e-news: November 14, 2023
In This Edition:
1. Instructional Vision Could Distract from Urgency of Learning Loss
2. Parent's Corner: Reflections from Freshman College Parents' Weekend
3. APS Proposes Replacing SOLs with Performance-Based Assessments
4. Missing in Action: Intensified Eighth Grade Social Studies Course
5. Where Is APS's All-In Tutoring Program?
6. Open Policies: Make Your Voice Heard
7. November 9th School Board Recap
8. Happening Soon
Instructional Vision Could Distract From Urgency of Learning Loss
On September 26, 2023, the School Board held a work session on the "Instructional Vision" for APS. The “vision” presented to the Board consisted of “Academic Programming Pathways,” in which students could choose between secondary schools based on the academic programs offered at each school. Five pathways were identified, including International Baccalaureate, STEM, Arts, Spanish immersion, and “self-governance, self-directed learning and a caring community”. Those pathways would begin in middle school and extend into high school.
The APS “vision” raised many questions. Ms. Zecker-Sutton noted that the Board’s priority is to urgently address student gaps and outcomes, and the pathways do not appear to address that issue. Ms. Kadera noted several areas where more information was needed, including whether demand exists for such programs, the costs (in terms of transportation, staffing and equipment), and the logistics of how the programs would operate. Mr. Priddy also questioned whether it is advisable for children graduating 5th grade to select a pathway for the remainder of their secondary education.
Why It Matters: APS’ “instructional vision'' could have material impacts on the district. It was suggested that space may be allocated for these pathway programs at neighborhood schools, potentially leading to changes in the boundaries to accommodate the additional students. Further, the pathways may affect whether investments in certain programs – such as arts or STEM – are evenly allocated across all schools, or disproportionately concentrated at the pathway school. If the investments are concentrated, then students interested in multiple paths (e.g. IB and the arts, or IB and STEM) may have to choose between those interests in selecting their schools. Further, given the guarantee of admission for students from the middle school pathway to the high school of the same path, in the event that certain paths become heavily subscribed there may be significant pressure to decide on one of those multiple paths when entering middle school.
Our Take: Given the significant academic performance issues facing APS: the gaps and learning loss that persist, the number of secondary students who are not reading at grade level, and the need to effectively implement the planned middle school intensified course offerings and improvements needed to achieve academic excellence, including improving participation and performance rates in AP classes, we urge the Board to focus on their stated priorities, and examine whether using time and energy to change our “instructional vision” now, in Ms. Zecker-Suttton’s words, is “a distraction”.
Parent's Corner: Reflections From Freshman College Parents' Weekend
(Editor's Note: From time to time we will offer op-eds, which are the unedited perspectives of an APS parent or teacher on a topic of interest or concern to APS.)
Visiting my children at college for my first parents’ weekend, I was excited to see how my recent APS graduates were acclimating to their new college experiences. Socially, things were going great. But, I was surprised to see my straight-A students struggling with some of their classes, and even more surprised by gaps I observed in their notetaking and study skills. At APS, “A”s could be earned with a couple hours studying the night before the exam, and opportunities for improving grades were plentiful. The modest homework allowed substantial time for social activities and sports. While a few teachers truly challenged my children, others set a minimalist bar. One teacher assigned episodes of the “West Wing” as homework in an AP Government class.
Much has recently been written about who suffers from lowered academic standards and grade inflation. Some argue that the “strivers” lose the benefit of differentiated performance. Others argue that disadvantaged students suffer by becoming increasingly disengaged as a result of lower expectations. But there is a large, and often overlooked group of students who are also the victims: Students getting ready for college. When “A’s are handed out easily, homework is minimal, in-class lectures are replaced with online videos, and school projects are team-based (putting more emphasis on negotiating who will do the work within the group than learning content), students miss out on critical skills needed to prepare them for college. They don’t hone their study skills. Their work ethic slackens. They do not learn critical note-taking skills. They do not improve their ability to persevere through challenging subjects. They come to believe that a surface understanding of subjects is sufficient.
