board meeting – oct. 4, 2017 · 2 superintendent larry nyland october 6, 2017 • national...

1 Superintendent Larry Nyland October 6, 2017

To: School Board From: Superintendent Nyland Date: Friday, Oct. 6, 2017 RE: Superintendent Friday Update (based largely on Superintendent Comments at the

Oct. 4, 2017 Board meeting)

Board Meeting – Oct. 4, 2017: Recognitions: • Las Vegas: Our thoughts are with Las Vegas and the families of the victims. Our web page offers

a statement of support and resources for families.• Principal Appreciation: Each October, National Principals Month recognizes the essential role

principals play in making a school great! Thank you to our principals who are among the hardestworking individuals in education. Principals set the academic tone for their schools and are criticalto the success of our students. National Principals Month provides a wonderful opportunity forschools to work closely with Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and other communityorganizations to celebrate the contributions of our principals. In honor of Principal AppreciationMonth, we invited Chris Cronas last year’s Principals Association of Seattle Schools (PASS)President to say a few words. Welcome to the new PASS President, Paula Montgomery.

• Indigenous Peoples' Day on Monday, October 9: On October 9, we will celebrate IndigenousPeoples’ Day. The word “indigenous” means original or native. The School Board voted two yearsago to require the observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day (IPD) on the second Monday of October.We celebrate this day to honor the dignity and diversity of the cultures, traditions, histories andaspirations of our city, state and country’s indigenous peoples. I read the Indigenous People’s DayProclamation and invited Uti Hawkins, who is a certified teacher, to give an overview of how weare collaborating with teachers/schools for IPD, and our Schoology page.Identity Safety is one of our major themes in Seattle. We want every student to feel welcome. Wewant every student to be able to bring their whole self to school with a sense of safety andbelonging. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Native American Education Services has been workingwith many teachers to help with Indigenous Peoples’ Day curriculum, lesson plans, art projects andassemblies. We have updated our Schoology page and made countless school site visits. We arecurrently working with the Visual Arts Department on how to create art projects that are notstereotypes of Indigenous Peoples and on how to remove cultural appropriation from theclassroom. These are just a few examples:o McGilvra Elementary are working with fourth grade teachers on Indigenous Peoples' Day

assembly.o Licton Springs K-8 will have an Indigenous Peoples' Day assembly.o Chief Sealth International High School will have an Indigenous Peoples' Day assembly.o Gatewood Elementary are working with primary teachers to make Since Time Immemorial

curriculum assessable for younger grades.o Jane Adams Middle School teachers are attending identity safety Professional Development.o Since Time Immemorial training is available to all teachers this month. Gail Morris will

facilitate the training Oct. 13, 2017, at Meany Middle School.o Providing ongoing resources for the month of November, which is Native American Montho Collaborating with arts department for Indigenous Peoples' Day by starting a dialogue on

cultural appropriation in the visual arts and providing culturally appropriate alternatives.

October 6, 2017 Friday Memo, of 67


• National Bullying Prevention Month: SPS is dedicated to the safety and security of all our students, including keeping them safe from harassment, intimidation and bullying. One area of focus is social media. During the 2017-2018 school year, SPS will be taking part in a pilot program with iCanHelpLine.org to try to stop cyberbullying on social media. The pilot program is being launched this October in conjunction with National Bullying Prevention month. The district will be communicating information to the public about the pilot program on its website, through a news release and sharing information directly with school leaders.

In this update I am sharing: 1. Recent highlights that support our Strategic Plan and related Superintendent SMART Goals 2. Good News 3. Topics of interest the community should be aware of 4. Topics of Board Interest: 5. Superintendent and Staff School Visits and Presentations

Strategic Plan - 2017-18 Superintendent SMART Goals Update: The SPS Strategic Plan includes three major areas: Educational Excellence and Equity; Improving Systems; and School, Family and Community Engagement. 1. Educational Excellence and Equity: We are committed to building shared understanding across

schools and district silos, on how to eliminate opportunity gaps and accelerate learning for all students. The following updates support SMART Goal 2.

• Skill Center Tour: Yesterday, Seattle Port Commissioners Stephanie Bowman and Tom Albro and Directors Rick Burke, Jill Geary and Betty Patu participated in a tour of the Pierce County Skill Center and the Rainier Beach Skill Center in an effort to expand and strengthen career and technical education in Seattle schools. We have an opportunity to increase the number of high school graduates to make them Seattle ready and strengthen their skillsets to be ready for the workforce. Seattle Skills Center provides hands-on classes in real-world career fields at various school sites. The Port of Seattle is committed to exploring how they can help ensure that Seattle youth have access to the training and resources they need to compete for the jobs of the future. Thank you to Directors Burke, Geary, and Patu for participating in this tour.

2. Improve Systems: The School District Budget development will continue to be a focus this coming year and is one of our SMART Goals.

• Small Cabinet Retreat: The small cabinet met to review and align the myriad of actions necessary to meet our SMART goals as well as the many other projects and needs in play this year. I and cabinet members are concerned about the volume of issues and ability for the district to address and successfully act on regular and going work as well as having ability to work on unplanned issues that take us away from achieving our goals. Our mantra "we can do anything, we cannot do everything" helped with sorting and prioritization of work.

3. School, Family and Community Engagement: Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan, and in Goal 4 of this year’s SMART Goals is a commitment to improve our community engagement including internal engagement and partnerships. Some of the efforts underway include:

• Communications: Input for Advanced Learning services. An aspect of Smart Goal 4 is identifying and supporting 3-4 high level engagements throughout the school year. One area of engagement is feedback on potential changes to Advanced Learning services – what families want, what implications we need to consider and what questions they may have. The Communications and Engagement team, together with the Student Supports team,



launched a two-way community engagement project using the newly implemented tool, ThoughtExchange. 2000 people have engaged in this online conversation. We are seeing good response rates from high school and middle school families – fewer responses from 5th grade families. Home language meetings (Chinese) are scheduled for next week as well as a meeting with Garfield families. Vietnamese and Somali family meetings at the following week. Feedback from stakeholders will inform possible changes to the 2018-19 Student Assignment Plan (SAP) and in advance of finalizing high school boundaries in January. More information can be found in this week’s Communications Update.

Good News: • US News and World Report ranking High Schools - #6- Roosevelt High School: The U.S.

News and World Report looks at how well the school prepares students for college, how well it serves those who are not necessarily college-bound, the graduation rate and how well students performed on the state's proficiency tests. They have included all the Puget Sound-area schools that ranked in the top 2,000 high schools in the country out of the more than 20,000 schools U.S. News and World Report reviewed, ranking them in the top 10 percent of all U.S. high schools.

• Building Leadership Team Training: Last spring 10 schools went through new Building Leadership Team (BLT) training. This was the first training in 14 years and part of our partnership with the Seattle Education Association (SEA). We are now expanding support and have started training this year. Responses have been very positive. The BLT designs and informs the CSIP, budget, staffing and professional development (PD) Plan, and decision-making matrix. Family representation is included on the BLT team and one family representative helps approve the school budget.

• Fare Start: We want to thank FareStart for their continued partnership with Interagency Academy. Through this partnership students learn job skills while they are going to school. Additionally, they get high school credit, a stipend, counseling, support with basic needs and job placement. A quote from one of our graduates, Jared stated that “No dream is too big when you’re at FareStart.” And the good news is that last weekend they hosted their annual gala and fundraiser and raised $1.7 million dollars for the youth and adult programs. Because of these funds, FareStart can and will continue to partner with InterAgency.

• El Centro de la Raza: Last Saturday night gala attended by several cabinet members and Director Blanford. Over 900 attendees. Keynote speaker was John Powell from the Haas Institute at Cal Berkley.

• SPS Launching New School Meal Awareness Campaign: SPS is launching a new campaign called “School Lunch! Did you know” and we want families and the community to take part and help spread the word. As a school district, we recognize the important connection between a healthy diet and student’s ability to learn effectively and achieve high standards in school. Providing access for all students to a hot, nutritious, and delicious lunch is also part of the district’s goal of eliminating opportunity gaps and creating an equitable educational experience for all students. Fun Facts: SPS serves more than 20,000 meals, including breakfast and lunch, EVERY DAY; SPS staff make many of our meals from scratch with regionally and locally sourced dairy, fruits, and vegetables, right here, in our district kitchen; every day, we prepare dozens of specially prepared meals for students with allergy concerns and special diet requests.

Topics of Community Interest: • Concord Elementary: A meeting was held on Tuesday with the Concord community regarding

Concord's dual-language program. The meeting focused on four key areas: Changes to the dual


https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/washington/rankings

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http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=27966061


language program (which content areas are taught in which language); high class size at kindergarten and the move from two smaller dual language kindergarten classes to one larger dual language kindergarten class; changes to the Marra Farm partnership; and lack of district support for dual language programs, curriculum, materials and professional development. The Concord community will continue to work with principal Dr. Norma Zavala to address effective communication and engagement with the community and the changes and adjustment to the dual language program. I want to thank Director Harris, Executive Director of Schools Kelly Aramaki, Michelle Aoki, and Seattle Council Parent Teacher Student Association (SCPTSA) President Sebrena Burr for their attendance and support of the Concord community.

