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In This Issue...
 
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This fall, Alliance for Education is participating
in a new campaign that aims to guarantee a quality
public education for every child in the nation.
Through its membership in Public Education Network,
the Alliance will support Give Kids Good Schools, a
campaign that seeks to provide Americans with the
information and resources they need to take action
in their communities and improve their public
schools.
We hope you'll join us for Seattle's first Give Kids Good Schools event, Mathematics and Our Children's Future, on October 16. More information about the event is provided in this newsletter. To find out more about Give Kids Good Schools, visit www.givekidsgoodschools.org. Sincerely, Kerry Clayman Leadership Breakfast
The Alliance invites you to join us on October 26
for the Fourth Annual Leadership Breakfast for Kids,
featuring keynote speaker Dr. Robert E. Lucas, a
Nobel Prize winner and graduate of Roosevelt High
School. We will also celebrate the work of Dr. Linda Buck, another Nobel Prize winner and Roosevelt alum. In addition, we will also honor
this year's Thomas B. Foster Award recipient for
outstanding leadership, Chief Sealth High School
Principal John Boyd. More information
Academic Vision for SPS
Seattle citizens who attended one of two evening
presentations on September 13 and 14 heard Chief
Academic Officer Carla Santorno talk about Seattle
Public Schools' updated academic vision and plan.
The vision and plan are built around a clearly
articulated set of milestones representing critical
points of achievement in a student's academic
journey. These include 1) students ready for
kindergarten, 2) 3rd graders reading on grade level,
3) 7th graders ready for algebra, 4) 9th graders
ready for high school, 5) 10th graders passing the
WASL and 6) students ready for college and work.
The
entire presentation is available on the district's Web
site.
Math and Our Children
Are you wondering what the Seattle community can
do
to help all students succeed in math? Now is your
chance to talk math with a national expert and
dynamic speaker, Dr. Ruth Parker. The October 16
evening event, called "Math and Our Children's
Future," is open to everyone. View
the invitation (PDF)
The forum comes at a time when Seattle Public Schools is addressing its K-12 mathematics program head on; only 55% of 10th graders, 47% of 7th graders and 60% of 4th graders in Seattle passed the 2005-06 math WASL and similarly low results were reported across the state. What will it take to get all students proficient in math and passing the WASL? A uniform, updated curriculumaligned from school to school and classroom to classroomis the start, and Seattle Public Schools is moving in the right direction. This past June, the School Board approved math curriculum for middle school students, marking the first curriculum update in ten years. Seattle Public Schools administrators and the School Board are working to adopt complementary, updated math curricula for elementary and high schools by the end of this year. Putting new curricula in place is just the first step to math success for all kids. The Alliance is supporting efforts in Seattle Public Schools
Parents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders and business leaders are all invited to attend a community forum called Mathematics and Our Children's Future on October 16 at Roosevelt High School. At the forum, a national math expert will facilitate a discussion on topics central to students' success in math, such as how to help children reason with numbers and how to better prepare children for algebra. View the invitation (PDF) For more information on the event or the Alliance's math initiatives, please contact Tracy Woodman. Washington Learns
On September 14, the Alliance submitted testimony to
the Washington Learns Steering Committee in
response to the group's preliminary recommendations.
Priorities emphasized in the Alliance testimony
included math and science instruction, increased
learning time, support for teachers and teaching,
and parent and family engagement. Read
the testimony (PDF)
Award for Sealth
On September 15, Chief Sealth Principal John Boyd
received a surprise visit from representatives of
the Alliance, along with
Superintendent Raj Manhas, Chief Academic Officer
Carla Santorno, and Seattle School Board Director
Irene Stewart, who interrupted a staff meeting to
announce his selection as the 2006 recipient of the
Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence.
The award, which recognizes exemplary school leadership at the secondary level, was named for the late senior partner of the law firm Foster Pepper and is supported by an endowment fund established in his memory at the Alliance. It includes a grant of $25,000 to support the learning success of all students at Chief Sealth High School. Boyd's immediate response was, For once, I'm speechless! Boydhimself a 1982 graduate of Chief Sealth High Schoolis now in his third full year as Sealth's principal. As a school leader, Boyd has rallied the community surrounding Sealth and has helped strengthen community perceptions of the school. His attention to academic achievement has contributed to double digit WASL score gains from 2004 to 2006, as well as the establishment of an International Baccalaureate at Sealth, to be launched in 2007. The Seattle community will have the opportunity to honor Boyd at Alliance for Education's Fourth Annual Leadership Breakfast for Kids on Thursday, October 26, 2006. Alliance for Education is an independent nonprofit
organization that advocates for policies and
mobilizes resources that advance academic
achievement for all students in Seattle Public
Schools. Visit us on the Web.
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