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CFN Partners earn $8,000 in grants

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We are excited to announce the CFN Partner grant recipients for Round 3 on the topic of K-12 Education Outcomes!

A total of $8,000 was awarded to 17 nonprofit organizations from around the state (see list below). These nonprofits earned points based on the number of surveys that their members and supporters completed during Round 3. On May 3rd, we recognized many of the grant recipients during the Partner Briefing & Luncheon at the Mercer Island Community Center.

“Our partners are the heart of what CFN does to encourage civic engagement and to

Gold grant recipient for $2,500 went to Women of Wisdom Foundation. Here is Dick Spady with founder Kris Steinnes and Moza Baczewska

discover consensus on important topics,” said Carrie Shaw, Executive Director for CFN, “we’re excited to see these grants re-invested into people and communities throughout Washington state.”

Here are some of the ways CFN Partners plan to use their grants:

“We are so grateful to receive this grant from CFN. It comes at a very important transition time for Women of Wisdom Foundation. We’re recreating ourselves and moving forward after 21 years of supporting women in the Pacific Northwest through programs that empower women’s voices and their contributions to the world, in partnership with other like minded individuals and organizations. One of our goals is to bring this work to young women in schools, for them to grow up knowing their voices are important and valued. These funds allows us to continue this important work,

which has similar values with Dick Spady and the Community Forum Network in that we operate our organization in circle leadership with concensus decision making.”

~ Kris Steinnes Founder, Women of Wisdom Foundation

Andrea Solomon receives the Dick Spady Legacy Grant for $1,000 on behalf of Childhaven

 

“Childhaven is pleased to invest our grant in support of our Therapeutic Child Care program that helps abused and neglected babies, toddlers and preschoolers.”

~ Andrea Solomon, Vice President of Resource Development, Childhaven

 

“Village Theatre is excited to partner with the Community Forums Network.  The much needed funding will help to supplement our expansive Youth Education and Community Outreach Program that serves over 63,000 students and families each year.    Access to arts education in schools is at its lowest point in decades.  We believe that all people, regardless of their ability to pay, should have access to arts education.  Scholarships ensure these opportunities are available to ALL children.  Today, with dramatic cuts in state education budget and arts education, the support from Community Forums Network and other funders will help to provide scholarships and free programs to over 9,000 students a year.”

~ Louise Kincaid Director of Development The Village Theatre

 

“We will use the grant to help with our overhead, any little bit helps to continue to promote the Greater Pasco Area!”

~ Colin Hastings Executive Director, Greater Pasco Area Chamber of Commerce

 

“The grants funds will be used to help shelter women at our Emergency Family Shelter. For the homeless mothers of Mary’s Place, who have multiple struggles, having the opportunity to lend their voice about education was an empowering experience for them. They know and truly believe education is the path their children need to be on to journey out of homelessness; so they can enjoy lives where worrying about where you will sleep at night or what you will eat every day will be a distant memory.”

~ Marty Hartman, Executive Director, Mary’s Place

 

“Our grant will go to fund updates to our website, readthedirt.org.” ~ Simon Davis-Cohen, Executive Director, Read The Dirt

Complete List of Partner Grants:

Gold Grant $2,000 and $500 bonus – Women of Wisdom Foundation
Legacy Grant $1,000 – Childhaven

$500 Grants

$250 Grants

  • Association of Washington School Principals
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of King County
  • Council on American-Islamic Relations
  • Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington
  • Freedom Foundation
  • Issaquah Schools Foundation
  • Kindering
  • King County Library System Foundation
  • Mary’s Place
  • Pasco Chamber of Commerce
  • Read the Dirt
  • WA State Dental Hygienists Association

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Opinion: One test shouldn’t prevent 3,700 kids from graduating

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Should one test determine whether or not *3,700 “at-risk youth” graduate from high school? According to Jim Sporleder, Principal of Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, the answer is “no.” Read Jim’s opinion, and then share what you think through our survey here

*(Original estimates were upwards of 14,000 and appeared in an earlier version of this post.)

“Our legislative leaders in Olympia are failing the very kids they claim to be helping by forcing them to dropout of school over one math exam.

As of 2013, of the current 3,700 at-risk, those that do not pass the math exam or collection of evidence will be denied their diploma.