• Fort Lawton: Flip Herndon and I have engaged many, many people on the possibility of placing a school at Fort Lawton including the U.S. Dept. Of Education, the City, Patty Murray and others. And we have heard from many families about their continued interest in pursuing this idea. We all want the same thing – more land and space for schools. We received clear feedback from the City and have shared their response with the Board. The City has been designated by the Army as the entity who will plan and implement a property redevelopment. At this stage, it is the Mayor’s decision as to the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) alternatives to be studied, although the City Council could weigh in. Ultimately, the City Council must approve a plan before redevelopment occurs.

• Playgrounds: Board members have asked about equity in regard to playgrounds. Playgrounds were considered as part of the plans for BEX IV and not included. Therefore, playgrounds are included for new and remodeled schools but not as stand-alone projects. We do not have an informed analysis regarding the condition of the playground equipment districtwide. Richard Best indicated during the recent work session on BEX V that we are planning on including that analysis in our next districtwide analysis to be done within the next few months.

Topics of Board Interest: • Garfield High School End of Course (EOC) Exams testing incident: On Aug. 30, 2017, the

Assessment department was informed by the test coordinator at Garfield High School that one box of completed Biology End of Course Exams, had not been submitted to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for scoring. OSPI and the vendor were immediately made aware of this situation and provided guidance on initiating a chain of custody investigation and next steps in determining whether or not the exams could be scored. We are investigating to find out what happened. The Assessment department is working on developing supports and district protocols to avoid the possibility of future testing incidents.

• Technology Matching Fund grant will help West Seattle nonprofit Education for All be a ‘bridge’ for immigrants: Education for All works on providing resources to immigrants, and they recently received $15,000 from the Technology Matching Fund (TMF) to create a computer lab at its location on 18th Avenue SW. The TMF are looking for education programs that are addressing the opportunity gap. You can find more information about this article here.

Superintendent and Staff School Visits and Presentations: • Assistant Principal Leadership Learning Day (LLD): On Tuesday, the Assistant Principals had

an opportunity to reflect together on the Race & Equity work they started last year and looked at the work that lies ahead in their buildings. Erin Romanuk shared additional updates and supports regarding discipline policy and practices, and Lindsay Berger and her team joined in the afternoon to help equip APs for goal-setting with their teachers. Secondary leaders were provided an update


http://westseattleblog.com/2017/09/technology-matching-fund-grant-will-help-west-seattle-nonprofit-education-for-all-be-a-bridge-for-immigrants/


on the Revisioning High School work that principals have engaged in last year and in their first LLD on Sept. 19.

• PASS Meeting: This week I met with PASS for our monthly meeting. They discussed seeking alignment across the district and shared their concerns about the Legislative funding.

• Chief Seattle Club Annual Luncheon: It was a pleasure to attend this event to celebrate Native people and culture. The Chief Seattle Club provides services for urban Natives and has supported SPS in many ways including a recent grant in support of homeless youth and families. Today, more than 70 percent of Native Americans live in urban areas rather than on reservations.

• On Friday, September 29, 2017, Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Michael Tolley, visited Martin Luther King Elementary School with Principal Chris Thomas and Van Asselt Elementary School with Principal Monique Manuel. During these meetings, Mr. Tolley discussed with the principals their problem of practices relative to Eliminating Opportunity Gaps, along with other initiatives and to see the impact school leaders and teachers are having to improve students’ successful outcomes. Instructional leadership challenges, strategies and initiatives discussed and observed during the school visits include:

Martin Luther King Elementary School with Principal Chris Thomas o Improvements in the schools’ culture and climate through the implementation of Positive

Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). o Implementation of the new Kindergarten through fifth grade (K-5) English Language Arts

(ELA) instructional materials adoption, Center for the Collaborative Classroom (CCC). o The use of Professional Learning Community (PLC) strategies to support the Multi-Tiered

Systems of Supports (MTSS) implementation. Van Asselt Elementary School with Principal Monique Manuel o Efforts being made by the school’s principal and teachers to build strong supportive

relationships with families (e.g. Culturally Responsive Trainings for staff, Somali Moms Group, East African Family Group, etc.)

o Professional Development provided to teachers on trauma-informed teaching practices. o Current status of the implementation of the new K-5 ELA instructional materials adoption,

CCC. Larry Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Update: Included in this packet please find Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Michael Tolley’s update for this week. Associate Superintendent for Capital, Facilities, Operations and Enrollment Update: Included in this packet please find Associate Superintendent for Capital, Facilities, Operations and Enrollment Dr. Flip Herndon’s update for this week. Assistant Superintendent for Operations Update: Included in this packet please find Assistant Superintendent for Operations Pegi McEvoy’s update for this week. Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer Update: Included in this packet please find Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer Dr. Brent Jones’ update for this week. Chief Engagement Officer Update: Included in this packet please find Chief Engagement Officer Carri Campbell's update for this week.


Submitted by Michael Tolley 10.05.2017 Page 1

Date: Thursday, October 5, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Michael F. Tolley, Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Re: Friday Memo for October 6, 2017

TEACHING AND LEARNING:

Department of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction:

Testing Incidences Update:

It is the goal of the Assessment Department to provide the training and support needed to ensure that each assessment is administered correctly and in compliance with all rules and regulations. In response to the two test administration incidences during the 2016-17 school year, the Assessment Department will be working with other departments to provide more training supports and expand on existing district protocols. We are currently meeting regularly with the Special Education Department to make sure that all test administration protocols are communicated to building special education teams. We will be offering extra test administration trainings this year prior to the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) administration window. One training will focus specifically on appropriate supports that are allowed and on setting test accommodations for those students receiving special education services.

Electronic Supplemental Materials:

At the 9/28/17 School Board Work Session on Student Learning and Technology, a question came up regarding whether there was a process used to review electronic supplemental instructional material programs. Electronic supplemental materials programs are very important to classroom teachers in meeting the needs of a wide variety of students’ abilities. With the vast amount of materials on the market in this day and age, it is a challenge to monitor and evaluate every item. However, it is important to have a process in place in order to have safeguards for new electronic materials that appear on a frequent basis. The attached draft details certain processes that are currently a part of a review of electronic curriculum in Seattle Public Schools. The draft also includes new suggested provisions which make a review more inclusive across the district. The Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction (CAI) department will issue periodic reminders to fulfill the updated requirements.

Attachment: Process for Educational Software Approval - DRAFT



Annual Report, Superintendent Procedure, 2409SP, Competency-Based Credits

Seattle Public Schools is in its 7th year of offering Competency-Based World Language Credit testing opportunities to students who speak, understand, read and write in a world language other than English. Since 2011, hundreds of students, including a number of 8th grade Dual Language Immersion, as well as English Language Learner (ELL) students, have qualified to earn 1-4 World Language credits in a number of languages spoken in our school district. 2016-2017 Test Results Summary Below is a summary of World Language Competency-Based Credit test results for Seattle Public Schools for 2016-2017. This year, 545 students tested in 26 languages. Of those, 483 completed their testing and earned credits: 45% of them qualified for 4 credits, 22% for 3 credits, 24% for 2 credits, and 9% for 1 credit. Total credits earned was 1,470 at a testing cost of about $21,897, or $14.90 per credit. The high number of students earning 4 credits, which will qualify them as “Proficient” in that language for the Seal of Biliteracy, is noteworthy given that 41% of the students tested this year were 8th graders (mainly Dual Language Immersion students).

