I'm So Grateful That I Live in a Country Where I Can Speak My Voice

Image Credit

Today is Election Day.  I've always considered it a privilege to vote, but this is the first election in which I've felt such an urgency to vote.

I live in a vote-by-mail state. I completed my ballot and hand-delivered it to the election office over a week ago. Later today, I will put on a pantsuit and gather with my family and like-minded friends to watch the election results come in.

Not only do I appreciate my right to vote, I'm also extremely grateful that I live in a country where I can safely and freely give voice to issues of importance to me. I consider it an extension of my civic duty to contribute my voice to local and national issues. I care deeply about my country. Our country. And, I care deeply about my community. Our community.

Since I'm not standing in line today to cast my vote, I felt it was important to spend some time giving voice to a local issue that has been of ongoing importance to me: My local school district's high school boundary adjustment and the resulting transition process for our local high school students. Here is the letter I wrote to my school district's Superintendent and School Board members earlier today:

*****

Dear Mr. Grotting and Members of the School Board,

My heart is heavy today. Not only are we at the climax of an anxiety-ridden and divisive election cycle (both in terms of elected offices and school-funding-related ballot measures), but impacted students in the Class of 2020 have just received formal, personalized notification that they (or their friends) will no longer be attending the high school they currently call home. For some students, this letter in the mail was the first solid reality check that the changes they’d been hearing about were real, and the changes were happening to them, and/or their friends.  

While students and adults in our community watch and wait for what will happen locally and nationally as a result of the election, students in the Class of 2020 have the added burden of processing personal and individual loss related to their own high school experience. Although you are clear in your communication that plans are underway to support students and families through the boundary transition, where you and others have fallen short is with respect to the support that students need right now. Their loss is immediate. It is happening during an already stressful time in our community and in our world. It is happening while they are navigating high school mid-terms for the very first time in their lives. It is happening while they participate in awards ceremonies for fall sports teams that they won’t be returning to next school year (and in fact will be competing against next school year), and it is happening while they are preparing for try-outs for winter sports teams that they will only get to play on for one year. 

I appreciate your acknowledgement that students will need support as they navigate into their new school next year, but equally importantly, they need transition support right now, as they process the loss of their team, their mascot, their school colors, their school fight song, their current teammates and coaches, their newly minted favorite teachers and favorite school traditions, their longtime friendships, and their recently developed friendships and first loves. These students are processing a long list of personal losses, and they are processing those loses today. 

Last night I observed a student, who will not change schools, answer call after call and message after message from friends who will be leaving their beloved school next year.  These friends' emotions were raw and immediate. There was anxiety. There was anger. There was sadness. There were many “what if’s and what about’s.”  Yes, these kids are resilient. Yes, these kids will survive this transition and the losses we adults have burdened them with, but WE need to acknowledge their losses and we need to offer them support and opportunities to process these losses. There Their world is a now world, and they are processing loss, right now. How are WE helping them navigate the questions, concerns, and sense of loss they have today? 

I am also  disappointed (and sadly, a bit cynical) that the recent communication mailed to impacted families did not clearly indicate the sibling rule guidelines. Some of the students who received formal and personalized communication from the District yesterday will have the opportunity to claim the sibling exemption, but the personalized communication that they received offered no indication of this. I want to be certain that students who qualify for exceptions and exemptions receive every opportunity to exercise those exceptions and exemptions. I would also like to call for public oversight and for a transparent and accessible process for grievances and appeals to ensure that students of color, students with limited means and limited home support, and students with specialized academic circumstances (and not just specialized athletic circumstances) receive equitable treatment under the exemptions and Administrative Transfer rules. We need to ensure that students’ needs are genuinely put first during this transition. 

Lastly, I would like to call for a full, complete and transparent public debriefing of the boundary adjustment process, and I would like the Board to call for a comprehensive and transparent District assessment of what has been learned through this boundary adjustment. What worked? What didn’t work? What will WE do differently next time and what will WE repeat? What did our learning community gain from the experience? What did our learning community lose from the experience? Likewise, I would like call for the School District to utilize the opportunity of this boundary change to gather and analyze data about the actual impacts of the transition on the Class of 2020 for the duration of their high school experience. For example: Their graduation rate as compared to other classes before and after them; their participation levels in extra curricular activities; their receipt of District and regional awards (academic and athletic) as compared to classes of students before and after them; their acceptance into college and their scholarship earnings as compared to classes before and after them; and their collective responses to mental health-related surveys as compared to classes before and after them. I would like to see the information gleaned via this debriefing, learning assessment, and data collection/analysis be used to provide foundational guidance to future high school boundary adjustments and to other district-wide initiatives.

Thank you for listening, considering, and hopefully acting on my concerns. 

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Parent, Community Volunteer and Voter

 *****

Raise your voices my friends. Each voice matters. Each vote matters.

P.S. For those who are interested in the Beaverton School District boundary transition process, the District's transition plan is here and the District has indicated that the implementation details will (eventually) be here.