This number should drop again, but I predict it will still be in the thousands, and those kids most impacted will be our most vulnerable students that have overcome many obstacles in their life to reach the finish line.  Their resilience and determination should not be punished or judged as a lack of motiviation for not taking advantage of the ‘many’ opportunities to pass the Algebra or Geometry exam or collection of evidence.

We are trying to get more specific numbers, but know that the remaining balance is going to be a very high percentage of minority kids. The cost of not opening up other opportunities for these kids will be very high for everyone. All we are doing is limiting their future work and career success. (UPDATE: This week the balance numbers came in at 3,700 students. No ethnic or poverty information was provided).

My own daughters struggled horribly in math and started their college career off in remedial math class. I don’t know where we would be today without the college math teacher who would not give up on my girls. All three girls graduated with honors in the career path they decided to enter and they have excelled.

Common sense tells us that failing upwards of 3,700 students over one test is wrong. Many legislators do too, and they do not believe in ‘forced dropout’ for kids whom have made it to the finish line only to have their diploma plucked from their hands. The class of 2012 scored the highest SAT scores in the nation, but too many in the class of 2013 will be denied the opportunity move forward.

I am not advocating for lower standards — this is always the line of attack for those that disagree with me — but, we must allow an option for a student to still get a diploma under the 2012 graduation requirements and to honor those kids that have passed all three state standards with a special certificate of achievement. This is a win-win for everyone.”

- Jim Sporleder

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Comments on evaluating teachers: be careful with those test scores

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We’re busy evaluating survey results as they come in.  One of the things we do is look at comments, trying to identify themes or simply individual comments that pop out at us.

On the question about teacher evaluation, there definitely were some themes in the comments. The most common expressed concern for how student test scores would be used in evaluation of teachers. Many felt that only a change in scores (from beginning to the end of the class) should be used, or that the teacher evaluation should take into account prior student achievement or demographics.  Others worried that if test scores are used to evaluate teachers, that would motivate teachers to “teach the test”, potentially leading to worse outcomes for students.

Other commenters called into question whether the focus on teacher evaluation was appropriate in the first place—should we not focus on other factors affecting student learning first?

Here are some of the many comments we have received:

I would add classroom observations by [...] professionals who are trained in evaluating best practices–or have principals and teachers who will do observations trained in how to do effective evaluations.

“Instead of worrying so much about how to evaluate the teachers we have, we should be thinking about how to attract qualified people to the profession.”

There are a multitude of reasons students could have poor test scores, including many life factors. There needs to be a more holistic approach that allows for subjective evaluation.

“I would add parent surveys on teachers as well.”

Cart before the horse! Fully fund education and give teachers a level playing field before assessing their effectiveness!

“Current standardized testing forces teachers to teach to the test; we loose opportunity to teach our kids the soft skills, most specifically critical thinking. With testing requirements, we also lose the chance to develop natural individual skill and ability.”

It is difficult enough to get teachers to want to teach in at-risk schools. If evaluations and/or pay are in any way tied to student achievement, teachers will leave low-income, high ELL schools in favor of working in high SES schools!

“If a student is not interested it won’t make a difference with any of those evaluations and observations.”

 

 

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Preliminary survey findings on K-12 education

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Carrie Shaw
(425) 344-1787

Huge support emerges for bringing back vocational track and expanding early childhood learning programs:

Statewide Community Network releases preliminary findings — top areas of consensus include measuring students’ “soft skills” and following the Gates Foundation recommendations on improving teacher evaluations 

Issaquah, Wash. – By huge percentages — over 79 percent – participants in the statewide Community Forums Network (CFN) online survey and forums support bringing back the vocational track in high school and expanding state programs for Early Childhood Learning according to preliminary findings released today. Strong consensus also emerged in support of measuring student “soft skills” beyond standardized testing and for the recent Gates Foundation recommendations on how best to evaluate teacher effectiveness.