Costs and Funding for Testing From 2012-2014, Seattle received funding for the testing from the Road Map World Language Credit Program, a grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Road Map ELL Work Group. In 2014, the Road Map ELL Work Group produced and then translated a

Language 1 Credit Count

2 Credits Count

3 Credits Count

4 Credits Count

Total Count

1 Credit %

2 Credits %

3 Credits %

4 Credits %

Total % Total Credits Earned

% of Credits Earned

Amharic 4 2 11 17 0% 24% 12% 65% 100% 58 4%Japanese 2 14 1 2 19 11% 74% 5% 11% 100% 41 3%Mandarin - Simp Char 15 7 27 21 70 21% 10% 39% 30% 100% 194 13%Somali 0 8 6 14 28 0% 29% 21% 50% 100% 90 6%Spanish 22 63 50 88 223 10% 28% 22% 39% 100% 650 44%Tagalog 3 9 15 27 0% 11% 33% 56% 100% 93 6%Vietnamese 2 3 2 32 39 5% 8% 5% 82% 100% 142 10%19 other languages* 1 12 11 36 60 2% 20% 18% 60% 100% 202 14%*total count is less than 12

Credits Earned: 1 Credit Count

2 Credits Count

3 Credits Count

4 Credits Count

Total Count

Total Credits

Total %

Count of Students: 42 114 108 219 483 1470 100%% of Students: 9% 24% 22% 45% 100% Cost per: 14.90$

*Level for Seal of Biliteracy

Testing Companies and Costs

Count of Students

Cost Total Grade Level

Count of Students

% of Total

Avant STAMP 359 $16 5,744$ Grade 8* 225 41%Avant WorldSpeak* 53 $16 848$ Grade 9 22 4%ACTFL WPT-OPIc 6 $140 840$ Grade 10 31 6%ALTA Language Testing - Wr & Sp 87 $120 10,440$ Grade 11 144 26%ALTA Language Testing - Wr only 27 $60 1,620$ Grade 12 123 23%WAFLT Custom Tests 13 $185 2,405$ Total 545 100%Total 545 21,897$ Average cost per student 40.18$ (Note: count includes students who earned 0 credits or did not complete the test)

*includes Dual Language Immers ion Students at Hami l ton, Mercer, Denny Intl Schools


https://www.weareoneamerica.org/world-language-credit-translations


video about the program dubbed into the top languages of Seattle and South King County. This continues to be an effective tool for informing students, families, community members, and educators about this opportunity. That initiative has now expanded into the “Speak Your Language” Campaign, relaunched in August 2017 by One America. This spring, thanks to Seattle’s continued involvement with the Road Map Project, the Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) Race to the Top (RTTT) grant was able to grant additional one-time funding of $21,162 to help cover testing costs and Seal of Biliteracy expenses during 2016-2017. We also continue to work with the testing companies to develop less expense and easier to administer alternatives. We were very fortunate that Avant Assessment began offering the new WorldSpeak test, similar to our Washington Association for Language Teaching (WAFLT) Custom Test (also supported by Avant), but available at a much lower cost. In fact, because of our district and the Road Map region’s large volume of Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) tests, Avant offered us WorldSpeak at just $16/student. (This compares to $120 per student for the ALTA tests that we were using for Somali, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.) For the past several years, ELL and International Programs have sponsored 11th and 12th graders from any high school across the district (both English Language Learners and general education) to complete the tests. Currently, 9th and 10th graders are not sponsored by the district, so they have to pay for their tests on their own (from about $40-$180, depending on the language). We also expanded opportunities in the spring of 2017 for English Language Learner 8th grade students to have the opportunity to test so that they would arrive at high school with credits in hand, plus having met a high school graduation and college admissions requirement. In general, with the new graduation requirement of 2 credits of a World Language, it would be very advantageous to sponsor students in 9th and 10th grade for testing, as well. We hope that the district will be able to allocate funds to support this effort. We will be submitting recommended updates soon to the 2409 Supt. Procedure to clarify which tests we are using and payment procedures. Testing Days and Locations The World Language Credit Testing web page provides extensive information for students and families about World Language Credit Testing. We have already scheduled testing dates open to all students at the Seattle World School location 1698 E Union St, Seattle, WA 98122 Saturday mornings at 10:00 am: 10/7/2017, 10/28/2017, 11/18/2017, 12/2/2017, 1/20/2018, 2/10/2018, 3/10/2018, and 3/31/2018. We are working with the middle and high schools with significant ELL populations to encourage them to offer after school or Saturday testing opportunities at their schools, as well, to make it more convenient for students who have difficulty traveling to the Seattle World School on a Saturday. Last year, the following schools offered testing opportunities at their schools: Chief Sealth International High School, Hamilton International Middle School, Jane Addams Middle School, Mercer International Middle School, Seattle World School (extra dates just for their students), as well as Interagency. Dr. Michele Anciaux Aoki, International Education Administrator [email protected] 206 252-0191


https://www.weareoneamerica.org/world-language-credit-translations

https://www.weareoneamerica.org/speak-your-language

https://www.weareoneamerica.org/speak-your-language

https://www.weareoneamerica.org/

https://www.seattleschools.org/academics/international_education/world_language_credit_testing/dual_language_immersion_testing/

mailto:[email protected]

Kyle D. Kinoshita Friday Memo, October 6, 2017 Page 1 of 1

Process for Educational Software Approval - DRAFT

Seattle Public Schools in compliance with state and federal law, district policy and other legal obligations must vet software for student educational use. As a practical matter, not all software, especially individual classroom purchases, meets a needed standard. Thus, to assure all software used at the school or district level or requiring disclosure of student data at any level, it must be approved before purchasing for use with students. Although our initial approval process will not include individual classroom purchases made by individual teachers unless student data of any form is shared with a vendor, we will still require teachers take all of the following criteria into consideration before using software in their classrooms. The five criteria that must be met:

1) Appropriate educational use and compliance with the general criteria of The Cultural Relevance and Anti-Bias Checklist, Policy 0030.

2) Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 3) Assurances that software vendors comply with the student privacy provisions of

Washington Senate Bill 5419. 4) Have a current, signed data sharing agreement with Seattle Public Schools when

student data is being shared as a part of the use or setup of the software. 5) The Department of Technology Services has reasonable means to provide student

account access and rostering if required.

To ensure these criteria have been met, we will: 1) Publish a list of approved software that meets these requirements and can be

purchased with district funds and installed on district equipment. 2) Require new requests be made by principals or program managers. 3) Requests be submitted through an online process using our Service Now ticketing

System. 4) Process requests through an educational software review board with membership

from Instructional Technology, Department of Technology Services (DoTS) security office, DoT’s technical support and our ADA consultant. This review board will only evaluate technical criteria 2-4.

5) Purchasing will not move forward with purchases without confirmation from a representative of the review board.


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https://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/School%20Board/Policies/Series%202000/2015_Criteria.pdf

Subject: Friday Memo to the Board Date: Friday, October 6, 2017 From: Flip Herndon, Associate Superintendent of Capital, Facilities and Operations To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent Capital Projects, Facilities and Operations, and Enrollment Planning Capital Projects and Planning 20171006: In response to a request about knowing the dates of a West Seattle Carnival or regional carnivals: I believe that information was sent out a few weeks ago to Directors about engagements in the different regions of the City and thought exchange was one of the tools we were using to garner additional questions. The Regional Townhall dates are already posted on the website https://www.seattleschools.org/families_communities/community_engagement and will cover a variety of topics. These engagement opportunities are from 6:30-8:00 and families can come to learn information about changes, get questions answered and give feedback to staff. We are looking at this model as it has been used successfully in other districts around similar issues. Topics to be covered are… Transportation, Special Education, Advanced Learning, ELL /International Education, College & Career Readiness, Enrollment Planning/Admissions and Capital. We look forward to this opportunity to engage with our communities! We do have other region specific issues that we are scheduling in those impacted areas (e.g. Lincoln, Boren STEM K-8, etc.) and we are working with those principals and communities on dates and times. On the topic of playgrounds: I believe we addressed this a bit at the BEX V work session on September 26th. We have not used the Race and Equity Tool Kit specifically, to the best of my knowledge, on previous capital levies, but we will be using it on the BEX V levy. Richard Best included the previous BTA IV original menu of possible projects, of which playground replacements was one of the items. When the board made a final decision to trim the size of the levy, playgrounds was not one of the items that remained on the measure ultimately going to voters. I agree that addressing the disparities and access to resources and equipment is an equity issue. In order to know the full scope of that discrepancy, we need an accurate measure of who has equipment and the condition it is in. In that same meeting in September, we did commit to putting that into the next Meng analysis for the BEX V levy. This will allow a consistent reading of the equipment by an independent entity. We can then have a better idea about what needs to be replaced, when and where. That work will begin in early 2018 as I recall. Once we have all of that information, we will use the Race and Equity toolkit to cost out the resources necessary to address that discrepancy and the board then will have the ability to keep that item on an ultimate ballot measure or not. Submitted by: Flip Herndon 10-5-17 Page 1


Submitted by Pegi McEvoy on October 6, 2017 Page 1

Date: Thursday, October 5, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Pegi McEvoy, Assistant Superintendent for Operations Re: Friday Memo for October 6, 2017 Ensuring that students, staff and schools are systematically and equitably supported for success is the goal of the Operations Division. This week’s Friday memo focuses on two Operations Division topics that support district goals: community engagement and student safety. Nutrition Services: The district is featuring a video on the Nutrition Services Department and the work of our central kitchen. The goal of the video it to help families be aware of the program and the district’s focus on healthy foods and healthy students. Through the district’s home webpage (with links to each school’s webpage) families can view this community engagement campaign. This work implements recommendations from the Nutrition Services Task Force and the Prismatic Report. A special thanks to Luke Duecy in the Communications Department and Nutrition Services Director Teresa Fields for their collaboration on this effort. Safety and Security: October 19, 2017 is the date of the Great Washington Shakeout. Each year the state hosts a multi-agency drill of a major earthquake so that first responders, emergency operations centers, and public agencies like school districts can practice the “drop, cover and hold” best practice procedure. Genesee Hill Elementary School has signed up and has been designated as one of four schools from around the state to host a media event. As Genesee Hill is the only one in the Seattle area, central office staff members are preparing to support principal Gerrit Kischner and his staff as they train with students during this event. Students and staff will receive information to take home on what families need to do to be ready for two weeks of being isolated. A special thanks to all the Genesee Hill staff for agreeing to participate and draw attention to emergency preparedness at school and at home.