Oregon Reads Aloud Hits Book Shelves

Photo Credit: Stephanie Shaw

Yee-Ha! I've been having such a grand time participating in special events to promote Oregon Reads Aloud, a keepsake collection of 25 read-aloud stories for children, written and illustrated by a trove of talented Oregon authors and illustrators. It is a celebration of all things Oregon and a tribute to 25 years of SMART's (Start Making a Reader Today) work empowering children to read. It's due for release October 18, 2016.

My contribution to this collection is FIRST DAY JITTERS, a crisp, rhythmic story about the anxiety and excitement of starting school . . . in the Pacific Northwest! This rhyming read-aloud offers opportunities to introduce children to American Sign Language and hands-on, STEM-friendly activities and objects such as geodes, fossils and compost. I am so excited about this book. I know in my heart it will play an instrumental role in empowering young readers.

Please contact me if you'd like to invite me to visit your school, library, or community organization.

Oregon Reads Aloud is available everywhere books are sold, beginning October 18, 2016. Here are some links to get you started:

Amazon

IndieBound


Need more persuading? Here are some links to recent media coverage:

Book Blast Promo

News Channel 8 Story (10/11/2016)

The Oregonian's Coverage (10/11/2016)


Here are some fun photos from recent Oregon Reads Aloud events and celebrations:

Many Fellow Contributors

Powell's Book Signing for SMART Kids, October 11, 2016 

SMART Kids Hearing Stories from Oregon Reads Aloud
Powell's Books, October 11, 2016

Book Signing at Graphic Arts Books' Booth at PNBA, October 2, 2016

My Oregon Reads Aloud Event Hat,
With Images of Favorite Books That Were Read Aloud to Me When I Was a Child

Beaverton School District Boundary Adjustment Transition Plan Should Be Amended

Wow! I've been quiet for a long time. That's not like me, you might say. True, true. I have been busy summering, (more on that another time), and adjusting to the reality that I now have two kids in high school (a freshman and a senior). I've also been actively advocating for the students in the Beaverton School District.

I have posted below my most recent letter to the Beaverton School Board. Final decisions re: the high boundary adjustment process (which I've discussed previously here, here and here), are expected over the next few weeks.

It is my hope that the Beaverton School Board does the right thing for students and amends the current boundary transition plan to allow all students, including the Class of 2020, the opportunity to start and finish at the same high school.

If you'd like more information about the Beaverton School District High School Boundary Adjustment Process, you can find that here.

If you'd like to share your views with School Board members, you can find their contact information here.

The school district's Boundary Advisory Committee will be meeting tonight (September 28, 2016) to provide their input and review public input (however no additional public testimony will be allowed at tonight's meeting). The School Board is slated to discuss this issue at an upcoming meeting in October (however, the date for that meeting has been changed at least once, and I'm not currently 100% certain when it is).

The short story is that I want all students in our school district to be able to experience the benefits associated with continuity in their high school experience . . .  and the Beaverton School District seems to think it is adequate to simply mitigate the risks associated with disruption instead of avoiding the risks altogether.  I disagree. Although the District holds most of the cards on this issue, two things I can do are 1) Use my voice to raise concerns before all decisions are final and 2) Support students through the disruptions that adults seem ready to impose on them. I will do both. The letter below is one way I have brought my voice into the conversation. 

*****

Dear Members of the School Board, 

Thank you again for your careful consideration of the boundary-related issues in our school district. 

I am writing to you today to ask that you reconsider your approval of the current high school boundary transition plan.  

There were two objectives that you established at the outset of the High School Boundary Adjustment Process: 

*Relieve current and projected future overcrowding with a five-year horizon, and targeting 90% capacity or less.

*Minimize transitions for students. 

Our school district has fallen short on the objective of minimizing transitions for students, particularly for the Class of 2020. Under the current boundary adjustment transition plan, students in the Class of 2020 who are impacted by the boundary adjustment, but who do not qualify for the sibling rule, will be asked to change schools next year. Although my own two children will not be asked to change schools as a result of the boundary adjustment, I continue to press this issue with the school district because I strongly support the notion that all high school students should have the opportunity to finish at the same high school in which they started. Board Policy JC gives the superintendent authority to allow this to happen where and when possible ("At schools impacted by redrawn attendance boundaries, where and when possible, the superintendent may allow students to remain at their current school for one or more years to complete the highest grade level or levels offered.”) I ask that you direct the school district administration to innovate and find a way to make this possible for all high school students, including the Class of 2020. 

I recently gave testimony at a school district listening session and shared that I've heard district administrators' arguments that the Class of 2020 must transition to their new boundary school during their sophomore year to allow the newly built school enough attendees to operate successfully. I’ve also heard district leaders say it is simply not possible to allow members of the Class of 2020 the option to remain in their school of origin. I wondered aloud if these same people would have thought it impossible to put a man on the moon? Or impossible to develop a polio vaccine? Or find a cure for cancer? The students we are educating today are the citizens of tomorrow who will find the cure for cancer. Can we not set an example for these students by saying, “WE are Future Ready, and WE can find an innovative solution that will allow students in the Class of 2020 the option to remain in their school of origin and still have adequate enrollment in our new school to open it successfully." It may be challenging. It may be be complicated. There will likely be added short-term expense. But, it is possible, and it is important.

