While I’ve seen some really, really irreverent and hilarious bumper stickers, I’ve never been a big fan of the medium. For me, they are a bit like tattoos, while I might find it witty or beautiful today, I’m never sure that I will want to wave that flag for the lifetime of the tattoo or sticker. (I suppose I could put one on my window where I can scrape it off, but…)

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The following letter was presented to the Bellevue School District Board today. As much as I would love to see the hind side of the current curriculum, I have to agree that with the state doing such a major review of curricula, and with the poor performance of many, it seems a touch premature. i believe that once the state decides on it’s “recommended” list, districts have to use them or will not get state money for books. What a dang shame it would be if Bellevue did their selection, purchased one year’s worth of books then found out that the state wouldn’t help purchase the succeeding years..

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Interesting article in the Times with direct repercussions for every student in Bellevue School District. Apparently, new Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn’s plan to replace the WASL to make it shorter, easier to score and more “diagnostic” is controversial (don’t you wish that something, anything in education could just make sense and be simple?).

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Recently we’ve been asked many questions about the DIBELS test that Bellevue School District has adopted. The majority of the questions are parents looking for answers as to why their kids tested so much lower than the parents expected or than the children are comfortably reading at home. Any time a new test is introduced, it takes some time to adjust expectations and interpretations. Seemingly, this is such a time. After doing some research – talking to some teachers, reading up about the format and objectives of the test and listening to opponents of the test – reasonable explanations for the discrepancies seem to exist, in many circumstances, and parents need to know that DIBELS is simply one voice, not THE only voice.

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