Submitted by B. Jones on October 6, 2017 Page 1

Date: Friday, October 6, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Dr. Brent Jones, Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer Re: Friday Memo for October 6

Creative Advantage

The Creative Advantage continues to work toward our goal of establishing equitable access to arts learning for all Seattle Public Schools students. The two largest Creative Advantage components for the 2017-18 year include: Southeast + Meany Middle School Roll-out in 22 schools All 21 schools in the Southeast region (two K-12 pathways) plus the reopened Meany Middle School in the Central region will formed arts teams in September and will develop school multi-year arts visions and Year One action plans in the months ahead. They will begin implementing their plans from January through June 2018. School arts plans include goals for community-building arts events, integrating arts into other core subjects (via professional development for staff and teaching artist residencies), and alignment of arts partnerships with school goals. This work in the schools will be complemented by other regional arts partnerships happening in the Southeast such as the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra’s and Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s Musical Pathways Project and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Dance & Quality Physical Education Professional Development Project. Culturally-Responsive Teaching and Learning in the Arts This fall, K-12 arts teachers participated in the launch of Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Arts, which is our next initiative to develop a framework that supports teachers to develop units and practices that are culturally responsive and socially just. The scope of this work will follow the scope of the previous effort to incorporate 21st century skills into arts teaching and learning. Professional development in the new framework will also extend to teaching artists and partners. SPS will collaborate with the City of Seattle to implement a new racial equity toolkit process on this effort. Both of the above components are supported by staff from Strategy & Partnerships, Curriculum and Instruction, and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Education and Housing

New Holly Middle School Success Night On Friday, September 22, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) hosted a Middle School Success Night for New Holly middle schoolers Free backpacks with school supplies were distributed at the event along with information about why attendance matters and College Bound Scholarships. Over 50 students and their families attended the event. Students and families were able to engage in a conversation with math specialists from the department of Curriculum and Instruction about succeeding in math in middle school and how that connects to high school and



future careers. Students and families also gave input on the issue of the new math textbook adoption. Information and resource tables staffed by the East African Community Services, Somali Family Safety Task Force, SHA Youth Engagement specialists, Aki Kurose Middle School, Asa Mercer Middle School, SPS Attendance Department and Curriculum and Instruction. Thank you to SPS Education and Housing manager, Kathlyn Panaanen for her work to get the school principals out to New Holly. It added so much value to the event. Having the students see the school staff out in the community shows that the “village” is big and we are all cheerleaders in their success.

Strategy and Partnerships African American Male Advisory Committee Presents Final Recommendations On Thursday, September 28, the African American Male Advisory Committee presented their final recommendations to Superintendent Larry Nyland and members of his senior leadership team. The presentation represented 15+ months of work from the committees on recommendations focused to improve outcomes for African American male students. There are five committees: Attendance, College and Career Readiness, Community Partnerships, Family Engagement, and Policy and Practice. The top three recommendations from each committee were highlighted in a Power Point presentation, presented in written version and discussed in dialogue with members of senior leadership. Senior leadership members in attendance included Superintendent Nyland, Erinn Bennett, JoLynn Berge, Carri Campbell, Clover Codd, Kyle Kinoshita, Caleb Perkins, Pat Sander, Michael Tolley and Nate Van Duzer. The next step in the process is for senior leadership to examine how the recommendations can be operationalized and develop a timeline for implementation. A status report will be ready for the AAMAC members at their next meeting on November 9. Pictures from the evening as well as the recommendations booklet are at the end of this section. Please be advised that the tables in the booklet have not been formatted for ADA compliance. If you would like to receive a print copy of the booklet, please contact Jeanne Suleiman at [email protected] Eliminating Opportunity Gaps Institute Update Response to the first EOG Institute, Schooling for Racial Justice has been overwhelmingly positive. Registration closed two days early because we exceeded our benchmark attendance goal of 200 participants. (As of this writing, we have 231 attendees.) The Institute is being held on Friday, October 13th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00p.m. at Chief Sealth International IB High School. Racial justice is a guiding theme of the Institute – the proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes and actions that produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment and impacts for all. Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade from the Teaching Excellence Network will kick off the morning work session and Dr. Robin DiAngelo will be our keynote for the afternoon session. We look forward to engaging in a robust day of learning.




Strategy & Partnerships Staff Visit Arbor Heights Elementary In an effort to better understand the challenges school leaders and educators face in eliminating opportunity gaps for our students, members from the Strategy and Partnerships division will once again engage in school learning walks. Learning Walks became part of our routine in 2016-17 and every visit to a school provided us with a valuable opportunity to listen and learn. For the 2017-18 school year, we are inviting colleagues in other divisions to join us. This year we began our circuit with Arbor Heights Elementary. Principal Christy Collins welcomed us with pride into the still-new building. Principal Collins was quick to point out both the beauty and functionality of the building as well as her determination to ensure that all who enter Arbor Heights are embraced with a welcoming environment. Principal Collins, who has been leading Arbor Heights for seven years, talked about how enrollment has increased from approximately 200 students just a few years ago to the 545 student attending this year. She also shared the in-depth work her staff has done to develop the interconnection between RULER, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) and the Common Core Curriculum. We we able to tour primary and intermediate classrooms to see the emphasis on both the arts and science curricula. Principal Collins stressed her belief that for students to be “ready for the world” they must have background knowledge and shared with us the importance of additional learning that occurs outside the school building. Thank you, Principal Collins and everyone at Arbor Heights for an wonderful visit. Pictures of our visit are below.

A portion of the Arbor Heights computer lab A kindergarten word wall that includes the word “scrumptious”!



AAMAC Final Recommendations Presentation Thursday, September 28, 2017

The AAMAC Final Recommendations Presentation The Attendance Committee discuss recommendations

The College & Career Readiness Committee discussion The Community Partnerships and Family Engagement

Committees have a collaborative discussion of their recommendations

The Policy and Practice Committee discuss their recommendations (both pictures)


African American Male Advisory

Committee

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT

Presented September 28, 2017


AAMAC Final Recommendations | September 2017 Page 2

Table of Contents

Letter to Dr. Nyland ...................................................................... 3

Attendance Recommendations ..................................................... 5

College and Career Readiness Recommendations .................... 12

Community Partnerships Recommendations .............................. 21

Family Engagement Recommendations ..................................... 29

Policy and Practice Recommendations ....................................... 39 AAMAC 3.0: The Next Chapter………..… .................................. 48



September 28, 2017 Dear Superintendent Nyland, The African American Male Advisory Committee officially formed in June 2016. The African American Male Advisory Committee’s (AAMAC) roots go back to the original African American Male Think Tank, a group that authored six initiatives whose purpose was to improve the quality of life and education for all African American males within Seattle Public Schools. Five of those six initiatives were operationalized and the positive effects, such as providing professional development addressing racism and implicit bias, trauma, social justice, equity, and culturally responsive pedagogy can be seen in our schools today. Throughout 2016-17, the AAMAC made an in-depth review of the issues surrounding African American male achievement. The mission you gave the AAMAC was to provide guidance on how to best transform our educational system so that we are ensuring educational excellence for all students, particularly our African American males. Community members from a wide range of backgrounds, professionals and SPS employees were selected to serve on this advisory committee in order to put a fresh set of eyes on a decades-long community/district issue. This also helped to ensure that there was authentic community engagement in the project. This project is one of the community, for the community. PROCESS/COMMUNITY INPUT The African American Male Advisory Committee held monthly meetings. Concurrently, sub-committees met to go deeper and to address areas that were identified as critical. Committee members were encouraged to provide honest insight to the issues that both prevent and enable the personal and educational development of African American males within Seattle Public Schools. By design, members were encouraged to bring their unique story to each meeting and by doing so, foster a space for reform, justice and solutions. In order to gain authentic insight, panel presentations were made to the AAMAC by:

• Parents (October 2016) • Students (December 2016) • Teachers/Educators (March 2017) • Community members (Public community forum, June 2017)

At the conclusion of presentations and listening sessions, individual committees continued to meet to narrow the focus of the findings and finalize them for recommendations. The individual sub committees Attendance, College and Career Readiness, Community Partnerships, Family Engagement and Policy and Practice.