The most impactful study I’ve read about the importance of continuity of school was conducted by the National Institutes of Health (2012). Here is a link to the study:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4279956/ . Although studies on this topic are typically focused on the impacts of family-initiatived mobility (i.e. due to changes in housing, jobs, etc.), this particular study aimed to normalize the data for other elements of instability often found in individual students who are impacted by higher mobility (for example, poverty). 

What stood out for me in the research, is that the same types of mobility issues that are seen as concerns for individual kids who "switch schools” are the same general concerns that I and others have expressed re: the boundary-related transitions. The NIH study findings indicate that, "school mobility presents disruptions in social relationships with peers, teachers, and other important adults.” Likewise, the NIH study cites other research findings (see Parker, Rubin, Erath, Woislawowicz & Buskirk, 2006, cited in the NIH study) that indicate that "negotiating peer relationships is a central developmental task of middle childhood and adolescence, and school changes that disrupt these relationships likely impact student school engagement, behavior, and motivation to succeed academically.”)

What also stood out for me in the research (all of the research I read on mobility, not just this one study) is that researchers were looking for ways they could support kids through family-instigated mobility (i.e. mobility that the schools couldn’t control or necessarily stop from happening). This begs the question as to why our school district would knowingly create mobility disruptions for students when there are other options. I am hard-pressed to find convincing evidence that we are doing what is best for students when we ask them to disrupt their social relationships with peers, teachers and other important adults just as they are beginning their high school careers. It seems clear that the school district’s current transition plan is essentially a business decision, and the Class of 2020 will shoulder the cost of doing business. That is not okay.   

Under the current transition plan, students in the Class of 2020 will experience disruptions in their social relationships with peers, teachers and other important adults. I understand and agree that kids are resilient. I also understand that shifting students en masse is not exactly the same as individual students "switching schools." However, it is telling that the school district plans to build in the same types of supports for boundary-adjusted kids that the research suggests is of benefit to individual students facing “mobility-related” disruptions and transitions due to "switching schools.” I should also note that to my knowledge, the school district has not disputed that the transition being asked of the Class of 2020 will be disruptive, nor has the District provided evidence to suggest that there are not risks associated with disrupting students in the midst of their high school experience. The District's messaging has been focused on their confidence that the risks can be managed. It is my argument that if the District understands that this type of disruption has risks that need to managed, we need to step back and ask ourselves, “Why are we willing to subject a group of students to these risks?” and “What innovative solutions could we employ so as to avoid subjecting a class of students to these risks?”    

If we shift our thinking from, “There is no way we can afford this” or “There are too many logistical issues," to instead saying, “Let’s find and/or develop an innovative solution to this problem,” we can right this wrong. Innovative ideas might involve utilizing the transportation system that is in place for Options Schools. It might involve surveying students and families about their transition needs and preferences via their home room teacher and/or their google account and a QR code. Maybe it involves giving kids access to a TriMet bus pass. Maybe it involves allowing kids from across the District to Opt In to the new school in order to adequately populate it. There are options. WE need to focus our Future Ready minds on modifying the boundary transition plan such that all students have the opportunity to start and finish at the same high school.

Please do not rest with the belief that the current administrative transfer process is an adequate or appropriate solution for this problem. The administrative transfer process involves red tape, annual uncertainty for each individual student, and it also comes without the support of transportation, which creates equity issues. 

No matter what actual boundary lines our District finalizes, some families will be pleased, and some will not. But there are some families whose high school students will be directly impacted during the transitional years. I ask that you amend the transition plan to include a provision that allows these families the opportunity to make a transition decision that is best for them. 

Sincerely, 

Dawn Prochovnic

Parent of two Beaverton High School Students

(who are not currently slated to change schools via the boundary adjustment)

26 Ways to Incorporate Alphabet Signs into Your Story Times (23-25)

Image credit: Wikipedia

Today's post continues with a series of enrichment activities to incorporate alphabet signs into story time:

23. Crack the Code

Create two or three sets of playing cards described in Activity #14 (it can be helpful to have several extra cards for each vowel). Separate the cards into two piles (a pile of letter cards and a pile of alphabet handshape cards). Set the letter cards aside (they won’t be used for this activity). Player one uses the handshape cards to create a word or phrase (for example, “T-H-I-S  G-A-M-E  I-S  F-U-N”). Player two signs each handshape, translates the handshapes into letters, and says the word or phrase aloud. Switch roles and continue play.

Note:  The activity packets for younger (and older) children available on my publisher’s website includes several ready-made codes to crack!  

24. Create An Alphabet Book for Your Name

Give each participant enough sheets of paper for a cover page and one page for every letter in their name. Provide art supplies such as crayons, markers, stickers, old magazines, scissors and glue along with copies of the alphabet glossary (available on page 3 of the Story Time Activity Packet -Younger Children available at this link). Instruct participants to illustrate the cover of their book and each page with an alphabet-themed illustration that corresponds to each letter in their name. Encourage participants to read and sign their book with a partner. 