As parents, we may be partially complicit. As our children develop their high school transcripts for their college application, we are willing to overlook the reduced rigor, and are grateful that our kids can be one of the 150 valedictorians in their class. Some contend that the reduced rigor helps students by removing stress. But APS does not exist in a bubble: Students who do not face rigor and high expectations in high school will be unprepared for college. At that time, when your student is a thousand miles away, and their study skills are not sufficient, and they are struggling to get beyond the surface level of instruction, you’ll be too distant to provide much meaningful guidance. When your child questions whether they are prepared for college (while you pay large tuition checks), and don’t know where to turn as they flop on one exam after another, you will wish that maybe someone would have pushed them harder while they were at APS.
To those teachers (and there were several) who had high expectations for our kids, and who called balls and strikes fairly even if it tainted our kids’ transcript, thank you. For those who think they are helping our students by giving them unearned grades, watering down content, or providing instruction through online resources, please reconsider your approach. For those in APS leadership who advocate for reduced homework time, SEL instead of content instruction, and grading for equity (with unlimited test retakes, no penalties for late submissions, no “zeros” on grades, etc.), please understand the harm you are doing to our students. You don’t have to field the calls from an upset, frustrated and unprepared college student. Just getting our students through high school graduation day is not sufficient: They need to be prepared for the real world ahead – not the “everyone gets a trophy” approach to education.
APS Advocates Replacing SOLs with Performance-Based Assessments
The 2024 APS Legislative Package includes the following: “The Arlington School Board supports legislative changes to allow school divisions to use performance-based assessments for all end-of-course Standard of Learning Assessments.”
SOLs are not perfect, but they do provide value by giving parents and schools objective information and acting as a minimum measurement for some systemwide accountability.
Why It Matters: Moving from SOLs to a performance-based assessment (PBA) system has significant pitfalls:
PBAs as described are vague and provide significantly less information.
There is limited evidence on the efficacy of PBAs. The only available study examining the removal of SOLs and its replacement with PBAs in VA made the following conclusion: “a significant challenge in this study included the lack of time and collected evidence to suggest if alternative methods could serve as an effective means to assess student proficiency of content knowledge and skill sets, particularly when compared to the traditional, standardized approach.”
There are significant risks.
As teachers and districts are ‘graded’ by student assessment achievement, PBAs could introduce systemic incentives towards grade inflation.
There is less transparency associated with a new, locally-developed system.
This assessment policy lacks an enforcement mechanism for performance objectives, which can lead to inconsistencies across districts and schools.
Our Take: SOLs are imperfect, but are a better option than a non-standardized testing system which disallows benchmarking, reduces specific data around student knowledge acquisition, and further burdens staff. We encourage APS to support the ongoing use of SOLs, and instead allocate its resources toward providing intensified instructional support for all students who need it.
Read APE’s November 8th letter to the School Board and Superintendent Durán.
Missing In Action: Intensified 8th Grade Social Studies Course
We wrote a few weeks ago about the conflicting reasons given by APS staff for the missing intensified 8th Grade Social Studies course. Since that time:
The Sun Gazette covered this missing course.
The Gifted Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) presented its recommendations to ACTL, which include that the intensified 8th Grade Social Studies course be rolled out next school year.
APS staff reached out to us, stating that they were working on offering such a course.
APE thanked APS in public comment at the subsequent October School Board meeting for agreeing to offer this course.
At the most recent School Board meeting, Sarah Putnam, Executive Director of Curriculum, returned to backtracking on offering this course, stating that APS would only consider offering it after the 2024-2025 school year.
Our Take: APS’ reasoning continues to not add up, as detailed in our APE Report. We would also like to note:
Approximately 35% of the 7th Grade class is enrolled in Intensified Social Studies, making it an extremely popular class.