Written recommendations and ideas have been generated and vetted by community members and committee members. Accordingly, the AAMAC has included long-term policy recommendations coupled with short-term tools that can be employed immediately to empower the community to leverage the good work that is already taking place. It is these recommendations that are being presented to you. It is important to note the overarching theme through all the meetings is that African American male achievement is systemic problem that will require long-term community solutions. NEXT STEPS AND TIMELINE

1. Superintendent previews recommendations and provides input: August 21-23 2. AAMAC reviews the initial preview: August 24 3. AAMAC presents finalized recommendations to the Superintendent: September 28 4. Superintendent formally reviews recommendations: September 29 – October 10 5. Introduce recommendations at EOG Institute: October 13

It is my distinct honor to present the work of the committees to you. The committees have worked long, hard and thoughtfully on the enclosed recommendations. You will find every element of the 4P’s – positive beliefs, positive relationships, positive learning, and positive partnerships embedded in the recommendations. We look forward to working with you on implementation. Regards, Brent Jones Dr. Brent Jones Chief, Strategy and Partnerships Officer



Attendance

Sub-Committee Recommendations



Attendance Sub-Committee Members George Breland

Dwane Chappelle

Brad Fulkerson Eric McCurdy

Darryl Russell

Kathi Petrotta

Pat Sander

Nitica Simons

Mission: To maximize instructional time, Seattle Public Schools will have in place school cultures and climates sustained by structures and supports that encourage school attendance of African American males and ensures each is known, cared for and educated. Vision: We envision Seattle Public Schools’ African American males attending classes, engaged and productive, confident and prepared for their next steps.



AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS OVERVIEW

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

ATTENDANCE

COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

POLICY AND PRACTICE

1 Identify programs and

partnerships to address chronic absenteeism for African American males

Increase access for African American male students to rigorous,

hands-on, project based learning pedagogy and

STEM curriculum

Ensure that all partnership programs support African American male students

Every African American male student and/or

family is warmly welcomed to school every day

Develop tactics to operationalize and

implement School Board Policy 0030, 'Ensuring Educational and Racial

Equity'

2 Develop partnerships with families and communities

to ensure consistent attendance for African

American males

Ensure that all African American males are

aware of and planning for post-secondary options

beginning in middle school

Inspire African American male students'

communities, families, and schools to action

Parents and teachers in every school are actively

learning to partner together to support

student success

Provide trainings to all SPS leaders and staff on how

to implement and execute School Board Policy 0030

3

Ensure that every African American male student is

connected to a caring adult who knows his

personal story strength, and need

Create networks of partnerships that provide

college tours, career connected learning, and work based experiences

for African American students

Encourage and develop systems to attract and

retain African American male teachers

All families have access to a helpful and easy-to-use “Guide for Students and Families of Seattle Public

Schools"

Develop a communication plan to enlist community-

wide awareness and support for School Board

Policy 0030



African American Male Advisory Committee Attendance Committee Recommendations

FULL TEXT

Goal 1: Seattle Public Schools understands the reason(s) why African American scholars do not attend school and develops/identifies appropriate programs and partnerships to address those reason(s)

Implementation Timeline Results Evaluation Mechanism

Person/Area Responsible

• Across the District and at each school site analyze attendance data (including tardiness) by class period (MS/HS), content area, etc…

• Survey of students and families • Study schools with low rates of African American

male chronic absenteeism • Provide staffing/FTEs to schools based on data

specifically to monitor, respond to, and support students with attendance barriers

Every Trimester/ Semester

Annually/ Semi-annually

TBD

Principals

Research & Evaluation

HR

Student Support Services



Goal 2: African American Families and community are partners in ensuring consistent attendance



• Design systems and practices in response to Purpose #1

• Explore funding opportunities for case management/wrap around services for African American male students exhibiting chronic absenteeism

• Study the outcomes of the expansion of My Brother’s Keeper and other mentoring programs

• Expand Family and Community support and engagement work currently being done through Johns Hopkins and SPS

Annually

• Learn what schools and community partners are doing to support programs (e.g. mentoring, Project Mister, Success Mentors, My Brother’s Keeper)

• Provide a usable list of programs and promising practices

Schools have been identified that have programs that effectively support African American students

Education Directors

Family &

Community Partnerships



Goal 3: Every African American male student is connected to an adult; every African American male student is known by story, strength and need (a positive relationship)



• Schools analyze student connectedness (including both student and staff perspectives)

• Make available to schools curriculum/programs (ex: check in) and professional development relating to establishing, maintaining, and restoring relationships (including across cultures)

• District partners with and holds discussion with Building Leaders and Union(s) with the goal of establishing District-wide time within school day (at least weekly) specifically for building relationships

• Adults have more and effective tools

• Establishes time dedicated to building relationships

TBD

Principals

Curriculum & Instruction

Seattle Education Association




Goal 4: African American male scholars are engaged and excited about learning

*END OF ATTENDANCE RECOMMENDATIONS*

Key Action Steps Timeline Results Evaluation Mechanism


• Review mandated curriculum and interview staff and African American male students

• Focus on student backgrounds and cultures (professional development, student voice, community partners)

• Review (and develop or expand as needed) internal and external programs

• Create and distribute menu of best practices for teachers

• Equity Teams in every building • Leverage Ethnic Studies

taskforce to accomplish overall goals of this recommendation

• Establish a group to explore structural changes (credits, grading, course offerings, etc…)

Within one year

• Improve relevance of lessons/assessments, and highlight best practices for teaching African American males

• Support African American male students during disciplinary exclusion and breaks

• Encourage student voice and

choice in their learning

• Create a more meaningful and engaging secondary experience for African American males

TBD



HR

Strategy & Partnerships



College and Career Readiness Sub-Committee

Recommendations


https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=GkRUdyXR&id=23A38EA746A8EABDD6A68011D86FDF373212E45F&thid=OIP.GkRUdyXRp-DJ-FsFTOIB7wEsDI&q=picture+of+black+boys+getting+on+school+bus&simid=608003358886789388&selectedIndex=167


College and Career Readiness Sub-Committee Members Eric Anderson

Lois Brewer

Warren Brown Eric Coe

Michael Tolley

Sheldon Levias

Rayburn Lewis

Mission: We exist to develop a multi-pronged approach for creating educational systems that transform the course of the African American male students’ lives. We do this by involving parents, teachers, and mentors to uplift and encourage them; by promoting equity conscious school communities that support student self-efficacy and commitment to social justice and citizenship; and by developing networks of partnerships to enhance college and career awareness and preparation. Vision: We support empowered African American males who are the “architects of their own dreams.” We help them graduate "Seattle Ready," by improving equitable access to rigorous K-12 education, by early awareness of postsecondary opportunities, by removing institutional barriers along the way, by opening doors to college and career-connected opportunities as they plan for their futures.




SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

ATTENDANCE



FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

POLICY AND PRACTICE





STEM curriculum






Equity'



American males








student success



3










Schools"



Policy 0030



African American Male Advisory Committee College and Career Readiness Committee Recommendations

FULL TEXT

Goal 1: Promote student self-efficacy and commitment to social justice and citizenship through positive relationships and equity-conscious school communities



Establish/Continue Growth in positive relationships with African American students and their families

Tie to Welcoming

Environment

Work in Goals 2 & 4

Positive changes in teacher and community skills, attitudes and dispositions in developing and maintaining positive relationships with students and families

• Learning walks on teacher skills, attitudes & dispositions (rubric)?

• School Climate Surveys- Students, Staff, & Families.

• Increased African American academic achievement

• Equity Tool Kit Rubric • C-SIP

School Leadership

Curriculum &

Instruction

Family Engagement


Establish/Nurture equity-conscious school communities

More on next page

Tie to Welcoming

Environment

Work in Goals 2 & 4

Positive changes in teacher and community skills, attitudes and dispositions in: • equitable decision making • equitable discipline • equitable opportunity

• Climate Survey • Equity Tool Kit Rubric • Discipline and

Restorative Practices • Access to

opportunities • C-SIP



Strategy &

Partnerships





All schools have social justice and civic citizenship as part of their C-SIP

Increased: • community based decision

making • participation in active citizenship,

community, locally, nationally, and worldwide

• problem solving • innovation • linking classroom learning with

meeting community needs

• Project Based Learning Pedagogy

• Service Learning Pedagogy

• Community Partnerships with annual climate survey & capacity review

• Equity Tool Kit Rubric • -C-SIP

Principals

Education Directors

Teaching &

Learning




Goal 2: Increase access for African American males at all ages to rigorous, experiential, hands-on, project based learning; particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)



Increase access for African American males to instruction that is: • rigorous • hands-on • experiential • project based learning • STEM

Ongoing

Teacher proficiency demonstrated at PK-K Grades 1-3, 4-5, 6-8, & 9-12 yielding positive outcomes

• Comparison year to year of African American male access and success

• PK-12th grade (course taking, completion, passing with C or better)

