? Or give the students an excellent education and keep them engaged so they love learning?
"9. To capitalize on best practice."
Providing information and training in best practices for teachers is great, and giving them the freedom to shape it to their own style is also important. One of the proven best practices is reducing class size, which has already been approved via vote by the citizens. It seems inappropriate to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars re-doing the curriculum when this practice has not been implemented across the board. Best practices can be implemented without changing the curriculum.
"10. To develop a clear focus for students needing interventions."
Please do. Develop a clear focus for students needing interventions, not a one-size-fits-all curriculum for kids whether they need intervention or not.
"11. To foster teacher collaboration."
This can, and does happen with or without a generic curriculum.
"12. To promote structured and uniform transitions."
Are "structured and uniform transitions" necessary to the mission and vision of Seattle Schools?
"It is the responsibility of the district to ensure every student
receives a high quality education that prepares them for any and all
post-secondary options."
I agree with ensuring a high quality education. The requirement of a certain number of Language Arts credits for graduation, provided by a series of equitable, but not identical classes, taught by high quality and inspired instructors can insure that all students have sufficient knowledge in L.A. to prevent limitation of their future options.
"It is our job to design learning opportunities for every student based on his or her needs, challenging and accelerating as appropriate."
Yes, please, do design learning opportunities for every student based on his or her needs (as well as based on his or her talents, interests and future goals.) And yes, challenge and accelerate as appropriate. One of the reasons we chose Roosevelt for our daughter is because it had such a wide range of class offerings that would keep her interested and involved. Roosevelt is starting to not have learning opportunities designed for my child based on her needs. Please do not limit her choices in Language Arts also.
"The core curriculum is a starting place for Seattle Schools to ensure high quality instruction across the district."
As I said before, curriculum has little to do with high quality instruction. High quality instructors have lots to do with high quality instruction, and you are going to chase them all away if you make them teach a one-size-fits-all curriculum. High quality teachers have special talents and interests also, and when you let them follow their interests and use their talents they can truly shine, inspiring their students to greater heights. My daughter's 9th grade Language Arts instructor is one example of such a teacher. I fear he will soon go someplace else where variety in Language Arts curriculum is valued.
In the same way that students are able to select from 10 different science classes after taking the required 9th and 10th grade science at Roosevelt, I believe that the students should be able to select from a large variety of Language Arts options after fulfilling their basic Language Arts requirements in 9th and 10th grade.
In addition to a range of science choices, Seattle Schools offers a range of PE classes, a variety of World Language classes, and multiple advanced Math classes. Why not a variety of English classes too? Or are you planning to also limit the choices for these subjects during the alignment process?
Please reconsider your method of unifying the 11th and 12th grade Language Arts Curriculum across the School District. Please find a way to maintain the rich variety of high quality Language Arts options at those schools, like Roosevelt, that have them, and to improve the quality and variety at those schools that don't.
Sincerely,
Karen Crosby
