tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728648583369505232.post7546559238119783093..comments2019-05-13T21:12:16.402-07:00Comments on Let it Rain...Close the Gap: Real Talk.Jess Haskenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13862495926291500968noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728648583369505232.post-41805098608696166832011-08-22T12:02:00.661-07:002011-08-22T12:02:00.661-07:00Totally agree. What we need for a system mired in ...Totally agree. What we need for a system mired in the belt of mediocrity is transformative change. We can't keep using the same tools that we have been using and expect outcomes for our kids to improve. In areas where TFA has been able to place teachers, we have begun to see radical learning on everything from classroom instruction to systems change. This is simply the result of infusing a system with passionate people who think along the edge of the box. In Seattle, where those types of thinkers are lauded in other fields, why should we prohibit them in our education system? Let's allow a broad range of ideas and thinkers and advocates for students who need advocates the most inside! Let's see what can happen. Let's spend time figuring out how to make the most of this opportunity rather than figuring out how to press hard enough to keep our doors closed.Christopher Eidehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01278909189249363150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728648583369505232.post-71266447384110428332011-08-24T06:13:30.118-07:002011-08-24T06:13:30.118-07:00Who has been opposed to innovation in Seattle? Hav...Who has been opposed to innovation in Seattle? Have the individual teachers been unwilling to innovate, or has the district administration been unwilling to allow them to innovate? Do we really need new teachers who are willing and able to innovate? I don't think so. I think we need either new principals and district administrators who will allow innovation or new policies that allow innovation.<br><br>The obstacle isn't in the teachers so the solution will not be found in changing the teachers. The obstacle to innovation and the obstacle to real improvement lies instead in principals who are unwilling to re-organize their schools in more effective ways around the needs of the students. The obstacles are in district administrators who are unwilling to allow for that sort of re-organization. The obstacles are in district policies, such as those that demand fidelity of implementation, that prohibit innovation.<br><br>The solutions will be found by removing those obstacles, not by replacing a tiny percentage of the teaching staff.Charlie Mashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728648583369505232.post-8341373896819191372011-08-24T06:16:38.168-07:002011-08-24T06:16:38.168-07:00By the way, Ms Van Zanten, the choice of Garfield ...By the way, Ms Van Zanten, the choice of Garfield High School was a poor one for comparing the gap between high performing students and low performing students because Garfield is home to high school APP, the District's program for highly capable students. This school intentionally brings together 400 of the highest performing students in the district. This skews the student outcome data.Charlie Mashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.com