Superintendent's Preliminary Recommendation

Questions and Answers

SECTION B: Academics

1. How do you plan to make all schools quality schools?

Nine attributes of high performing schools, listed in the Appendices, have been identified as key to ensuring quality schools. These include a clear and shared focus; high standards and expectations; high levels of collaboration and communication; curriculum, instruction and assessment that are aligned with standards; frequent monitoring of teaching and learning; focused professional development; a supportive learning environment; high levels of community and parent involvement; and effective school leadership. Specific strategies, actions plans and an accountability system for each of the nine attributes are under development through the District Improvement Process and Five Year Action Plan for Student Success.  

We know that ensuring implementation of the attributes of high performing schools will require effective and sustainable leadership at all levels of Seattle Public Schools. As a result, we will:

• Focus all leaders - including teacher leaders - on closing the achievement gap by providing a rigorous plan for leadership development,
• Provide professional development support for assistant principals and beginning principals, including mentoring of beginning principals,
• Hold all adults accountable for student learning and continuous improvement,
• Use a range of data measuring both student and adult learning, and use this information to make curricula and instructional decisions,
• Support principals and teacher leaders to implement an aligned, rigorous, and culturally relevant curriculum, and
• Expect and support in-depth, high level learning and performance from all levels of leadership in the system.

We are reviewing the Weighted Student Formula (WSF) to modify how schools receive resources and to create more equity in resource allocation. We know that we must allocate resources to:

• Provide staffing to offer students a challenging curriculum, including the arts, and career and technical education,
• Identify appropriate counseling and family support services to students, staff and families,
• Provide instructional resources, such as student/teacher materials, staff professional development and coaching, tailored to specific school needs, and
• Provide appropriate staffing levels for increased staff collaboration, through looping, study groups, and other structures that have proven to be effective in increasing student achievement.

2. Many people believe that there's a north-south divide in the school district, and that south end schools do not offer the same quality or receive the same resources as north end schools. How do you respond to this?

We believe that it is our responsibility as a school system to provide quality schools in every neighborhood, regardless of location.

We plan to ensure this by:

• Distributing resources to schools in ways that ensure equitable access to programs and services,
• Recruiting, retaining and supporting a highly skilled, diverse teaching staff,
• Stabilizing staffing at challenged schools, and
• Providing professional development support for all adults in the system (classified staff, certificated staff, principals, central office staff) and holding all adults accountable for student learning

3. What are you recommending for school sizes? What research supports this?

These are two very different questions.

"What is the recommended size for a school building?" is a question best answered by determining the best and most cost-effective way for Seattle Public Schools to provide classroom and activity space for all students. Such things as the quality of the structure, convenience to bus and walking routes, and neighborhood access are all being considered. In order to sustain our school system, we must maximize the use of our school buildings.

The answer to the question "What is the recommended size for a learning community of students?" relies on emerging educational research. This research shows that students learn better and have a superior educational experience when they are in smaller communities or cohorts of learners; students are able to get to know adults and teachers better, and their teachers are able to know their students well. Teachers who know their students well are more able to develop and implement teaching strategies that meet the diverse learning needs of those students.

Thus, while a school building may hold as many as 1500 students, for example, that same building may be the home for a smaller learning community of students. It is important for any discussion of these questions to differentiate between facility or building size, and the size of a learning community.

Recommended school sizes differ by grade level:

Elementary : 300-400 students. When student enrollment falls below 300, schools are not able to offer a range of learning experiences and support services to meet the needs of all students, including arts programs, and counseling and library services.

Middle and High School : Most researchers agree that smaller learning communities at the secondary level are more effective in increasing student achievement, personalizing learning and reducing the achievement gap. Smaller learning communities at the secondary level are particularly effective at mitigating the effects of poverty in student achievement. There are also indicators that smaller learning communities reduce the dropout rate in middle and high schools. All of this points to the need for smaller learning communities with a more personalized approach at the secondary level.  

We recommend 1000-1500 students at high school and 600-800 at middle school overall, broken up into smaller learning communities of up to 400 students. This size allows funding for a broad variety of programs at each building, while providing for a more personalized learning experience within a smaller learning community for each student.  

A bibliography with references regarding school size, leadership, professional development, and high performing schools is included at the end of this section.

4. How can consolidation produce anything other than large class sizes?

Contract language in the teachers' union contract establishes a maximum class size for educating students:

• 26 students to 1 teacher in grades K-3
• 28 students to 1 teacher in grades 4-5
• 32 students to 1 teacher in grades 6-12

By concentrating students and their teachers in fewer schools, class sizes should not increase significantly, and will not exceed contract-negotiated maximum class sizes. But more importantly, because school funding is based on student enrollment, schools with larger student populations will have more resources to offer the programs and services that students need to succeed.

