Educational Excellence

Attracting and retaining great teachers

Research shows teacher effectiveness is imperative to increasing student academic achievement. To hire and retain great teachers, APS must be competitive with neighboring districts.
 

APE advocated for:

At the September School Board meeting, an APE representative urged APS to improve the hiring and retention of teachers by increasing compensation, recruiting more aggressively, and empowering teachers.

APS’ response was:

APS hired a consultant whose analysis stated that “APS is ranked last among 8 local area school divisions for teacher starting salaries,” and that staff turnover has increased to 9.2%, which is close to the highest APS has experienced in 15 years. Teacher turnover is even higher at 11%. In the fall of 2021, APS took several important steps to increase compensation for APS staff:

• raise bus driver pay

• increase substitute teacher pay

• provide a one-time $1,000 bonus to all staff.

Additionally, in early December:

• Dr. Duran announced that he wants APS to be in the top 1-3 in the region for compensation.

• APS staff announced several steps to address long-term compensation issues at the December 9 School Board Compensation Work Session, including:

  • increasing starting pay rates

  • eliminating hold steps

  • consistently giving step increases, and

  • ensuring promotional pay growth from teacher to administrator scale.

Next Steps:

APE will encourage the School Board to continue efforts to recruit and retain high-quality staff, including implementing the proposals to increase teacher and staff pay. APE also urges the School Board to work with the County and with budget staff to ensure teacher pay increases do not come at the cost of larger class sizes.
 

Textbooks/reduced screen time

Research shows manipulatives and textbooks are important and improve outcomes, while excessive screen time is detrimental to student health.  

APE advocated:

• Against removing paper from schools (and thereby increasing device use) in response to an APS staff proposal at the 4 May Budget Work Session to remove a copier from each school to help balance the budget.

• To remove the 1:1 device policy for K-5 students at the October 14 School Board meeting and in an early October newsletter article.

• To bring back textbooks and tangibles to classrooms because of parent concerns about student’s ability to process and retain directions and knowledge through an education primarily on screens, as well as concerns about the time staff must take to create materials in lieu of textbooks. An APE representative spoke at the 6 December School board meeting, and the issue was highlighted in the December APE newsletter.

• Against the use of increased device time as a “recovery method” for pandemic-related learning losses and instead supports increasing intensified tutoring for students.

APS’ response:

The School Board voted 4-1 against removing the copiers at the 6 May School Board meeting, led by Board Member Barbara Kanninen’s question on what impact removing copiers would have on instruction. She stated this was in direct response to parent and teacher advocacy; parent and teacher advocates, including APE, argued that removing copiers would further reduce the amount of instruction and assignments that use paper and pencil. Board Members Priddy, O’Grady, and Diaz-Torres joined Kanninen to support saving copiers and shared their own struggles waiting for copiers as PTA officers or teachers.
 
We commend the School Board for prioritizing paper and physical materials in the FY22 budget. APE calls on APS to collect data and evaluate the use of devices at every level in APS, and APE supports the reduction of device use, particularly the 1:1 device policy for K-5, and the return of textbooks for higher grades.

Return to Standard-Length School Calendar and Maximize Instructional Time

More time in school and consistency both lead to better student achievement. Yet, APS is reducing in-classroom time right when students and staff need consistency and predictability.
 

APE Advocacy: 

• APE uncovered a reduction in instructional time for FY22 of five school days from pre-pandemic academic years, and four school days for FY23. APS now falls below one of the two Virginia Department of Education standards (180 days) and only meets the second standard of 990 instructional hours. APE analyzed surrounding counties’ calendars and determined that APS now has the fewest number of instructional days, which is covered in a Special Edition here.

• APE asked the School Board to consider and adopt a calendar with 180 days of instructional time at a School Board meeting and in an article, which was covered by the Sun Gazette.

• APE advocated for alignment with neighboring districts to increase consistency for children and reliability for working parents and staff. APE’s calendar analysis uncovered the highest inconsistency in the region, and revealed that both the County and the school system have failed to provide consistent childcare for the community, like neighboring counties do. Check out coverage from ArlNow.

APS’ response:

In the early December School Board meeting, Board Member Goldstein asked staff how additional new religious holidays would impact meeting the required 990 instructional hours, and Board Member Monique O’Grady asked staff about partnering with the County for childcare for working families. However, the School Board did not ask staff for a calendar with 180 days and approved the Calendar 5-0.
 

Next Steps:

We encourage the School Board to consider a calendar with 180 days of school for FY23. Arlington students deserve the same amount of education as our neighbors, as well as State and National averages, especially after two years of pandemic education.  
 

Grading and Equity

APS is currently running a pilot group looking at ‘Grading for Equity’. APE has not yet seen any research that supports any of the ‘equity’ initiatives APS is proposing and piloting.

Our October 2021 newsletter featured “A Teacher’s View on Grading and Equity” which reflected on APS’s ongoing review of grading and homework policies. We also published a synopsis of the situation in our enewsletter.
 

APS’ actions:

• APS is considering proposals for next year that include:

  • No late penalty for assignments

  • No extra credit

  • Increased use of redos and retakes

  • Ending of grading formative assessments

• because, they say, “we CAN motivate students to practice without assigning grades.”

• A group of Wakefield High School teachers sent APS a letter strongly critiquing the proposal and said that grading formative assessments is a critical tool teachers and students have in learning. A Washington Post education columnist, Jay Mathews, agreed with the Wakefield teachers and in a recent column argued that Wakefield’s success in bridging the minority achievement success is itself an argument against implementing these changes.

Next Steps:

We encourage APS, the Board Policy Subcommittee, and the School Board to incorporate feedback from Wakefield educators on the Grading for Equity proposal and allow for more time, debate, and data before implementing any changes. According to APS’s Policy Revision timeline, the Board Policy Subcommittee and Board will be evaluating the Grading proposal over the next few months including proposed vote by May 2022