• C-SIP


Teaching &

Learning

Build 21st Century skills at all levels, PK – 12

More on next page

Ongoing

Cleveland High School Data & Job Shadow experience has shown that using project based learning pedagogy builds 21st Century skill development in HS students (comparable effect with problem and SL based learning pedagogy)

• Student assessments • Professional

Development • C-SIP



Teaching &

Learning





Recruit and engage African American male professionals for real-world learning experiences with African American males at all levels, PK – 12

Pilot in Spring

2018 with 20 – 30 students

Inventory experiences in C-SIP reporting for partnership development and maintenance



Goal 3: Ensure that all African American males are aware of and planning for, post-secondary options and create networks of partnerships to provide mentorship, college tours, internships, and other workplace-based experiences



African American males are aware of post-secondary options through a combination of mentors, college/program tours and/or career connected learning

More on next page

Inventory in January

2018

• Initiation of partnership with Educurious for system development

• Survey of partnerships with College Access Programs

• Survey of partnerships college/trades outreach programs


Teaching &

Learning (CTE & CCR)



* END OF COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS RECOMMENDATIONS*



Recommendations of 24 Credit Taskforce: • High School & Beyond Planning • Student Support & Advisory • Daily Schedule • Extended Learning • Policies • Run credit retrieval classes during

the school day • System-wide consistence for

middle school access to earn high school credit

• Explore current consensus of 2 semesters/7 period schedule

• Run credit retrieval classes during school day, supported by teacher

• Committee for long term plan for digital course work in high school

• Develop long term plan for articulated CTE & CCR nimble enough to respond to student interest & labor market needs

• Support Career Center Specialist/Work Site Learning Instructor positions

• Develop summer learning opportunities for credit retrieval and first time credit

• Align policy 2415 with state graduation requirements

• Connect service-learning requirement to HS & Beyond Plan

• Re-write policy 2420

Spring 2018

distribution of

information

Plan in Summer

2018

Spring 2018

If/then: • With a common platform, student

movement within district will be supported with planning

• Advisory implemented 17-18 for a minimum of 25 minutes per week

• Current credit retrieval summer school funded by City of Seattle Family/Ed Levy

HR

Labor Relations

Teaching & Learning

(CTE/CCR)




Community Partnerships Sub-Committee Members James Bush

Erwin Chappel

Clarence Gunn

Ina Howell

Rodney Jones

Darryl Russell

Erik Weiss

Mission: Partner with the community to create environments for African American male students to excel academically and thrive socially and emotionally. Vision: Our communities actively collaborate around common goals to educate, support and uplift African American students.




SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

ATTENDANCE



FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

POLICY AND PRACTICE





STEM curriculum






Equity'



American males








student success



3










Schools"



Policy 0030



African American Male Advisory Committee Community Partnerships Committee Recommendations

FULL TEXT

Goal 1: Ensure that all partner programs support African-American students



Community partner will access student performance and provide updates to school on student growth

Annually /

Semi-annually

Schools and community partners connect students to appropriate programs and services, as well as identify students not receiving recommended services

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a potential resource at the school level that can track interventions and supports at the school level

Principals

Family &


Regular meeting with community partners / providers to discuss student supports and growth (either stand-alone or as a member of MTSS, BLT, etc.). Community partners provide program evaluations / reports of program offerings to partner schools

Annually /

Semi-annually

Schools and community partners connect students to appropriate programs and services

Schools will have the opportunity to review program evaluation reports to better inform decision making at the school level

Principals

Family &

Community Partnership

Community Partner Fairs / forums for community based and faith based organizations that support African American male students

More on next page

Annually – prior to

school level budget

decisions

• Help schools better understand the resources that are available to support students

• Ensure that BLT, principals and Ed Directors are aware of and encourage participation

• Number of participating organizations

• Number of participating schools

• Participant surveys • Number of

organizations that make a new connection with schools

Family & Community Partnerships





Inventory: every school has goals related to Eliminating the Achievement Gap and aligned Continuous School Improvement Plan

Annually • Learn what schools and community partners are doing to support programs (e.g. mentoring, Project Mister, Success Mentors, My Brother’s Keeper)

• Provide a usable list of programs and promising practices

Schools have been identified that have programs that effectively support African American students

Education Directors

Family &


Identify opportunities for SPS and community based organizations to partner with other local municipal agencies, Educational Partners, and funders in support of African American students (e.g. Our Best, King County Juvenile Justice & Equity Steering Committee, King County Best Starts for Kids, University of Washington (Communities in Action))

Ongoing Cultivate potential resources, increase coordination, and support collective impact

As result of increased partnerships, SPS sees an increased investment in student supports for African American males



Explore partnerships with local business industry leaders (e.g. Tech, Arts, Media, Trades) to support efforts of SPS and local community partners

Ongoing • Elevate and market SPS’s Skill Center and CTE (Career Technical Education) programs to community partners serving AA male students

• Improve coordination of community and industry leaders to serve AA male students

• Cultivate apprenticeships, internships, and other opportunities that support student growth

Survey the number of partnerships that were developed as a result of increased community partnerships

College & Career Readiness

Strategic Partnerships




Goal 2: Inspire African-American students’ communities, families, and schools to action



Support community partner’s education related forums (e.g. S.A.B.S.E.—Seattle Association of Black Student Educators) through effective use of inventory, marketing, and appropriate staffing support

Annually and as

informed

• Families, community partners, and schools are informed, aware, and participating in community led events

• Community partners, families, and educators have the tools to effectively serve African American male students

Surveys and communication protocols (e.g. number of events marketed on behalf of community partners by SPS)



Identify early adopters of schools that have implemented successful programs for African American male students (e.g. My Brother’s Keeper) that are ready for replication

Ongoing • ID efforts that have successfully closed gaps for African American male students

• Increase awareness

Eliminating the Opportunity Gap

Education Directors


Create / identify successful national models to support AA student achievement and mentorship (e.g. Ted Ginn Academy, Oakland Unified – Kingmakers via City Our Best Initiative)

Ongoing • ID efforts that have successfully closed gaps for AA male students

• Increase awareness • Identify potential resources for

expansion ($) • Increase the number of mentors at

SPS

Landscape Analysis Strategic Initiatives


Build Capacity—Bring together community partner and school leaders to align, leverage and bring together learn best practices for supporting AA males students and to inform about school improvement processes, district wide practices, initiatives, and priorities

Ongoing • Incorporate best practices in students from CBOs and District partners

• Provide training and resources about upcoming district supports, practices, and opportunities for engagement

• Align community and district practices to support African American students

• School leaders have Continuous School Improvement Plans that include community partner and parent voice

Survey participants Family & Community Partnerships

Strategic Partnerships

Education Directors



Goal 3: Encourage and develop systems to attract and retain African American teachers



Develop African American youth led and created professional development for school staff with paid interns that serve similar to artists in residence

Ongoing

• Student mentors on site at schools

• Identified potential resources (funding) and/or partners to support this work

TBD

HR

Labor relations

Strategy and Partnerships



Goal 4: Establish formal relationships and collaborative systems to engage community partners serving African American students

*END OF COMMUNITY PARTERNERSHIPS RECOMMENDATIONS*



Meet with regional funders and community partners to establish plans and opportunities to support AA male students

Ongoing

Increased alignment amongst groups, organizations, providers, and other existing advisory bodies (e.g. Our Best Advisory Committee, Juvenile Justice Steering Committee, etc.)

TBD


Inform community partners and community members about how to partner with and navigate schools, including clear partnership criteria and expectations for partners and volunteers

TBD

• SPS will have clear criteria, expectations, and processes to intake, support and manage partnerships.

• Increased alignment to SPS / school goals with partner providers.

• Partners will better understand how to engage with school leaders and SPS central staff

TBD Family & Community Partnerships

Develop capacity building training to help support the growth of small community partners that have the relationships and skills to support black students and parents

Ongoing TBD TBD Family & Community Partnerships



Family Engagement




Family Engagement Sub-Committee Members Marlon Brown

Marty McLaren

Audrey Querns

Emijah Smith

Mission: Support African American families, and every teacher at every school to work as reciprocal, equitable, and culturally responsible partners that accelerate academic achievement and social/ emotional development of every child.

Vision: Every African American family in SPS works in partnership with our teachers, schools and central office to ensure academic excellence for each of our students. In this partnership, students, families and educators feel respected, valued and connected.




SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

ATTENDANCE



FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

POLICY AND PRACTICE





STEM curriculum






Equity'



American males








student success



3










Schools"



Policy 0030



African American Male Advisory Committee Family Engagement Committee Recommendations

FULL TEXT

Goal 1: Every African American student and their family is warmly welcomed to school every day by ALL staff – instructional and building support staff



District Leadership presents this goal to principals, inviting participation, asking for feedback and suggestions on implementation

District leaders

determine timing for

presentation to principals. Ideally, this initiative is

rolled out as part of prep

for the coming year.