5. What basic programs will each school have?

Elementary basic programs will include:

• Leadership and appropriate staffing (principal, 2-3 teachers per class level, librarian, and support services appropriate for the school)
• A strong academic program
• Office support
• Extended day learning opportunities
• Opportunities for advanced and gifted learners
• Instructional coaching
• Planning, preparation and collaboration time for teaching staff
• Minimum of one full-day kindergarten class
• Arts
• Instrumental music
• Physical Education
• Health screening and referral to health services

Middle school programs will include:

• Leadership and appropriate staffing (principal, assistant principal(s), library services, nursing services)
• A strong academic program
• Office support
• Extended day learning opportunities
• Counseling service
• Drug and alcohol intervention
• Family support services
• Fine and performing arts
• Opportunities for advanced and gifted learners
• Instructional coaching
• Introduction to Career and Technical Education courses
• Health screenings and referral to health services

High school programs will include:

• Leadership and appropriate staffing (principal, assistant principal(s), library services, nursing services, athletic coordinator, CTE staff)
• A strong academic program
• Office support
• Career and Technical Education
• Counseling service
• Drug and alcohol intervention
• Drop-out prevention/truancy intervention
• Teen clinic
• Intramural sports and interscholastic athletic programs
• Fine and performing arts
• Opportunities for advanced and gifted learners
• Instructional coaching
• Health screenings and referral to health services

6. How will Advanced Learning programs be placed?

There are four categories of programs serving students: Accelerated Progress Program (APP), Spectrum, International Baccalaureate Program (IB) and Advanced Learning Opportunities (ALO).   Program placement will depend on the specific program, and program placement overall will be based on providing equitable access to qualified students.  

Accelerated Progress Program

Elementary

• Students will be served in self-contained classrooms.
• Classes housed on two shared sites, one in the north-end and one site in the central area that draws from Queen Ann/Magnolia south.

Middle School

• Students will be served in self-contained classes for language arts, science, and social studies; math is performance-based; other electives are attended along with other students at the site.
• Classes housed at a shared site.

High School

• Students are assigned to their neighborhood high school, with these changes phased in over a three-year period. Current students at Garfield will be "grandfathered." Current 6 th grade students at Washington will not be automatically assigned to Garfield beginning in the 2007-08 school year.

Spectrum

Elementary

• Students clustered for instruction to form self-contained classrooms whenever possible. When numbers do not support self-contained, district-identified students are clustered first, and remaining seats in classrooms are assigned to teacher-identified students. (This is Program Principle #3 for the Spectrum program and has been in place since 2004.)
• Classes housed at shared sites.

The minimum number of students at any given site should not be lower than 60 in grades 1-5 to allow for the formation of self-contained classrooms or classrooms attended by the majority of district-identified students. Drawing students from a cluster of 1-3 schools may result in adequate numbers in some sections of the city. In those sections where there are not adequate numbers, it would be necessary to draw students from two or more clusters when designating a Spectrum site. In order for the program to be viable, a critical mass of eligible students is needed for classroom instructional groupings.

Middle School

• Students served in self-contained classes for language arts in every middle school.   Buildings could also provide Spectrum science, and social studies and math classes, if desired, with electives being inclusive with other students at the site.   Buildings that currently offer Advanced Learning Opportunities (ALO) programs could continue to have the philosophy at their school and serve a wide variety of students through that model while providing a scheduled Spectrum language arts class for district-identified students.
• Classes housed at shared sites.

High School

• Students would be assigned to their neighborhood high school, and the schools will offer the necessary array of Honors and Advanced Placement courses.

Advanced Learning Opportunities (ALO )

These programs are only available in grades 1-8. They offer services in an inclusive, heterogeneous fashion, with each building designing its own model for delivering the service.

7. How will Special Ed programs be placed?

The intention is to place Special Education students in a school as close as possible to their home. Placement of programs will be based on providing quality programs and services with equitable access for students and families. The outcome of all changes in program location will be the continued provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment for all Special Education students.

When schools are closed, Special Education programs formerly housed at that location will be relocated intact to a new school as close as possible to the previous site (as long as there continues to be a capacity-driven or program-driven need for the class). All Special Education students will move with the program to the new location, unless there is existing capacity in a similar program closer to the student's home.

Decisions about school consolidation will be made with full consideration of opportunities to improve services to Special Education students, i.e. by placing sequential classes of the same program (primary and intermediate self-contained) in the same building, or by increasing the opportunities for mainstreaming (such as adding a general education population to Lowell).   The safety, security, and quality of the academic environment will be considered for Special Education students and all other students attending the schools.

Highly specialized Special Education programs that require multiple sites (i.e., autism programs) will be located in all major geographical areas of the city. Highly specialized Special Education programs that require only one or two sites (i.e., programs for the deaf and hard of hearing) will be centrally located to allow for reasonable transportation from all areas of the city.

8. How will Bilingual programs be placed?

Programs will continue at present locations in all middle and high schools and one K-8 (TOPS).   Elementary programs will be placed in schools with concentrations of bilingual students.

The South and Southeast areas need to expand service to ELL's, since reference school numbers indicate a substantial increase. Future program model developments could slightly increase requirements for classroom space in South and Southeast.