Over 1,700 people have participated in the online survey or forums since February 25th and shared their opinions on several key K-12 public education issues. The online survey is still available to any Washington resident, 16 years of age or older, now through April 28th. http://www.communityforumsnetwork.org/take-survey/

Consensus highlights from preliminary findings:

  • A huge majority – 90 percent – of participants said “yes” when asked if school districts “should bring back the vocation track in high school beginning in the 10th grade, and allow students to access trade apprenticeships and workplace training while earning a high school diploma.”
  • A large combined 79 percent of respondents said the state should “increase funding for Early Childhood Learning programs,” either to “serve all low-income children this year,” (48%) or, “to serve all low-income children within 5 years,” (31%).
  • A combined 82 percent of respondents said it is “very important” (61%) or “important” (21%) to “broaden student achievement evaluation beyond standardized testing and to include an evaluation of soft skills as a measurement of student success.”
  • 67% of survey respondents agreed with the recent Gates Foundation recommendations to evaluate teacher effectiveness based on four measures: student test scores, classroom observations by the school principal, classroom observations by another teacher, and student surveys. This question also generated the most comments and added suggestions. All comments are available on the CFN website.
  • A combined 65% of respondents support the state’s “purchase of software to group longitudinal data by school or classroom as a way to better measure school and teacher effectiveness.” 51% of respondents support the use of student data for “both schools and teachers,” while 14% support the use “only for schools.”

“Because of the strong consensus emerging on these key issues from our survey, we decided it was important to release these findings now while our state leaders in Olympia are also looking for bipartisan consensus on these same important issues,” said Carrie Shaw, CFN executive director. “Our 1,700 participants have a lot to say about public education including over 1,000 handwritten comments and suggestions, the most ever for a CFN statewide survey.”

Shaw added that preliminary results on other survey questions showed less consensus. “At this stage, we wanted to highlight all of the strong areas of consensus with support that was above 60 percent.”

CFN is a strictly nonpartisan, statewide civic engagement network of 84 nonprofit partner organizations that represent education, social services, the arts, environment, youth advocacy, business and labor interests and the spectrum of ideas and perspectives on a wide range of issues. Partner organizations help select the topic and develop survey questions, host forums, and encourage their members to participate in the online survey.  A complete list of CFN Partners is available on the website www.CommunityForumsNetwork.org

Data gathered during a topic round is verified independently and a consensus report is created and shared with policymakers, the media, and the general public. These preliminary findings from the Round 3 survey on K-12 education outcomes reflect the strongest areas of consensus. The full Consensus Report will be released in early May.

For more information, or to access the online survey, go to http://www.communityforumsnetwork.org/take-survey/ or call toll free 800-369-2584

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Some common ground emerges on ELL instruction

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We’ve been reviewing comments received so far in our round 3 survey for educational outcomes.  One of the questions concerns whether or not teachers for ELL (English Language Learners) should be certified.  At first glance, the responses seem very split.  But there is certainly one strong common theme: a large majority agree that ELL is a priority and deserves first class teaching. The differences are more nuanced and suggest areas for common ground:

  • Many respondents, including those identifying themselves as teachers, feel it is appropriate for aides to teach ELL under close supervision by a certified teacher.
  • Others (again including teachers) underline the importance of native language proficiency on the part of ELL teachers, and worry there are not enough certified bilingual teachers to meet the demand (especially across all languages).

What do you think?  Take the survey before March 31st and contribute to the discussion!

Here are just a few of the direct comments:

Highly qualified aides with background in social work could provide some rural districts with ELL instruction.  My district is finding it difficult to find ELL teachers to fit the current need.  Each building should have an [aide] on site, not a roving ELL instructor.

“We must make sure that our most vulnerable children are being taught by skilled and qualified teachers. That includes ELL AND special education.”

Paraprofessionals can be adequate educators for lower grades.  Language proficiency in students’ languages should be more important than certification.

“Students who don’t speak English as the first language, or in the home, already have a lot working against them in terms of learning, cultural assimilation, and other challenges. Their teachers ought to be certified and culturally competent.”

Ideally, all teacher’s aides who are working with ELL should be certified; however, I think other professional standards can be created, such as a certificate in paraprofessional education, a degree or native proficiency in the relevant language, and close collaboration with teachers and school administrators.

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“Make STEM more fun” and other comments

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We’ve been reviewing early comments from our survey-takers. One survey question asks how we can best improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, and the comments so far show a very high degree of consensus. Most of the comments include one or more of these themes:

  • Not everyone is going to college, not everyone needs STEM
  • Allow CTE (Career and Technical Education) in place of STEM / integrate STEM into other subjects
  • Make STEM classes more engaging & relevant
  • Start STEM-related education much earlier
  • Change way we are currently teaching math
  • Get more STEM-focused teachers (e.g. higher pay / allow experts to come in)

Do these ideas resonate with you? You have until March 31st to share your opinion with us, by taking the survey at http://www.communityforumsnetwork.org/take-survey/.