25. Read and Sign Along with an Alphabet Book

Use an easel to make a vertical list of the words from an alphabet book such as “Sign Language ABC” or the words from an alphabet themed story such as "A to Z Sign with Me." For example, page 8 of “A to Z Sign with Me” would be written as follows:

Eat

frankfurters while they're

good and

hot.

 

Now read each page of the book, taking pause to sign the letters featured on each page. Try this out with a variety of alphabet books including personal favorites such as Alligator Alphabet and classics such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

You can extend this learning activity by fingerspelling the key words featured in each alphabet book, so instead of just signing A is for Apple, you could fingerspell, A-P-P-L-E.

To extend the learning further, encourage participants to look up the ASL signs for one or more words in the alphabet book.   

Helpful Resources:

Signs for A-Z

ASL Alphabet Glossary (use this link to download the activity packet for younger children, and the alphabet glossary from my books is included in that packet)

Start to Finish Story Time: Alphabet Signs

The sign for Alphabet

A to Z Sign with Me

Abdo Publishing Group

Please contact Dawn using the form to the left if you'd like to receive reduced pricing on books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series. This offer is available to workshop participants, consulting clients, and subscribers to this blog or Dawn's social media accounts.  

If you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next offering of my online class: Sing, Sign and Story Time for Professionals, please use the form at the left to send me your contact information. 

Please share your own ideas and experiences in the comment section below, and subscribe to my blog to receive more ideas over time.  Happy Signing!

26 Ways to Incorporate Alphabet Signs into Your Story Times (20-22)

Image Credit: ParentSociety.com

Today's post continues with a series of enrichment activities to incorporate alphabet signs into your story time:

20. Alphabet Icebreaker

Separate the playing cards made in Activity #14 into two piles: A pile of letter cards and a pile of alphabet handshapes. Alphabetize both piles from A to Z and take an equal number of cards from each pile to allow one card per participant (i.e. If there are 14 participants, select letters A-G and handshapes A-G for a total of 14 cards). The leader shuffles the cards and deals one card to each participant [NOTE: If there is an odd number of players, the leader should keep a card and participate with the other players]. When the leader says, “Go!” all players begin moving about the room while making the handshape for the letter (or handshape) represented on their card. The object is to find the other player with the matching card (i.e. the player with the letter “A” is looking for the player with the “A” handshape). Players sit down when they have found their partner. Play continues until all players are sitting down.

To extend the learning while players are waiting for everyone to find their match, partners can introduce themselves and practice fingerspelling their own name and their partner’s name.

21. Alphabet Name Challenge

Sit in a circle and choose someone to go first. The first person says, “My name is (Matt), and I know the sign for the letter (“M”) (and the participant makes the sign for that letter). The second person says, “My name is (Sara), and I know the sign for the letters (“M”) and (“S”) (and the participant makes the signs for those two letters). The third person continues, “My name is (Jose) and I know the signs for the letters (“M”), (“S”), and (“J”) (and the participant makes the signs for those three letters). Play continues until all participants have been introduced. 

22. Fingerspelling Name Challenge

This activity is a more challenging variation of Activity #21 above. Sit in a circle and choose someone to go first. The first person says, “My name is (Dawn, D-A-W-N). I’m going to a party. How about you?” as they point to/select the next participant. The second participant says, “My name is (Alex, A-L-E-X). I’m going to a party with (Dawn, D-A-W-N). How about you? as they point to/select the next participant. The third participant says, “My name is (Sam/S-A-M). I’m going to a party with (Dawn, D-A-W-N and Alex, A-L-E-X). How about you? as they point to/select the next participant. Play continues until all participants have been invited to the party and all participants names have been said and fingerspelled at least once. 

The sign for “Name” is a good enrichment for the activities in this post.  

Helpful Resources:

Signs for A-Z

ASL Alphabet Glossary (use this link to download the activity packet for younger children, and the alphabet glossary from my books is included in that packet)

Start to Finish Story Time: Alphabet Signs

The sign for Alphabet

A to Z Sign with Me

Abdo Publishing Group

Please contact Dawn using the form to the left if you'd like to receive reduced pricing on books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series. This offer is available to workshop participants, consulting clients, and subscribers to this blog or Dawn's social media accounts.  

If you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next offering of my online class: Sing, Sign and Story Time for Professionals, please use the form at the left to send me your contact information. 

Please share your own ideas and experiences in the comment section below, and subscribe to my blog to receive more ideas over time.  Happy Signing!

26 Ways to Incorporate Alphabet Signs into Your Story Times (17-19)

Today's post continues with a series of enrichment activities to incorporate alphabet signs into story time:

17. Word Power

Shuffle the playing cards created in Activity #14 and deal five cards to each player. Place the remaining cards facedown in a pile. The object of the game is to spell words with the cards in your hand. The first player begins by drawing one card and then determining if he can create a word using one or more of the cards in hand. Words can be created with any combination of letter cards and handshape cards. If one or more of the cards in hand can be put together to make a word, the player must fingerspell the word and then place the cards face up on the table. If the player cannot make a word, he draws three cards from the pile and his turn ends. Play continues until all of the cards in the pile are gone. The person with the least cards in their hand when play ends wins.

