Reframing Education
Reframing the conversation
Five bold moves – a platform for reinvention of our schools
According to a report by the National Collaborative for Postsecondary Education Policy, out of 100 ninth grade students in Washington, 71 will graduate from high school within four years, of those 42 immediately enroll in college and of those 42, 18 graduate with an associate’s degree within three years or a Bachelor’s degree within six. Can we really say we’re preparing students for a world where a strong majority of available jobs require post-high school education?
The Experts say that to combat these daunting statistics we need:
- Full day kindergarten
- 6 class periods in middle and hi school
- Pre-K learning, especially for low-income kids
- Higher graduation requirements
I think that we can absolutely achieve those benchmarks and go even farther in our efforts to address what the Washington State Constituion calls our “Paramount” duty in Education.
BOLD MOVE NUMBER 1
Make the district client (students and parents) centric with aggressive engagement tools.
Imagine if the School Districts had the resources to train every administrative employee in a client based engagement program – like the way Starbucks trains every employee. Going to the Administrative office would be a much easier when the students and parents (clients) are welcomed and encouraged to be there. .
How would you feel if you could simply sign up to be “tweeted”, text or emailed with an issues list of what the board was considering at work sessions before the actual board meeting. Technology is available that would allow parents and concerned community members to express their opinions in a way that would allow the people creating policy direct feedback for consideration. Parents would be afforded complete input in the new SAP (Student Assignment Plan) by using these engagement methods.
BOLD MOVE NUMBER 2
Fund early childhood learning in all schools with 30% free and reduced lunch populations.
This is a particular key interest for the survival and advancement of student populations in the Central Area. Early learning is the key to lowering the drop out rate and raising graduation rates. At The New School in South Shore in 2003, 39 of the pre-kindergarten students entered kindergarten and completed the same assessment after a year of a program called High/Scope. Their average score was 17% higher than that of the control group of students who were not in pre-kindergarten. Test results from Spring 2006 on these students and all the students in the school show the dramatic and consistent academic achievement. In one test result, Ninety percent of low-income second-graders and all-ethnic subgroups (communities that have a preponderance for developing below grade level) were reading at grade level. This outcome can be attributed to the program in place and the attention given to early learning. By repurposing School and Family Levy monies, we can fund this key ingredient to our students’ success.
BOLD MOVE NUMBER 3
To truly prepare our students to work in a global economy we must teach Spanish and Chinese (with a Grammar regimen) to all students beginning in Pre-K or Kindergarten.
Current economic trends and the development of open borders have created an intense need for our schools to be producing a bilingual work force. While the district currently has plans for 9 International Education (or language immersion) schools within the next 5 years it is important that we revise this goal to reflect the need. Intensive language education needs to begin in 2010 with language instruction that supports our state’s global & local economy. Every student should be required to take one language at the Elementary School level from Kindergarten on, and an alternate language in High School with the intended outcome to dramatically increase the number of students with a base in world languages. We need to establish a goal of 20 language immersion schools in 5 years and 50 by 2020.
BOLD MOVE NUMBER 4
Create rigorous curriculum for all schools utilizing the latest technological advances to track and support learning in real time.
Research shows that children will rise to our expectations. We must also rise to their level of communication. Differentiated learning techniques can be used to deliver curriculum content to ALL students. We can raise the bar, deliver a rigorous academic curriculum that is not just competitive with private schools in our region, we can set the pace. We can utilize the latest technology (some is being put in place now with the Alliance for Education funding) that tracks student progress in real time. There is also technology available that will allow teachers and students to interact via wireless connections. Imagine a teacher who uses a hand held device to generate work packets, which are then sent to a student’s home all while she moves through her classroom assessing her students during the school day. With the use of this technology parents would also have more freedom to track their students’ progress on a daily basis. No longer would we have to wait for the Parent/Teacher conference to be told what our children are failing to accomplish in their school work.
BOLD MOVE NUMBER 5
Make school hours the same as adult work hours.
By extending the school day, we do not necessarily keep all students within the brick and mortar of their specific school. Existing community programs (such as the Boys and Girls Club) create opportunities to “hold onto” students and at the same time enrich and enhance their academic classes. For many years there has been an effort to we gear our academic schedule to peak learning hours for teens (which are 10 am to 3pm). Extending the school day will also eliminate latch key children and by definition, would dramatically lower teenage pregnancy, first time drug use, and as a result juvenile crime. Studies show that 75% of the former occur between 3 and 6pm. Vocational strands could be developed for students who want/need jobs. Our campaign has already identified 42 organizations within the Central District alone that could support this effort.
Bold Moves to Address Strong Needs
Our state constitution defines education as the PARAMOUNT duty of the state, but no recommendation on how to do or pay for it. With a higher priority on parents and students and an ability to adjust to the changing world economy of our region, the Seattle Public Schools must have the driving leadership to address this Constitutional demand. By instituting my 5 Bold Moves we begin to address the need to our students and potentially have a real shot at stimulus money that will be distributed to less than a dozen school districts nationwide. Together we can put these policies in place and in doing so, we might change more than we imagine.