Let Your Fingers Do the Walking

Or the searching, as the case may be.

Bob Mc Mullen, our director of high school programs, recently discovered this quick and handy shortcut while looking for a particular citation.

Administrators may be interested to know that the RCWs and WACs for Washington state are all searchable via the Washington State Legislature's Web site. You can do a quick keyword search ("graduation requirements" might be a good, and popular, example right now).

Thanks, Bob! Search on!

Did They Vote For Kids?

Well, did they?

That's what the Children's Alliance wanted to find out, and you can, too when you download their 2008 legislative scorecard. The group analyzed the votes of Washington state lawmakers on children's issues during the 2008 legislative session. Each legislator received a score of 1 to 5 stars based on the percentage of votes cast "for children."

And yes, there were some perfect scores.

Let's Put Some Responsibility on the Students

So says Kelly Flynn, an education columnist with the Flint (Mich.) Journal.

Her column, which appeared in her paper over the weekend, comes at time when Washington state students are on the cusp of graduating with the most rigorous graduation requirements in state history (though some take issue with that, too). Says Flynn in her column:

Let's put some responsibility back on the student.

See, what we seem to forget is that it's all there for the taking. If you want an education in this country, you can have it. The information, textbooks, workbooks, journals, reference books, videos, technology and lab equipment are available, to one degree or another, in every single school.

Is this up-by-the-bootstraps, tough love approach on the mark or off the charts?

Memorial Day

We're closing the pages of The Comp Book for the holiday weekend.

More fun and games next week as we start the march toward graduation and summer break.

High School on TV

Like many things, high school is always a little cooler on TV or in the movies.

So naturally, the Culture and Lifestyle editors at Newsweek couldn't let the hard news side of the office have all the fun with their "Top High Schools "report. Check out their analysis of the fictional high schools from TV and the movies against those on the magazine's real life list.

From Grease's Rydell High School (the real-life Venice High in California) to Ferris Bueller's Glenbrook North High in suburban Chicago and Napoleon Dynamite's awesome Preston High in Idaho, find out how the Hollywood high school alma maters fared here.

America's Top High Schools

Newsweek is out with its annual ranking of the country's "top" (their adjective) high schools.

The ranking is based on a ratio created by Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews. According to the magazine, the secret recipe is:

the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way.

All told, 23 schools in Washington made the complete list of 1,300 top schools. But four Washington state schools made the top 100; all four were in Bellevue. They include the International School (number 10), Newport High (31st) and Interlake (45th) and Bellevue High (62nd).

You can view the list of all 23 Washington schools here.

Principals on the Class of 2008

Today, State Superintendent Terry Bergeson asked a group of high school principals to talk with her about the pending graduation of the class of 2008. This was a great opportunity for AWSP members to share their thoughts on the critical issues facing their schools, students and staff in the wake of the first graduation of kids under the (now not so) new graduation requirements. Today's participants included:

• Stacey Locke, principal, Eisenhower High (Yakima P.S.)
• Whitney Meissner, principal, Chimacum Middle/High (Chimacum S.D.)
• Vicki Puckett, principal, Woodinville High (Northshore S.D.)
  
• Scott Seaman, principal, Tumwater High (Tumwater S.D.)
  

These folks were candid with the superintendent and shared some gritty examples of students on the bubble - and not just because of WASL deficiencies. In fact, credit shortages are more likely to prevent kids from graduating in June than WASL. Here's some of the exchanges I captured during today's session:

• "There's been a lot of extra work on the part of assistant principals and counselors to track each member of this class."
  
• "There are two things that keep me awake at night: I'm afraid I've missed someone and the fact that WASL tracking and administration is a full-time job."
  
• "It feels like the kids [this year's seniors] are really taking this seriously. It's interesting to watch this year's juniors and sophomores and how they've all of a sudden stepped into the planning."
  
• "We've put a lot of responsibility on these kids and have tried to build the structures to help them. "
• "The focus we've had on these students for the last 12 years -- on trying to prepare them for success once they leave -- it's clearer than it's ever been before."
  

It's clear from listening to these leaders that they deeply care about the success of every student in their schools and that they are concerned for the adults in the system who are trying to make sure no students slip through the cracks.

They've Got Game!

And you better bring a sharp pencil!

The students in Thomas Jefferson High's Math Team were recently profiled on KING 5 News in Seattle. This is a dream team for any principal: the team attracts students of all ages (freshmen and seniors!), boys and girls of all races and backgrounds. And they mean business!

The group has been in the top 10 in the nation for 13 years straight and is sending 50 kids to the national math championships this summer. Congrats to TJ Principal Mark Marshall, Team Coach Tom Norris and to all the students (and parents) involved in this great program.