Some of the comments:

Need to spend less time on book work and more hands on work.
– a worker

We need to get rid of the No Child Left Behind mentality, and begin grouping students by skill levels at an earlier age. Allow the more advanced to attend classes together so they can all learn at a faster rate and be encouraged by their peer group.
– an employer

First of all make sure that all students in K-4 have their basic math facts down. Too many children today have not even gotten their multiplication facts learned by the end of 4th grade.
– a public school teacher

I think that increasing teacher pay would need to come first in order to attract more STEM teachers with college degrees in math and science.
– a student

I feel that there should be STEM requirements all throughout the K-8 system. Waiting until high school is like putting a bandaid on a bathtub drain and expecting to have all the water stay in.
– a worker

Make Career and Technical Education more important in the schools and allow the student to use CTE classes as Science technology and math classes.
– a private school teacher

Change the way we teach math. Math teachers are so concerned about the numbers that they lose sight of the fact that those numbers mean something. Kids don’t know the logic behind math and so they just get their calculators out and look for the right number and they don’t even know what that number means.
– a public school teacher

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Citizens, educators share ideas, passion, and frustrations at education forum

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Forum brings wide range of ideas on future of education

By Rick Steigmeyer
World staff writer, Wednesday, March 20, 2013

EAST WENATCHEE — A Tuesday forum on the future of Washington public education brought about 60 people together with wide-ranging views. While some supported a school system that’s on track but short of money, others thought major changes were warranted to keep up with the times.

The goal of the forum at Eastmont Junior High School was to develop a consensus of ideas how Washington might build the best education system. The forum was presented by Community Forums Network, a nonprofit and non-partisan organization that has been holding similar events across the state to gather ideas to present to state lawmakers.

A panel of four school teachers and administrators offered their thoughts on changes that would make a difference before questions were invited from the audience.

“It’s important to hire teachers who are good at what they do and who have really good rapport with students,” said panel member Anni Hisey, a teacher and owner of Academic Associates Learning Center in Wenatchee. Administrators should work with burned out teachers to help them recover or find something else for them to do, she said. “No one needs a grumpy teacher.” Teaching great reading skills, she added, should be a priority.

Read the full article here http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/mar/20/forum-brings-wide-range-of-ideas-on-future-of/

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The Spokane Spokesman-Review: WA economy needs STEM

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An editorial appearing in The Spokesman-Review makes the case that Washington is out of sync in STEM (Science, Technology and Mathematics) education:

Washington is home to the highest concentrations of science and technology jobs in the nation. Projections show demand in the fields of engineering, computer science, life sciences, health sciences and several other sciences will outpace the number of college degree holders in those disciplines for the foreseeable future. [...However,] the state has installed an education pipeline far too narrow to deliver the number of workers needed.

The article goes on to recommend a combination of increasing the availability of STEM courses and requiring more STEM courses for graduation.

What do you think? Should additional STEM credits be required? And what priority should enhancing STEM education have compared to other education needs?

This and other education issues are part of the Community Forum Network’s Round 3 Survey. Be part of the conversation, take the survey here: http://www.communityforumsnetwork.org/take-survey/

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Spanish version of K-12 survey now available online

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Encuesta Ronda 3 – Lograr los mejores resultados del sistema escolar K-12: Parte 2

El pasado otoño el foro comunitario de Community Forums Network averiguó acerca de los niveles de financiación de la educación. El 65 por ciento de las personas dijeron que el gasto normal por alumno en el sistema escolar del K-12 es de $12,597, el cual no es suficiente aunque incluya el capital y las pensiones.

La pregunta es ¿cómo le hacemos para que nuestros fondos educativos y las inversiones sean más eficaces? y con esos extra dólares gastados ¿cuáles reformas y estrategias mejoraran el aprendizaje del estudiante?

Esta encuesta examina las áreas más importantes de la educación, por ejemplo, las normas académicas, como darle el mejor apoyo y evaluar a los maestros, las estrategias para ayudar a todos los niños y así tengan éxito, y también mejorar la responsabilidad y la transparencia.

Los resultados de la educación del K-12 expresarían que al final de la experiencia educativa cada estudiante está listo para la universidad, para trabajar, y la vida.

¿Está listo el estado de Washington para afrontar el reto?