Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn released the pass rates for the 2009-10 Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE). Students in grade 3-8 take the MSP, and 10th grade students take the HSPE.
Compared to the previous year, only 7th and 8th grade students made across the board gains. Pass rates [...]
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State test scores so-so
More on R2T phase 2 results
As we continue to read through the pages (and pages) of reviewer comments on Washington’s Race to the Top (R2T), phase 2 application, here’s a look at each state’s scores as percent of points possible, and rank. Ranks in the top 10 in each category and overall are shaded gray, and there’s a trend among R2T [...]
First look: Washington’s R2T application and grades
Yesterday the U.S. Department of Education annouced the 10 winners of the second round of Race to the Top (R2T), along with all applicants’ scores. Today the scores breakdown and reviewers comments were released (Washington’s are here and here). We will continue to pour over the pages of information, but here’s some initial takeaways:
There is a good [...]
The other Washington is in the dark about this one
That is my take away from the latest report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for School Reform: Attracting Entrepreneurs and Change Agents, released today. This report looked at 30 U.S. cities (including Seattle) and graded them on reformy-ness. Cities were graded using data from publicly available records, a survey [...]
LA Times looks at teacher perfomance
In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Times reported this story over the weekend, diving in to using value-added student test scores as a way to look at teacher performance. The teachers in the article, all identified with their real names, and real student test scores, responded to their respective test scores in a [...]
Bellevue SD wins i3 grant
The U.S. Department of Education has announced the 49 winning applications for the Investing in Innovation (i3) program. The only winner from Washington State was the Bellevue School District, who submitted an application titled “Re-imagining Career and College Readiness: STEM, Rigor, and Equity in a Comprehensive High School.” The application sought $4.1 million dollars over five [...]
LIVE BLOG: QEC
The Quality Education Council is meeting today in Olympia. Materials are available here. TVW is broadcasting the meeting live, or watch online here. I’ll be posting updates throughout the day, so be sure to hit ‘refresh’ on your browser.
9:05am-9:20am
Common Core Standards — Alan Burke
PowerPoint available here
>>Dr. Bette Hyde asked about the cultural components of the [...]
Report on funding pensions (cue head explosion)
Employee pension systems, especially those of state employees (and thus state $$$), are no laughing matter. They are, however, quite complex and make my brain hurt when I spend more than 5 minutes thinking about them. Even so, it’s worth the time (and headache) to understand pension systems and how the states fund them.
Getting to [...]
Another November election
This November there will be many important races on your ballot, and one that won’t — a seat on the State Board of Education. Unlike state legislators, members of the State Board of Educationare either appointed by the governor or elected by school board members across the state. While less visible at times, members of [...]
State adopts Common Core, sort of
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn provisionally adopted the Common Core standards in English language arts (ELA) and math. The adoption is provisional largely because Supt. Dorn must present a report on the standards to the Legislature in January 2011.
Relatedly, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank based in Washington, D.C. and Ohio, released a report [...]
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Speakers Series
Opening Event:
Kevin Johnson
Mayor of Sacramento & Founder of St. HOPE
Thursday, October 7 at 7pm
Mount Zion Baptist Church
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