However, because it is simple, it can be folded in ASAP during

the year

Successful presentation of plan to principals, feedback, tweaking of initiative accomplished as needed

Superintendent/Board apprised of progress of implementation via Executive Directors, via Principals

TBD by Superintendent

At every school, one staff member agrees to be responsible for leading this initiative

More on next page

Staff lead identified within one month of rollout of initiative

Climate Survey Principals

Education

Directors

Building Staff





District department (Teaching and Learning or Family Engagement) develops samples/modules for authentically welcoming outreach to students and families with input from members of Seattle’s African American community. The menu consists of suggestions and best practices

In parallel with input from principals


Staff lead selects and modifies welcoming modules appropriate for their school community. Develops a simple plan for outreach to and education of staff, including a timeline, and written “menu” for staff use

Plan, timeline, and menu developed

within one to two months after Lead is

identified

Plan, timeline, menu of welcoming behaviors in place

Principals report to Executive Directors on rate of completion

Education Directors

Staff lead initiates implementing plan

More on next page

Implementation begins

immediately on completion of

plan, etc. within two months of

naming Lead

Staff intentionally practicing authentically welcoming behaviors to AA males, families, and all students

Lead reports on implementation and feedback to principal

Principals





Staff lead checks in with staff, offers support and encouragement, reports on success at staff meetings

Informal feedback,

re-evaluation begins within one month of

implementation

Feedback and conversations about the initiative ongoing

Informal or formal reports to lead. Parent and student responses on Annual Climate Surveys. Questions needed (already present?)

re: students’ and families’ sense of welcome and belonging

Principals




Goal 2: At every school, pre-K through 12th grade, parents and teachers are actively learning to partner together to support student success (also known as Harvard’s Dual-Capacity Framework*.) This is a long-term goal, including a Board Commitment to fund the initiative for a minimum of five years



Appropriate District Leaders agree on a model/structure for implementing a districtwide teacher/parent partnership initiative. This structure offers a coherent planning tool and a rich array of examples and resources that guide parents and teachers in how to create parent/educator partnerships. Example: Harvard Ed School’s “Dual Capacity Framework”

Two months

from Board approval

Leadership will have a basic structural concept on which to base its educator/family partnership initiative

N/A

Superintendent


SPS Department of Teaching and Learning partner with School-Family Partnerships to plan, organize, and implement the training of school leaders in the selected parent/educator partnership framework

Completed one year

from Board Approval, maximum

time

All principals and building leaders will be ready to engage with staff planning out a parent/educator partnership initiative

Principals, Leadership will report on progress milestones

Principals

Teaching & Learning

Community Engagement

Individual school leaders will engage staff (and parents if possible) in visioning and planning the schools’ unique priorities and strategies for creating parent/educator partnerships.**

This process

should be complete in four months

from initiation at individual schools

Each School will have a unique short- and long-range plan for creating parent/educator partnerships, described in a format similar to this matrix, and included in the Continuous School Improvement Plan

Principals, Leadership will report on progress milestones

Principals

Education Directors



* The Dual Capacity Framework can be found online here, as a supplemental handout at the presentation or directly: https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf .

** Schools that already have effective partnership programs in place will be tasked with improving and honing those programs



Educators and school leaders throughout SPS will reach out to parents/families/guardians to form school-specific partnerships that will support the academic and emotional success of students

Beginning of school

year

2018-19, with

possible lead-in during

2017-18 school year

Staff at every school will be committed to and engaged in establishing effective partnerships with parents. These relationships are expected to enhance student well-being and success

Reports from Principals including answers to evaluative surveys prepared by Teaching and Learning

Annual Climate Surveys will reflect the success of these initiatives. Questions may need to be revised to identify schools’ level of partnership

Principals

Teaching & Learning



https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf

https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf


Goal 3: All families have access to a “Guide for Students and Parents of Seattle Public Schools,” and they find it helpful and easy to use



SPS Departments of Teaching and Learning and Family Engagement partner to create this guide. The guide has two purposes: First, to empower and inform parents to involve themselves and to advocate with the district on behalf of students. Second, to provide parents/families/guardians with a user-friendly source of information to aid them in navigating the complexities of our large urban district

Two years, possibly one year

Guide will be available to families/guardians. Its use will empower parents/families/guardians to support student success

The guide will be evidence of the accomplishment

Teaching & Learning


To support widespread family use of the guide, principals will task staff with giving SPS Parent Guides to parents in person (at parent conferences and other parent/educator gathering opportunities) and demonstrate how to use the guide

More on next page

As soon as guide has

been published

Parents/families/guardians will be far more knowledgeable about navigating the various systems and resources of the district than in the past. This will lead to enhanced support for students and enhanced student success

Principals will monitor sharing by teachers and use of the guide by parents and report to Education Directors

The Annual Climate Survey would have a question regarding the usefulness of the guide, also regarding teachers giving guides to parents and demonstrating how to use it

Principals

Education Directors

Teaching & Learning




*END OF FAMILY ENGAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS*



To maximize the effectiveness of this initiative, we suggest a required, standard, yet customized, “New Family Induction” training, offered at every school, to aid families in supporting their new-to-SPS students, and introduce them to the use of the SPS guide

Timeline to coincide

with publication

of SPS Parents Guide

Parents/families/guardians will be far more knowledgeable about navigating the various systems and resources of the district than in the past. This will lead to enhanced support for students and enhanced student success

Principals report to Education Directors

Education Directors



Policy and Practice




Policy and Practice Sub-Committee Members Kevin Baker Sean Connor

Cal Crow Donald Felder

Tanisha Felder Chevas Gary

James Johnson Brent Jones

Sarah Pritchett Keisha Scarlett

Princess Shareef Anthony Shoecraft

Our Mission: Our mission is to review and analyze all policies and practices at all levels (governance, administrative and instructional) which serve to either diminish or have the potential to deliver on the promise of “full cognitive engagement and development” of African-American males and make recommendations to dismantle obsolete, realign existing, reconstruct and develop new policies and practices, driven by data, for adoption by members of the Seattle School district school board, district leadership, principals, teachers with the specific intent of holistic school reform; both its technical aspects and its cultural behaviors and practices with the intent to lift African-American male engagement, and self-pride for the purpose of closing the gaps of opportunity and achievement. Our Vision: Our vision, as a function of our recommendations, their adoption and effective proactive and measureable implementation by all responsible district staff and stakeholders, is that policies and practices at all levels will exclusively serve to be synergistic in lifting the cognitive development, psychological strength, self-esteem and academic achievement of our African-American male students. Toward this end we seek that the Seattle School district will strive to become the standard by with all other U.S. public school districts are measured by with regard to closing the opportunity and achievement gaps for our African-American males.




SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

ATTENDANCE



FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

POLICY AND PRACTICE





STEM curriculum






Equity'



American males








student success



3










Schools"



Policy 0030



African American Male Advisory Committee Policy and Practice Committee Recommendations

FULL TEXT

Goal 1: Develop tactics to operationalize Policy 0030, ‘Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity’; focus on implementation key racial equity elements in the policy



EQUITABLE ACCESS (A)

• Provide material for history/social studies and civic teachers (tailored K-12) regarding Ethnic Studies curriculum

• Invest in training of teachers that includes developing empathy for African American male students

Prep for

2018-2019

• Students whose history & heritage are taught, understood and celebrated learn better, be more successful and develop positive aspects of identity

• Ethnic studies can also help white students better appreciate the “democratic ideal of equity and justice, upon which the country was founded”

• Improved performance of African American male students

• AA male student, parent surveys

• Track attendance, suspensions, grades year over year and from the first half of the year to the 2nd half of the year


HR


RACIAL EQUITY ANALYSIS (B)

Engage African American stakeholders; students, teachers, parents, community members in development of practices and policies

More on next page

On-going People affected by an issue, along with other advocates familiar with the issue, provide insight and perspective about the possible implementation and outcomes of policies, which yield better policies and practices

Survey of African American students, teachers and parents about inclusion in the process (similar to a customer satisfaction survey)


HR







WORKFORCE EQUITY (C)

District investment in Classified to Certificated program, specifically focused on recruiting African-American staff as a pipeline to teacher positions in Seattle Public Schools

ASAP

An increase in the number of minority teachers

• Successful integration of the program

• Track how many African American participants and participants of color

• Track how many of those are recruited, interviewed, and hired into the classroom

HR

WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT (E)

Students have a voice and the opportunity to make contribution to their education

• Each African American male student participates in a Vision exercise. Once completed it is reviewed by staff

• Teachers to provide a vision for each African American male student

• African American male students are tasked with writing their educational plan for the year

More on next page

1/01/2018

• Staff members are aware of the vision exercise and leverage it to hold students accountable • Teachers work collaboratively with students to achieve their plan • Teachers incorporate the results of vision plans into their curriculum and how they approach teaching • Create ownership, driving empowerment and positively impact African American male student’s motivation to learn and engage in school • Improved performance of African American male students

• Each school should track the completion of a vision exercise by each AA male student

• Track attendance, suspensions, grades Year over Year and from the first half of the year to the 2nd half of the year

Principals

Building Leadership

Teams


Teaching & Learning






RECOGNIZING DIVERSITY (H)

Improve hiring practices:

Add cultural competency skill set and demonstrated experience to HR recruitment requirements, for both leaders and teachers

ASAP

• Increased number of admin/educators, with a proven track record of working with students & parents of color • Improved school culture and environment, that supports the success and readiness of African American male students

• Identify a list of cultural competency requirements & questions (situation-specific, diversity-related questions) e.g. “What do you think is causing a disproportionate number of African American males to be suspended? If you were hired here (teacher, administrator, para-educator, custodian, clerical staff, etc.). What do you think you could do to help change/improve this?”