9. Do you have any plans to make more opportunities available for students who want dual language programs, such as those available at the JSIS (John Stanford International School)?

Yes. We are in the early planning stages for dual language immersion programs at Beacon Hill and Concord.

10. What about "specialty" programs, such as the International Baccalaureate Program, or Montessori, or specialty Career and Technical Education courses? What are you planning to do with these?

Alignment and distribution of specialty programs will be determined centrally to provide for equitable access for students.

11. What are your plans for re-entry programs?

The Superintendent's Preliminary Recommendation includes two recommendations for re-entry programs:

• Close the John Marshall facility and move programs from that building to Wilson-Pacific, with the exception of the Evening School program, which would be moved to Meany, and
• Keep South Lake, which includes a re-entry program, at the South Shore facility, along with a neighborhood middle school.

12. What are your plans for alternative schools?

Alternative educational offerings increase the options available to parents and students, and offer students an opportunity to thrive and succeed in an environment suited to students' unique learning needs. Seattle Public Schools believes strongly in alternative schools and alternative education.

A balance between traditional and alternative schools must be established, as traditional schools continue to offer appropriate educational services to a majority of Seattle students. In order to ensure an appropriate mix of alternative and traditional offerings for families to choose from, the assignment plan and school consolidation plan will offer an alternative school option to students in each region.

Seattle Public Schools is committed to providing an opportunity to all students to access viable, quality alternative programs.  

13. Sometimes the terms "equity" and "equality" seem to be used interchangeably. Are they different? What do you mean when you use them?

We believe that the two terms mean something different . We believe that "equality" means that people who are in the same circumstances should receive the same treatment. "Equity" takes into account the fact some groups in this society have not been given equal treatment, and that compensatory treatment for disadvantaged groups may be appropriate.

14. What do you mean by the term "equitable access?"

Equitable access provides groups of people access to resources and services that would not otherwise be available to them, due to disadvantages created by racism, discrimination and oppression over time.

References

School Size

Berry C. School Size and Returns to Education: Evidence from the Consolidation Movement: 1930-1970. Harvard University. Department of Government. Cberry@fasharvard.edu

Howley, C. The Academic Effectiveness of Small-Scale Schooling (An Update). ERIC Digest. http://www.ericdigests .org

Ideal Size for a Small Learning Community. http://schoolredesign.net/srn/server

School Planning & management. http://www.peterli.com

Smaller Schools. Counter Effect of Poverty on Student Achievement. http://www.ruraledu.org

Shannon, S.   Characteristics of Improved School Districts: Themes from Research. Assessment and Research.   Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Oct. 2004

Schneider, M. Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes? National Clearing house for Education Facilities. Nov. 2002

Leadership

Fullan, M. Leadership and Sustainability: System Thinks in Action . Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, Cal. 2005

Fullan, M. Leading in A Culture of Change. Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 2001

Heifetz, R. Leadership Without Easy Answers . Harvard College. 1994

Schlechty. P.   Working on the Work: An Action Plan for Teachers Principals, and Superintendents . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 2002

Wasley. P. Teachers Who Lead: The Rhetoric of Reform and the Realities of Practice. Teachers College Press.   New York, NY. 1991

Professional Development

Allen, D.   Assessing Student Learning . Teachers College Press.   New York, NY. 1995

Cochran-Smith. M. Walking the Road: Race, Diversity, and Social Justice in Teacher Education. Teachers College Press.   New York, NY. 2004

Danielson, C. Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice . ASCD. Alexandria, Virginia. 2000

Ginsberg. M. Woldkowski. R. Creating Highly Motivating Classrooms for All Students: A Schoolwide Approach to Powerful Teaching with Diverse Learners . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 2002

Lieberman. A & Miller, L.   Teachers Transforming Their World and Their Work .   Teachers College Press.   NY. NY. 1999

Lieberman, A & Miller, L. Teachers Caught in the Action: Professional Development That Matters. Teachers College Press.   New York, NY. 2001

Moore Johnson.   Finders and Keepers: The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 2004

Murphy. C.   Whole-Faculty Study Groups: Creating Student-Based Professional Development .   Corwin Press. 2001

West. L. Content-focused Coaching: Transforming Mathematics Lesson . Heinemann. Portsmouth, NH. 2003

Characteristics of High Performing Schools/School Change

Darling-Hammond. L. & Sykes. G. Teaching As the Learning Profession: Handbook of Policy and Practice . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 1999

Fullan. M. The New Meaning of Educational Change . Teachers College Press.   New York, NY. 2001

Garmston, R. Wellman, B. The Adaptive School:   a Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups.   Christopher Gordon Publishers. Norwood. Mass.1999

Goodlad, J. Education for Everyone : Agenda for Education in a Democracy . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 2004

MacGregor. R. School Improvement Planning . Superintendent of Public Instruction. Jan. 2005

Danielson, C. Enhancing Student Achievement:   A Framework for School Improvement . ASCD.2002

Newmann. F. Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality . Josey-Bass. New York, NY. 1996