Work Archive

  • While Kennewick School District and the Kennewick Education Association continue work to resolve the KEA grievance over standards based grading in Kennewick middle schools there is no new information from district or building administrators.  A parent has contacted us regarding her experience with SBG which we are reporting here.  I have chosen to not disclose the writer’s name. I have had an issue with my kiddo at Highlands which prompted me to look closer at the grading situation. I am an educator and I have taught in an elementary which used SBG. We collected students’ work and graded it as usual. Then for our report cards we had to align the questions from our assessments with the standards on our report cards and report on how well students master the standards. All the while teaching and reteaching, monitoring student progress,...

    Standards Based Grading – A Parent’s Concerns

    Posted on May 4, 2012 | 2 Comments
    While Kennewick School District and the Kennewick Education Association continue work to resolve the KEA grievance over standards based grading in Kennewick middle schools there is no new information from district or building administrators.  A parent has contacted us regarding her experience with SBG which we are reporting here.  I have chosen to not disclose the writer’s name. I have had an issue with my kiddo at Highlands which prompted me to look closer at the grading situation. I am an educator and I have taught in an elementary which used SBG. We collected students’ work and graded it as usual. Then for our report cards we had to align the questions from our assessments with the standards on our report cards and report on how well students master the standards. All the while teaching and reteaching, monitoring student progress,...

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  • The STEM Foundation will expand this program Student test scores would rank Delta High School in 25th place among Washington State high schools if Delta was recognized as a high school apart from its feeder schools.  STEM Executive Director, Karen Baker stated this accomplishment was made with a cross section of students from three school districts selected by lottery.  Entering ninth grade students have math and language skills ranging from 4th to 12th grade and 47% qualify for free and reduced cost lunch. Operating counter to the trend of the past twenty years which has schools reducing or eliminating elective and exploratory classes in favor of doubles academic classes, Delta embraces hands-on student activities with teachers integrating academics and projects. One measure of Delta’s success is illustrated by 2011 HSPE scores.  Student growth at Delta was well above national and state norms...

    Delta High School Project Based Learning is Achieving Success

    Posted on April 27, 2012 | 2 Comments
    The STEM Foundation will expand this program Student test scores would rank Delta High School in 25th place among Washington State high schools if Delta was recognized as a high school apart from its feeder schools.  STEM Executive Director, Karen Baker stated this accomplishment was made with a cross section of students from three school districts selected by lottery.  Entering ninth grade students have math and language skills ranging from 4th to 12th grade and 47% qualify for free and reduced cost lunch. Operating counter to the trend of the past twenty years which has schools reducing or eliminating elective and exploratory classes in favor of doubles academic classes, Delta embraces hands-on student activities with teachers integrating academics and projects. One measure of Delta’s success is illustrated by 2011 HSPE scores.  Student growth at Delta was well above national and state norms...

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  • This morning I shared a table with former Kennewick school board member Kathy White and several acquaintances at the second annual reading foundation breakfast at the Three Rivers Convention Center.  I estimate 350 reading supporters attended the one hour program to hear guest speaker Captain Scott Smiley and to volunteer time or cash to support the work of the foundation. The Literacy Champion Award for 2012 was presented by last year’s winners, Hank and Nancy Sauer, to Kennewick Masonic Lodge 153 for operating the Bikes-4-Books reading program.  The Bikes-4-Books program awards bikes to young people who meet reading goals. Scott Smiley is a West Point graduate who was blinded in April of 2005 by a car bomb explosion in Iraq.  He spoke of his recovery adapting to life as a blind man.  After his recovery Smiley returned to West Point...

    Children’s Reading Foundation Read to Lead Breakfast

    Posted on April 17, 2012 | 3 Comments
    This morning I shared a table with former Kennewick school board member Kathy White and several acquaintances at the second annual reading foundation breakfast at the Three Rivers Convention Center.  I estimate 350 reading supporters attended the one hour program to hear guest speaker Captain Scott Smiley and to volunteer time or cash to support the work of the foundation. The Literacy Champion Award for 2012 was presented by last year’s winners, Hank and Nancy Sauer, to Kennewick Masonic Lodge 153 for operating the Bikes-4-Books reading program.  The Bikes-4-Books program awards bikes to young people who meet reading goals. Scott Smiley is a West Point graduate who was blinded in April of 2005 by a car bomb explosion in Iraq.  He spoke of his recovery adapting to life as a blind man.  After his recovery Smiley returned to West Point...