• Track the number of districtwide new hires that meet these requirements

HR

Create a process to include African American male students and parents in the interview process of leaders/teachers

4/1/2018

Student and parent engagement will ensure leaders/teachers are hired that will help drive school culture and environment to support the success and readiness of African American male students

Track the number of candidates who are part of this new initiative, and how many get hired on an annual basis

Principals

HR

Seattle Education Association



Goal 2: Incorporate Policy 0030, ‘Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity’, into existing district-wide training, specifically how to implement and execute



Incorporate Policy 0030 into the Building Leadership Team Training (BLT) pilot program

The second day of training has a 90-minute segment focused on equity:

• Reading Mica Pollock’s Talking Precisely About Equal Opportunity

• Exploring Policy 0030 • Reviewing the Racial

Equity Analysis Tool • Team based learning;

working through equity-based decision-making scenarios

1/01/2018 To test training activities and gather feedback, to drive improvements to the overall training experience

100 schools participate in the pilot program

Principals

Building Leadership

Teams

Teaching & Learning

Develop new hire equity training (mandatory)

More on next page

Rollout in preparation for

2018-2019 school year

• Acquire necessary skill set to instruct, relate and respond to African American male students.

• Emphasize importance and prioritization of equity and how they show up, in the buildings, engage with African American male students and their families to drive a welcoming environment

• Assigned resources to lead training (leveraging existing content)

• Student, parent, staff surveys, including specific questions regarding equity and race

HR






Equity team training (mandatory)

Rollout in preparation for 2018-

2019 school year

Enhance Equity team training skill set to instruct, relate and respond to African American male students

Student, parent, staff surveys, including specific questions regarding equity and race


Develop ongoing Building Leadership Team equity team training, post pilot program

Rollout in preparation for 2018-

2019 school year

• Training, materials and tools disseminated through each school building, reaching all staff.

• Periodic training to revisit key equity and race initiatives

Student, parent, staff surveys, including specific questions regarding equity and race

Principals

Education Directors


Identify and prevent micro-aggressions toward African American males

• Create training content to explain what microaggressions are, how to identify and how to NOT perpetuate them

• Include this in all equity and race training

Annual • Improve the perception, held by some school administration and teachers, of American African male students

• Teachers see the potential, talents and promise of African American students; holding these students accountable, as any other student.

Create a survey for African American male students (similar to a customer satisfaction survey) and administer at the beginning of the school year and another at the end of the year





Goal 3: Develop a communication plan around Policy 0030, ‘Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity’

*END OF POLICY AND PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS*



Intentionally include components of policy 0030 into the, ‘SPS Formula For Success’ document

ASAP

Increased awareness, visibility and emphasis on the importance of improving racial equity, districtwide through real strategies. And more importantly increase awareness and improve perception and engagement of community

Track inclusion of 0030 in the document

Superintendent



Create an innovative marketing campaign around Policy 0030 and our recommended action steps to reach African & African communities and families

before 12/31/2017

• Increased prioritization, visibility and emphasis on the importance of improving racial equity in SPS

• Reduction in the opportunity gap

Track development and execution of the campaign; SPS web content, social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, TV and radio coverage) and it’s reach to the intended audiences


(Communications)



AAMAC 3.0:

The Next Chapter



AAMAC 3.0: The Next Chapter While the 2.0 version of the African American Male Advisory Committee has achieved its goal of researching, creating, vetting and submitting recommendations to the superintendent and senior leadership, the equity work of our district is far from complete. AAMAC 3.0 is looking forward to continuing to providing valuable community input. Some options currently under consideration are below. The first three are more probable; the fourth is a possibility:

1. Single-Issue Task Force AAMAC would become a single-entity committee, uniting to comprehensively address one high-impact issue regarding African American males.

2. Multiple-Issue Task Force AAMAC would become a single-entity committee, uniting to comprehensively address multiple high-impact issues regarding African American males.

3. Advocacy Group AAMAC would become “evangelists” for African American males, embarking on a campaign of public awareness and leading advocacy liaison sessions with district leadership.

4. Join an Existing Affiliate AAMAC would align itself with a regional or national organization such as the Campaign for Black Male Achievement.

Interested in sharing your thoughts on AAMAC’s future? Contact us at: [email protected]




Every Student.

Every Classroom.

Every Day.


Submitted by C.Campbell on 10/5/2017

Date: Oct. 5, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Carri Campbell, Chief Engagement Officer James Bush, Director of Community and Family Partnerships Re: Friday Memo for Oct. 6, 2017

Strategic Plan Goal 3: School, Family and Community Engagement

SMART GOAL 2: Family Engagement Rainier Beach Action Coalition: The Rainier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC) held its education summit on Thursday, Sept. 28. Through the coalition’s work, local youth are learning marketable, transferable skills such as entrepreneurship, advocacy and mentorship. The community learned about our positive behavioral interventions and support (PBIS) program through the behavioral health department, and RBAC announced that its PBIS team is community based. Families could discuss and voice their concerns regarding student safety, weekly early release days and after school care. A short film created by Rainier Beach youth also aired at the summit. Seattle Council PTSA General Meeting: On Monday, Oct, 2, Keisha Scarlett, ED of Organizational Development and Equity, and James Bush, Director of Family and Community Partnerships, attended the October Seattle Council PTSA (SCPTSA) General meeting. Keisha shared current information about Eliminating the Opportunity Gaps and Welcoming Environments and how families can help improve school climate. James shared how the PTA Family Engagement Standards are in alignment with SPS’s Family Engagement Policies and Procedures (4129/4129SP). SCPTSA members are excited to learn the Equity Initiatives Team and Family & Community Partnerships are increasing their alignment and working to ensure that both Policy 0030 and 4129 are used to frame our emerging practices. SMART GOAL 4: Collaboration and Engagement Communications: Two-way Community Engagement project tool An aspect of Smart Goal 4 is identifying and supporting 3-4 high level engagements throughout the school year. In response to the School Board’s input on Sept. 9, one area of engagement is feedback on potential changes to Advanced Learning services – what families want, what implications we need to consider and what questions they may have. The Communications and Engagement division has been monitoring the ThoughtExchange conversation about advanced learning opportunities for high school students; and we are seeing good questions and robust conversation from the community. One thousand nine hundred family members, students and staff participated, provided 5304 comments, and scored others’ thoughts 44,800 times. This is a new tool for the district, and it is different from a traditional survey. We used open-ended questions to get an understanding of values and priorities of our families as the Student Supports team considers potential changes for the coming years. The collection window closed on Oct. 4, and we are working with the vendor analyze data which will be used to supplement feedback gathered in community meetings over the next two weeks. Next week we will be holding a Chinese language meeting in partnership with the Chinese Information and Service Center, a meeting with the Garfield PTSA, and the following week meetings with Somali and Vietnamese


Submitted by C.Campbell on 10/5/2017

speaking families at Mercer Middle School. Non-English meetings will be facilitated in home language. We will also work to create a FAQ list and address questions asked by our families and students during the ThoughtExchange process. For more information about opportunities to engage on the SAP, advanced learning and high school boundaries, please see the Community Engagement website. 2016-17 SMART GOAL 5 EXTENSION (improved communications/engagement) Website redesign survey: As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, the post-redesign feedback survey launched this week and will remain open until Oct. 22. The survey, including translated surveys, has been posted to the district and school websites. Additionally, it has been shared with our community through email newsletters, direct email and social media. The feedback will be used to gage overall website satisfaction and identify opportunities for improvement. If you have not done so yet, please take a couple minutes to complete our website feedback survey. Budget webpage update: We collaborated with our business and finance colleagues to re-envision the budget landing page and subpages. The redesigned page was launched this week and includes a newsfeed and department calendar to deliver budget-related public announcements and events. The revisions also include a reorganization of page content and resources. This update will take the place of the specialty page created last year to communicate ongoing 2017-18 budget development work. View the revised Budget Department webpage.


http://www.seattleschools.org/families_communities/community_engagement

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BVPM2HK

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BVPM2HK

https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=14984

board meeting – oct. 4, 2017 · 2 superintendent larry nyland october 6, 2017 • national...

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