Education

Seattle instructors to help parents stem kids' summer brain drain

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:26:37 +0000

Summer vacation may be fun, but research shows it wipes out about a month’s worth of learning. This weekend, Seattle schools officials will offer strategies to reduce summer learning loss.

Since kids are understandably wary of anything that makes summer break feel like school, the key is to make it fun, said Seattle Public Schools’ Bernardo Ruiz.

Seattle Public Schools will let high schools scrap the MAP

Gabriel Spitzer — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:36:38 +0000

Seattle public high schools will be able to opt out of the controversial Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP tests, starting next year.

The policy change comes after teachers at Seattle’s Garfield High School staged a boycott of the MAP tests in January, blasting the tests for giving unreliable data and for sucking up classroom resources. A half-dozen more Seattle schools have since signed on, and the protest has drawn national and international attention.

Wash. universities look to 'redshirt' freshman engineers for one year

Gabriel Spitzer — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Some freshmen engineering students at Washington’s largest universities will get an extra year to find their footing, thanks to a new “academic redshirting” program.

The idea of redshirting comes from college sports, and here’s how it works: When Huskies quarterback Keith Price joined up as a freshman in 2009, he didn’t take the field. Instead he got a year of practice and workouts to acclimate before starting his four years of eligibility.

Now the University of Washington, along with Washington State University, want to apply that to academics.

Saturday language schools growing in popularity

Jennifer Wing — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:30:49 +0000

For most kids, the weekends are prime time to play and catch up on cartoons. But for thousands of children across the country and here in the Northwest, Saturdays mean waking up early to head to another school where they sharpen their academic teeth and learn a language that ties them to their cultural heritage.

Unionization push by PLU faculty could have national implications

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:23:33 +0000

Disclosure: Pacific Lutheran University holds the license for KPLU. KPLU’s programming staffers are the university’s only unionized employees.

Pacific Lutheran University is trying to fend off attempts by members of its faculty to unionize, and the outcome could have national implications.

The push is coming from “contingent faculty,” the non-tenure track professors, lecturers and instructors who teach about a third of PLU’s course credits. Those people get paid significantly less than regular faculty, and their employment status is much shakier.

Colleges wait out state Legislature for tuition plan

The Associated Press — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:51:00 +0000

Students heading off to college in Washington state next fall will have to wait awhile to find out how much tuition they'll be paying.

Since the Legislature hasn't finished the state budget, no one is sure whether lawmakers will recommend a tuition increase, or cut, or neither. All three ideas have been proposed this year.

Seattle school district considers extending elementary school day

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Seattle Public Schools wants to add a half-hour to the school day for elementary students by as early as the next school year. But the district must first align a number of variables, including funding and union support.

Bringing the arts back into Seattle schools

Jennifer Wing — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Will providing greater access to the arts boost academic achievement?

Seattle Public Schools is betting it will, and is working to bring arts education into more of its elementary and middle schools.

Coaches help students with attention deficits stay engaged

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

As spring fever sets in, teachers are struggling to keep their students focused on the classroom. That can be a challenge even on the best of days for kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Their brains work differently from the students most schools were designed for, and nearly a third end up dropping out or delaying graduation.

How to survive a zombie apocalypse? Learn geography

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Our story begins in an ordinary suburban middle school with a group of unsuspecting students, and one smart-alecky question to the teacher: “Mr. Hunter, did you hear about the zombie that attacked some guy the other day?”

Of course, the other students dismiss it, all except for one. He’s intrigued enough to dig a little deeper.

Feds cut off two Seattle-based Head Start programs

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:00:50 +0000

Two Seattle-based Head Start providers are losing their funding, as part of a wider crackdown within the federal preschool program.

Other agencies will take over the contracts, so the move won’t reduce the number of early education slots available to low-income kids in Seattle. But to the providers who are being cut off, it’s devastating.

Rainier Beach High works to make elite IB program serve all students

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:01:46 +0000

An elite academic program developed at a Swiss private school is coming to a beleaguered Seattle high school where officials hope it will boost enrollment and attract high-achieving students. Now they face the challenge of making the program serve the whole school instead of just a privileged few.

Seattle’s most troubled high school gets elite academic degree program

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:33:00 +0000

Rainier Beach High School will become the third Seattle school to offer the International Baccalaureate program, district officials announced.

After 26 years, football returns to Tacoma middle schools

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:38:56 +0000

Middle school football teams hit the gridiron this week in Tacoma for the first time since the Reagan administration. It’s been 26 years since the school district transitioned from a junior high system, and canceled almost all middle school athletics.

Seattle schools freeze hiring, spending as deficit looms

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:51:06 +0000

Seattle’s school district has frozen hiring and spending in anticipation of a budget shortfall next year. But since officials say the change won't affect actual classroom resources or essential personnel, you might say the district has put hiring and spending in the fridge.