The curriculum for the course would be the same (but just go deeper) and therefore is ready now.
More than enough time remains in the school year for APS to provide any necessary Professional Development and get sufficient teacher input on the class’s structure.
An intensified distinction for the 8th grade Social Studies class (World Geography) on students’ high school transcripts would make their college and scholarship applications more competitive (and is arguably most valuable to economically disadvantaged students).
Our neighboring school districts offer an AP or intensified World Geography course (Alexandria, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford), and APS students will be competing against these students for college admissions and scholarship opportunities.
What You Can Do: Email Dr. Durán (superintendent@apsva.us), Dr. Mann (gerald.mann@apsva.us) and the School Board (school.board@apsva.us) today to ask that this important course be offered for APS students next school year.
Where Is APS’ All-In Tutoring Program?
In early September, Richmond lawmakers passed a budget deal with $418 million to fund (among other things) an “All-In Tutoring” program to provide high-intensity tutoring for students. The Governor and VDOE asked for districts to have tutoring programs up and running by October 16. APS did not meet that target date.
During the October 12, 2023 School Board meeting, APS proposed “for tutoring to begin by mid-November.” But as of time of writing, two-thirds of Virginia districts (84 districts of 133 districts) have had their tutoring plans approved and APS is not among them. Indeed, APS only posted openings for tutors on its website on November 9, 2023, one week before tutoring was nominally supposed to begin.
Why It Matters: As we have previously discussed, high-intensity tutoring is recognized as one of the most effective methods for addressing learning loss. And APS’ SOL scores reflect that there is still much work to be done. By the time tutors are retained and deployed, APS will have lost half the school year to make progress on this issue. The School Board has set a priority to “invest with urgency in improving educational outcomes for students.”
Our Take: We encourage APS to accelerate its work in deploying its tutoring program to advance the Board’s academic priority.
Feedback Period is Open!
Click here for the open policies the APS School Board will be deliberating and voting on. Please make your voice heard!
Feedback on policies currently being considered by the School Board should be sent to engage@apsva.us or click the link provided.
November 9th School Board Meeting Recap
The School Board meeting began with a unanimously approved consent agenda, which included new hires, joining a lawsuit against social media companies, and advisory committee appointments. Dr. Durán also addressed the conflict in Israel, stating that APS was acting strongly against antisemitism and Islamaphobia, and working with teachers on how to discuss the conflict with their students.
Key takeaways include:
Dr. Durán announced APS’ winter weather procedures for this school year: up to 13 snow days, anything beyond triggers distance learning. Closures will be announced when possible by 6pm the day before, and if necessary, by 5am the day-of.
14 Speakers at public comment, with the most common topic being the design of Family Life Education courses.
Revisions to Family Life Education were presented (review by SB is required every 7 years per VA law). Changes include removal of language about “gender-separated classes” and addition of language regarding “long-term relationships” (i.e. other than marriage).
Summer School Report was presented, which included a review of the 2022-23 program as well as planning for the 2023-24 program. Summer school 22-23 experienced lower enrollment and lower attrition than prior years & only 50% of teachers found the curriculum engaging. The 23-24 ES and MS summer programs will focus on engineering project-based learning.
Changes to Middle and High School Program of Studies were presented, which include replacing Reading Grade 6 with Disciplinary Literacy and Structured Literacy, offering intensified classes in 6th grade, and changes to the program of studies for English Learners.
Read the full recap here.
Happening Soon
Monday, November 20, 7-9 PM: Open Office Hours with Mary Kadera. Virtual. Sign up.
Wednesday, November 29, 8 AM: Policy Subcommittee Meeting. Syphax, Suite 260.
Thursday, November 30, 7 PM: School Board Meeting. Sign up to speak. Syphax. Watch live.
Monday, December 4, 5-7 PM: Open Office Hours with Reid Goldstein. Virtual. Sign up.
Don't forget! You can subscribe to APS School Calendars here.