NOTE: For more than two players it can be helpful to use more than one deck of cards (or to have several extra cards for each vowel). 

18. Word Power Race

This game is a variation on game #17 above. Get a timer and then one full deck of cards from Activity #14 for each player. Each player shuffles his or her deck of cards before play begins. The object is for each player to to use his or her deck of cards to make as many words as possible in the time allowed. The timekeeper sets the timer for five minutes and says, “Go!” Each player arranges their cards to make words. For example, the cards for the letters or handshapes C-A and T could be arranged to make the word, “Cat.” Letter or handshape cards can be arranged horizontally or vertically, and each letter can be used more than once. For example, the cards for the letters or handshapes, I-M and E could be positioned vertically below the “T” in “Cat," to form a new word, “Time.” The player with the least cards in their hand when the timer rings, wins. The winning player must fingerspell each word they created to complete their win.

NOTE: It can be helpful for each player’s deck of cards to have several extra cards for each vowel. 

19. Word Game

This is a variation of Activity #12. Shuffle the playing cards created in Activity #14 and put them facedown in a pile. The first player turns over the first card in the pile and then 1) says the letter shown on the card, 2) signs the letter shown on the card, and 3) fingerspells a word that begins with the letter on the card.  For example, if player one draws a “P,” she would say and sign “P,” and she would say and fingerspell a word that begins with “P,” such as P-I-G. If player one cannot complete all three steps, she does not keep the card and her turn ends. If player one completes all three steps, she keeps the card and her turn ends. Play continues until all the cards in the pile have been turned over.

To increase the level of challenge, players can be invited to research and demonstrate the sign for the words they fingerspelled for each card they drew.   

Helpful Resources:

Signs for A-Z

ASL Alphabet Glossary (use this link to download the activity packet for younger children, and the alphabet glossary from my books is included in that packet)

Start to Finish Story Time: Alphabet Signs

The sign for Alphabet

A to Z Sign with Me

Abdo Publishing Group

Please contact Dawn using the form to the left if you'd like to receive reduced pricing on books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series. This offer is available to workshop participants, consulting clients, and subscribers to this blog or Dawn's social media accounts.  

If you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next offering of my online class: Sing, Sign and Story Time for Professionals, please use the form at the left to send me your contact information. 

Please share your own ideas and experiences in the comment section below, and subscribe to my blog to receive more ideas over time.  Happy Signing!

26 Ways to Incorporate Alphabet Signs into Your Story Times (14-16)

Today's post continues with a series of enrichment activities to incorporate alphabet signs into story time:

Image Source, Wikimedia

14. Create a One-Sided Deck of Alphabet Playing Cards 

This activity is similar to Activity 7, but the resulting deck of cards is one-sided instead of two-sided. Get some blank index cards, paste, and scissors, and download and print the alphabet glossary sheet from the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes Series (available on page 3 of the Story Time Activity Packet -Younger Children available at this link).   Cut out the letter "A" and the corresponding handshape from the manual alphabet. Paste the letter "A" on the front of an index card, and the corresponding handshape for the letter "A" on the front of a second index card. Repeat this process with pairs of index cards for each letter of the alphabet until you have a full deck of alphabet playing cards. These cards provide a fun way to practice spelling and fingerspelling and can be used for a variety of games and activities such as the activities described in #15 and #16 below:

15. Alphabet Concentration

This game can be played alone or with a partner. Use the playing cards created in Activity #14 above. Shuffle the 52 cards and lay them all facedown in a pattern of columns and rows. A player begins by turning over two cards. If the cards shown are a matching pair (i.e. the letter “A” and the handshape for the letter “A”), the player gets to keep the cards. If the cards are not a matching pair, both cards should be turned back over, and it is the next player’s turn. Play continues until all cards are matched. 

To add challenge to this game, a player must say (or fingerspell or sign) a word that begins with the letter in order to keep the cards. 

16. Fishing for the Alphabet

Image Source: Fat Brain Toys

Shuffle the playing cards created in Activity #14 above and deal five cards to each player. Place the remaining cards facedown in a pile. The object of the game is to get the most matching pairs. Players take turns signing letters of the alphabet to see if another player has a matching card. For example, if player one has the letter “C” or the handshape for the letter “C” in his hand, he would make the sign for the the letter “C” and ask another player, “Do you have a C?” If the other player has the matching card (i.e. the letter “C” or the handshape for letter “C”) she must give it to the first player. If she does not have that card she says, “Go fish,” and the first player takes a card from the pile. Play continues until all the cards in the pile are gone.

NOTE: It’s fun to add the sign for “fish” to this game.