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  • On page 6 of the Tri-City Herald PROGRESS 2012 edition in an article titled District charts course with new strategic plan, Superintendent Dave Bond describes the principles and “North Star” goals which will guide the work of Kennewick School District for the next decade and beyond.  When that edition is available online we will link to it here. Until then, information about the KSD Strategic Plan and North Star goals is available here:

    Dave Bond Describes the KSD Strategic Plan

    Posted on March 28, 2012 | No Comments
    On page 6 of the Tri-City Herald PROGRESS 2012 edition in an article titled District charts course with new strategic plan, Superintendent Dave Bond describes the principles and “North Star” goals which will guide the work of Kennewick School District for the next decade and beyond.  When that edition is available online we will link to it here. Until then, information about the KSD Strategic Plan and North Star goals is available here:

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  • Excerpts from this article: …Schools pay much lip service to student-centered education lately.  However, actions taken by schools and school administrators frequently run contrary to actually supporting student-centered learning.  So, to raise awareness of student-centered education, we provide the assessments of schools and classrooms below.  …Student-centered learning does have risks, but so do the alternatives.  We do not have enough resources to be fully aware of each student’s individual optimums, or to teach each student according to his individual optimum.  Demanding perfect student-centered approaches from teachers will overwhelm them with more work than they can possibly do. …when schools demand curriculum-centered or test-centered learning, teaching tends to focus on the lowest cognitive levels. Students tend to get treated as tests-scores and academic rank, not as individuals. Students tend to gain knowledge without gaining understanding.

    Can We Be Confident In Standardized Test Results? – Part 8

    Posted on December 19, 2011 | No Comments
    Excerpts from this article: …Schools pay much lip service to student-centered education lately.  However, actions taken by schools and school administrators frequently run contrary to actually supporting student-centered learning.  So, to raise awareness of student-centered education, we provide the assessments of schools and classrooms below.  …Student-centered learning does have risks, but so do the alternatives.  We do not have enough resources to be fully aware of each student’s individual optimums, or to teach each student according to his individual optimum.  Demanding perfect student-centered approaches from teachers will overwhelm them with more work than they can possibly do. …when schools demand curriculum-centered or test-centered learning, teaching tends to focus on the lowest cognitive levels. Students tend to get treated as tests-scores and academic rank, not as individuals. Students tend to gain knowledge without gaining understanding.

    Continue Reading...

  • For centuries, the ways of the world were nearly static but change began to accelerate with the industrial age.  By the advent of the 20th century our parents and grandparents faced a world of increasing ability to communicate rapidly, travel great distances in short periods of time, and to rely on mechanical aids to perform work at unprecedented levels.  By the end of the century these changes were taking place at blinding speed and visionaries began to question our ability to cope. For example, a number of futurists have taken a look at the emerging world of work and projected the type of skills workers will need to be successful in the coming economy. The North Central Educational Laboratory developed a list of skills based on eight nationally recognized skill sets as well as literature reviews and input from a...

    Two Scenarios

    Posted on December 12, 2011 | No Comments
    For centuries, the ways of the world were nearly static but change began to accelerate with the industrial age.  By the advent of the 20th century our parents and grandparents faced a world of increasing ability to communicate rapidly, travel great distances in short periods of time, and to rely on mechanical aids to perform work at unprecedented levels.  By the end of the century these changes were taking place at blinding speed and visionaries began to question our ability to cope. For example, a number of futurists have taken a look at the emerging world of work and projected the type of skills workers will need to be successful in the coming economy. The North Central Educational Laboratory developed a list of skills based on eight nationally recognized skill sets as well as literature reviews and input from a...

    Continue Reading...

  • A provocative new article in the American Journal of Education argues that many teachers in the age of rigid curricula, high-stakes testing, and reduced classroom autonomy are finding it difficult to access the “moral rewards” of their profession. This demoralization of teaching threatens to drive away even the most passionate and dedicated of teachers. “The moral rewards of teaching are activated when educators feel that they are doing what is right in terms of one’s students, the teaching profession, and themselves,” writes Doris Santoro, a professor of education at Bowdoin College. But, she argues, current policy reforms often take away a teacher’s ability to be responsive to students’ needs, and blunt the sense that a teacher is doing what is right for students. This in turn leads to feelings of frustration and hopelessness that are too often misdiagnosed as “teacher...

    Policy reforms ‘demoralizing’ teaching profession, scholar argues

    Posted on November 16, 2011 | No Comments
    A provocative new article in the American Journal of Education argues that many teachers in the age of rigid curricula, high-stakes testing, and reduced classroom autonomy are finding it difficult to access the “moral rewards” of their profession. This demoralization of teaching threatens to drive away even the most passionate and dedicated of teachers. “The moral rewards of teaching are activated when educators feel that they are doing what is right in terms of one’s students, the teaching profession, and themselves,” writes Doris Santoro, a professor of education at Bowdoin College. But, she argues, current policy reforms often take away a teacher’s ability to be responsive to students’ needs, and blunt the sense that a teacher is doing what is right for students. This in turn leads to feelings of frustration and hopelessness that are too often misdiagnosed as “teacher...

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  • If you like your meat well skewered, this one is for you.

    What Is Wrong With This Picture?

    Posted on May 9, 2011 | 1 Comment
    If you like your meat well skewered, this one is for you.

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