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Welcome to SBE's monthly catch up newsletter! Each month, we highlight the work of the Board and SBE staff and give you a heads-up on things to keep an eye out for. It’s your one-stop place to catch up on what we’ve been doing!
Here's a summary of what's included in this email:
Staff from the Board will host a webinar on Tuesday, November 19 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. to talk about FutureReady — the State Board of Education's multi-year initiative to update Washington's high school graduation requirements.
During the webinar, staff will share what the initiative hopes to accomplish and how the process will work. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to submit questions related to the implementation and operation of FutureReady. It is important to note that the Board is not proposing changes at this time, so we won’t be able to answer questions regarding which graduation requirements may or may not be updated.
Attendees are required to register before they can join the webinar.
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The Board approved its 2025 Legislative Platform during its October board meeting in Neah Bay. The Board's platform is built around it's mission of building an equitable and inclusive K-12 education system where every student is empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a changing world. It highlights priorities under four major themes:
Additionally, the board is making three agency requests this year:
- Continued funding to support the Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative.
- Allow the Board and other small education agencies to access administrative services that are better suited to their specific needs, such as contracting with Small Agency Services, improving service quality and reducing workload.
- Funding to support FutureReady, its strategic plan initiative aimed at comprehensively updating high school graduation requirements.
SBE staff are in the process of delivering banners to schools being recognized by the Washington School Recognition Program for the 2021-22 & 2022-23 school years. Banners are being delivered to local Educational Service Districts, who then facilitate delivery to individual school districts.
The Washington School Recognition Program celebrates public schools that have demonstrated success across multiple areas, including assessment scores, graduation rates, and attendance. Approximately 13% of schools in Washington State are recognized each year. This year’s delivery marks the program's return after a pause during the pandemic.
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Superintendents from ESD 189 pose with a recognition banner at a meeting in Anacortes on Nov. 1.
SBE staff and school representatives from Tumwater School District and Highline School District gave a presentation at the 2024 Aurora Institute Symposium about the lessons they’ve learned after three years of implementing Mastery-based Learning (MBL) in Washington. They spoke about some of the policies and practices that both support and inhibit the opportunities for culturally responsive MBL at the state and local level.
The Aurora Institute is a national leader in MBL (also known as competency-based education) and personalized learning across the United States. Their annual symposium brings together education innovators from across the nation to discuss the latest in education research and policy.
In addition to the symposium presentation, Alissa Muller, SBE’s Director of Policy, took part in an EducationWeek panel on Nov. 7 discussing how schools and districts can take advantage of state policies to jumpstart a shift to personalized learning. You can view a recording of the panel here.
SBE staff give a presentation about mastery-based learning at the 2024 Aurora Institute Symposium in New Orleans.
The Board's trip to Neah Bay was packed full of incredible scenery and opportunities to learn more about Makah tribal culture. We compiled some of our favorite photos into a photo album!
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