Helpful Resources:

Signs for A-Z

ASL Alphabet Glossary (use this link to download the activity packet for younger children, and the alphabet glossary from my books is included in that packet)

Start to Finish Story Time: Alphabet Signs

The sign for Alphabet

A to Z Sign with Me

Abdo Publishing Group

Please contact Dawn using the form to the left if you'd like to receive reduced pricing on books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series. This offer is available to workshop participants, consulting clients, and subscribers to this blog or Dawn's social media accounts.  

If you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next offering of my online class: Sing, Sign and Story Time for Professionals, please use the form at the left to send me your contact information. 

Please share your own ideas and experiences in the comment section below, and subscribe to my blog to receive more ideas over time.  Happy Signing!

Beaverton School District Boundary Adjustment Process Recent Q and A

The Beaverton School District recently posted a summary of boundary adjustment Q and A's on their website. Not surprisingly, I had some thoughts about what the School District had to say. I shared those thoughts in the following letter to our School Board: 

May 5, 2016 

Dear Members of the School Board,

Today I reviewed the updated boundary information on the School District's website.

I read with particular interest the following Question and Answer:

"Question: Why was Free & Reduced Lunch Program (FRLP) information used as a primary criteria when student body composition is a secondary criteria?"

"Answer: The FRLP information was not used as a primary criteria. All criteria was considered by the Boundary Advisory Committee during their deliberations."

Although this may (or may not) be factually true, from my observation as a community witness to the Boundary Adjustment Process via the BAC conversations that members of the public were allowed to hear, and via the artifacts from the BAC’s meetings (for example, each map iteration), there is a great deal of evidence to support the notation that FRLP information was a dominant decision-making factor for the BAC. 

This is another example of why it would be beneficial to conduct important School District business in a manner that is genuinely transparent, whether or not the matter is legally required to comply with Oregon’s Open Meetings Laws. If the BAC’s deliberations had been recorded and fully open to the public, Board members and other members of the public who did not attend the BAC meetings could listen to the meeting audio to determine for themselves the apparent weight of FRLP information on the boundary lines proposed by the BAC and forwarded to the Board by the Superintendent. 

Further, regarding the following Question and Answer:

 

"Question: Did the School Board recently look at the criteria in Board Policy JC?"

"Answer: Yes, the School Board did review Board Policy JC and the criteria and gave the Boundary Charge to the Superintendent last June 2015. Policy JC was last reviewed in the following years: March 1997, Nov. 2007, Feb. 2009, May 2015. The criteria are to be considered by the Boundary Committee in their deliberations. They are not ranked or weighted or intended to be evenly applied."

I would like to bring to the Board’s attention the fact that although Policy JC may not require the Boundary Adjustment Committee to rank or weight the criteria, Policy JC does in fact require the Superintendent to do so:

"In planning and developing an adjustment of attendance area boundaries, the superintendent first shall consider the following primary criteria: availability of space, proximity to school, safety, and neighborhood unity. Whenever possible, neighborhood areas, particularly at the elementary level, should be retained within a single attendance boundary. The superintendent also shall consider transportation costs, student body composition, staffing patterns, feeder school alignment, and the efficient and economical utilization of the buildings.” (Emphasis added)

Given that the Superintendent relied heavily on the Boundary Adjustment Committee’s work in designing a new boundary, it begs the question how his proposal gives emphasis to the primary criteria, when the District’s answer to the above question indicates that the BAC did not rank or weight the criteria.

Shifting my attention from criteria to objectives, I continue to contend that we have fallen short on the objective of minimizing transitions for students, particularly for the Class of 2020. Policy JC reads,  ". . . where and when possible, the superintendent may allow students to remain at their current school for one or more years to complete the highest grade level or levels offered.” Although the Superintendent has argued that the Class of 2020 must transition to their new boundary school during their sophomore year to allow the newly built school enough attendees to operate successfully, I ask that we look for innovative solutions that will allow those students who wish to remain in the same school for the duration of their high school career the opportunity to do so. This might involve surveying Class of 2020 students/families about their preferences in this regard, allowing some students to transition early, allowing some students to arrange for their own transportation, and even allowing some students who are not in the boundary for the shiny new school the opportunity to fill “open slots” in that school so that it can start with a capacity that is conducive to a full complement of academic offerings and extracurricular activities. A Future Ready School District should be able to problem solve in innovative ways. Please set this expectation for our School District administration. 

Finally, I would like to point out that the Board is in a unique position to ask interested questions about the boundary adjustment process and anticipate answers in return. Although the general public has been able to ask questions, we have not been readily supplied with answers. For this reason, I request that you carefully consider the questions that have been posed by your constituents, and do your very best due diligence to seek answers to those questions in advance of your vote to approve or temporarily deny the District’s move forward on the proposed boundary adjustments.

With sincere appreciation for your service to our community,

 

Dawn Prochovnic

Beaverton Parent, Voter, and Community Volunteer  

NOTE: The School Board is anticipated to vote on whether or not "(1) the set of objectives approved by the Board at the outset were met; and (2) the superintendent applied the relevant criteria" at the May 16, 2016 School Board Meeting. 

