We believe that children succeed when each child is challenged educationally and that APS would improve student outcomes by focusing on increased academic challenge and differentiation among our students, not by adopting one-size-fits-all curricula and programs that restrict students’ opportunities.     

Equity both within and across school systems is critical to developing an educated population and a successful school system with broad community support. Research has shown that equity is best addressed through high-quality teachers, research-based instructional practices, high expectations, modification of disciplinary practices and student support determined by student need. Equity is accomplished by improving the results for those who struggle, not removing opportunities from others.

We believe that evidence-based instruction positions our children for success.  Several recent instructional fads (e.g., balanced literacy) have not only failed to raise student performance, but have impaired educational attainment. That APS adopted these methods without adequate data emphasizes the need to monitor APS’ instructional offerings. 

APS has been criticized for permitting differences in instructional methods or content, resulting in inconsistent quality of instruction across schools. APS should employ consistent, high-quality instructional standards to be met at all schools and should identify instructional best practices across schools and rapidly deploy them throughout the system.

Finally, the ultimate assessment of a school system is its ability to deliver excellent educational results for all the students within the system. Those results should be measurable, objective, merit-based and regularly tracked, and APS should strive to deliver results that meet or exceed those of its Northern Virginia peers.