P-20 tightens the seams

I don't know about you, but my December holidays went by way too fast. Busy shopping, busy cooking, and after a fun-filled day with friends, busy re-watching the highlights of the P-20 Council meeting at 10pm last night so I could write this blog. (Thanks, TiVo).

Formed in May with their first official meeting held in September, the P-20 Council met in Olympia last Friday for their final quarterly meeting of 2007. On the agenda were updates and discussion of three key areas -- Education Indicators, English Language Learners, and Math.

With the goal of the council being to create a "seamless education," they obviously have a daunting task. But Governor Gregoire, who heads up the group, seems committed to using real data to make informed decisions starting with this set of draft education indicators developed by the Office of Financial Management (OFM). Focused on transitions (early education to K, middle to high school, high to postsecondary, etc.) the goal of the indicators is to help answer many questions that start with "why" here in Washington state. Then, as Gov. Gregoire said, we can "dig deeper" on each and come up with the right solutions to solve problems.

After OFM's update, some specific feedback from the council included focusing on the 8th-9th grade transition. Mary Jean Ryan of the State Board referenced research by Mary Beth Celio that shows that the lack of course credits by 9th grade is a statistically significant indicator of high school dropout. I think credit completion should definitely be added as an indicator since even for the Class of 2008, we know that the greatest deterrent to students not graduating on time isn't the WASL, but instead a lack of required credits. Teacher quality and parent engagement were also noted as important indicators to consider adding to the list.

Next on the agenda was an update on the English Language Learner (ELL) Action Report. Guided by four goals identified by Governor Gregoire and relevant research and data, the ELL work group came up with five action steps (found at the end of this document). It was noted by the council that OSPI is doing a review of current ELL programs in Washington state. Again, in line with making informed decisions (yes!) Gov. Gregoire agreed that the council shouldn't go too far down this path until that information is completed and considered.

And finally, the math issue. A slew of math materials from the meeting can be found on the P-20 website but what struck me most about this discussion was Bill Moore talking about "zippers." Addressing a council charged with creating a seamless education, Bill appropriately stated the reality we all know -- that it isn't going to happen overnight. So in the meantime, we need to work on the right "zippers" to keep the seams from unraveling.

For math, Bill and others created the Transition Math Project that we know and love. This description of their work through the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges is a good summary of the "zippers" they are sewing into our state's math education.

We're not seamless yet...but at least we seem to be moving in the right direction. The next P-20 meeting will be held on April 10. Stay tuned.