Library Advocacy Summary Post

This past weekend I visited Springfield, Oregon to give the keynote address for an Oregon Association of School Libraries (OASL) regional conference. I gave a spirited talked entitled, "Library Evangelism 101," in which I shared the learnings from the School Library Advocacy effort in the Beaverton School District. In my opening remarks, I warned folks that I would talk fast, share an abundance of information, and potentially overwhelm them in the process. I'm pretty sure I accomplished all three!

I tried to reassure folks that it would not be possible to incorporate all of the ideas I talked about, and encouraged participants to try to identify one or two or three things they could personally incorporate. It was exciting to hear people percolating with ideas. I look forward to hearing the action items that people commit to and follow through with. Case in point, just last week I heard about another school library advocacy effort in the Eugene area that got off the ground after I gave a similar talk at the OASL state meeting last fall. I genuinely believe that if we each plant and nurture a few seeds of library advocacy in our own areas, the results from our collective advocacy efforts will be bountiful.

I realized after wrapping up my talk that although I've written several posts about School Library Advocacy, I've not yet created a summary post for this topic. A summary listing is below:

Why I'm Passionate About School Libraries (Sept 28, 2014)

I Am  Library Evangelist and You Are the Choir (April 23, 2015)

Oregon Library Supporters of the Year (May 15, 2015)

School Library Advocacy: An Update (Oct 6, 2015) and

Summary of School Library Advocacy Effort in Beaverton, Oregon (Glog Summary) (October, 2015)

Librarians: Protecting our First Amendment Rights One Book at a Time (April, 2017)

Please get in touch if you'd like me to present "Library Evangelism 101" in your area. If you'd like to access the slides for "Library Evangelism 101," please send me an email, or message me via the contact form on the left side of the blog.

I'd love to hear about the school library advocacy efforts in your own area. I hope you will share what's going on in your area in the comment section below.

Beaverton High School Boundary Adjustment Process, Continued

Image Source: Beaverton SD Website

Earlier this month I wrote about my displeasure with my school district's approach to a high school boundary adjustment process. This week the outgoing Superintendent made his recommendations to the School Board. The School Board will soon vote to ratify the Superintendent's recommendations. And so I write again:

April 26, 2016

Dear Members of the School Board,

Although I did not speak at last night’s Board meeting, I attended the meeting to listen and to learn, much as I attended nearly every Boundary Adjustment Committee meeting over the past several months.

We heard again at last night’s Board meeting that Policy JC reads in part, "If the objectives were met and the criteria were reasonably applied, the Board shall approve the attendance plan."

The policy does not read, “If reasonable people took on a difficult task and did the best that they could with the time and resources made available to them, the Board shall approve the attendance plan."

Similarly, the policy does not read, “If the Dr. Withycombe says that the BSD has the best Technical Team and Boundary Adjustment Committee he has ever worked with, the Board shall approve the attendance plan.” 

And most certainly, the policy does not read, “If Dr. Rose can ask Robert (or the Technical Team or the Boundary Advisory Committee) how the criteria were applied to a particular map and if Robert (or the Technical Team or the Boundary Advisory Committee) can answer those questions to Dr. Rose’s satisfaction, then the Board shall approve the attendance plan.”

The policy says that you must determine "If the objectives were met and the criteria were reasonably applied.”

I do not envy your position. If I had to make the difficult decision that you are charged with, I would need to be able to compare one map to another  (e.g. the springboard map to the final recommendation map, or to the various BAC maps in between) and reasonably understand how the final map is a better overall map than the maps before it in terms of meeting the objectives and applying the criteria. Despite my own high level of engagement in all aspects of the boundary adjustment process that were made available to the public, I’m not able to do this. Are you? If your answer is, “No," I do not see how you can vote to approve the attendance plan. 

Objectives and criteria exist so that people can understand how a decision was reached even if they disagree with the eventual decision. A school-related analogy may be appropriate to apply here: If I feel like I’m an “A” student, but my teacher assesses my work, and I get a “C,” I can refer to the learning targets, standards, and/or rubrics to self-assess how I measure up against those criteria. I may be disappointed with my grade, but at least I can see how the standards were applied to result in my grade, and likewise, I can compare my work to other students’ work to reasonably understand how their work might be in closer alignment with the standards than my own. 

I can’t do this with the boundary map(s). Despite my full engagement in the process, I can’t look at the objectives and criteria and then look at the various iterations of the BAC’s maps and say, “I get it. This map is better aligned with the objectives and criteria than others before it.” For example, I can’t determine with any level of confidence what criteria were applied when some neighborhoods' calls for unity were answered while other neighborhoods were left visibly split.

Most troubling of all is that I cannot see how the final proposed map minimizes transition for students, particularly when at least one high school will retain only 25% of its current composition of underclassmen when the transitions are made for incoming 9th and 10th graders in the year 2017. Further, when some members of the class of 2020 are required to change schools three years in a row (8th grade, 9th grade and 10th grade), I do not see how this minimizes transitions for students. Yes children are resilient, but the Board did not direct the Superintendent to bring forward an attendance plan that would test students’ resilience. It directed the Superintendent to bring forward an attendance plan that would minimize transitions for students. 

Becky, you asked Dr. Rose if the District supplied the BAC with adequate tools to do the job. I appreciate your courage and think your question has great merit and deserves a solid answer. I watched the boundary process closely and I would say that in addition to lack of clarity about criteria, the BAC was also limited in 1. Their access to supporting data to help guide their decision making process, 2. The amount of time given to complete the job, and 3. Discussion management tools such as “definitions of terms” (i.e. “When we say ’sophomores,’ we are talking about the class of 2020, the students who are 8th graders this current school year”) so that the BAC’s conversations could be focused on the issues themselves vs. on the effort to clarify what particular group of kids committee members have in mind when he/she says, “sophomores.”

Linda, you asked if the BAC deferred to the Superintendent re: the transition plan for the Class of 2020 because they ran out of time. Dr. Rose answered your question last night saying that the reason that issue was left unaddressed by the BAC is because there was a disagreement amongst the members of the BAC.

Unfortunately, since there is not an audio transcript of the meeting that you can hear for yourself, you are left to rely on the accounts and observations of others for this answer. I attended nearly every BAC meeting, including the final meeting where this particular transition was discussed. I took detailed, “live notes” that I shared with two other members of the public throughout the meeting. I am happy to share those notes with you upon your request. To note, Dr. Rose was not at that meeting. He was in Georgia. 

Here are my observations: 

Yes, there was disagreement amongst members of the BAC regarding this issue, but this was exacerbated by the fact that the team did not have at their disposal the necessary data/information to help guide their decision, and the team had in fact run out of time. Here are some supporting details: 

1. The consultant himself spent a great deal of time talking during the lead-up to each discussion about transition, such that there wasn’t much time left for the BAC itself to actually talk (again, this is where a recording of the meetings would have been helpful so you could listen to this for yourself, and not rely on someone else’s characterization of what took place at the meetings). 

2. There was not a clear definition of terms pertaining to transition, (which ideally would have been developed under the leadership of the consultant), so the BAC spent quite a bit of their “transition discussions" going back and forth trying to figure out what groups of kids and what particular recommendations they were actually talking about or being asked to vote on vs. actually discussing the merits of the proposal on the table. By this I mean, one BAC member might refer to “sophomores” and another might say the “8th graders” and there would not be clarity around the table as to whether these were the same kids (i.e. the class of 2020) they were talking about and being asked to vote on. This lack of clarity and confusion happened during the "sibling rule” discussions as well. Although the Superintendent provided the Board with a matrix to show clearly how his transition plan would impact different students/graduating classes, the BAC did not appear to have a tool like this to guide and bring clarity to their transition discussions.  

3. This confusion and lack of clarity was demonstrated early on when the BAC voted one particular way with respect to the sibling rule, (after a discussion, that was very hard to follow re: “who/what” was actually on the table for discussion). The next meeting, when those preliminary recommendations were seen in the meeting minutes, more discussion ensued (about 45-60 minutes of discussion) with the BAC members trying to seek agreement as to “what they had agreed to” vs. “what individuals thought they had agreed to.” The BAC was not able to reach clarity on what they meant or agreed to, so the issue was then tabled for another meeting (and this topic was revisited one or two meetings later). 

4. With the exception of data related to free/reduced lunch and numbers of kids in each school for each map iteration, there was not much in the way of reports related to the specific costs or implications of different transition plans). The Director of Transportation did present to the BAC to let them know that it would be difficult and expensive to design transitional transportation plans, and Carl Meade did provide a list of possible transition scenarios to the BAC, but from my vantage point of engaged observer, there was not enough information on the table for the BAC to make an informed decision (particularly given that there were people around the table with different interests and different concerns). The last meeting of the BAC had already been extended by an hour and that extra hour was nearly spent when the BAC turned its attention to the transition issues related to the Class of 2020. Although they deliberated briefly on this issue, they soon realized that they needed more information to resolve their differences of opinion/competing priorities so as to make an informed decision. The consultant reassured them that they had done good work and it was okay to return that particular aspect of the transition back to the Superintendent for further study. And so they did. 

Anne, you said it best when you said that the Boundary decision will likely outlast the next Superintendent’s tenure in our school district. This is a deeply important decision. Although I’m sure Dr. Rose would like to "finish this task” before he leaves, and although the Board is unlikely unenthusiastic about the prospect of extending this process while also searching for an Interim Superintendent and permanent Superintendent, (and although school principals and some community members want some certainty on boundary lines so they can begin to accept and adjust to the new boundaries), it is worthwhile to take a step back and take a few additional months to get the process right. When a reasonable citizen or a caring Board member can look at a final proposed map and transition process and weigh it against the objectives and criteria and say, “Yes, this map and this transition plan is better aligned with the objectives and criteria than others before it,” then we will know that the objectives have been met and the criteria reasonably applied.” We’re not quite there yet. 

Sincerely,

Dawn Prochovnic

Beaverton Parent and Community Volunteer