eNews: February 21, 2023
In This Issue:
1. Hello, Again!
2. APS: Student Progress Dashboard Needs Your Focus
3. Join an APS Advisory Committee
4. Parent's Corner: Inappropriate Elementary School Device Access
5. What We're Reading
6. 2/16 School Board Recap
7. Happening Soon
Hello, Again!
As our advocacy grows, we want to take a minute to introduce ourselves to new subscribers and share what we do and why.
Fast facts about APE:
We are a bipartisan, grassroots group of parents, teachers and community members with a common goal: a better APS.
We advocate on a wide range of issues from smaller class sizes to higher teacher pay, learning loss recovery, more instructional days, evidence-based device and curriculum usage, improved budget priorities…and much more!
Our 100% volunteer team produces high-quality, original content for YOU. From our Newsletter, which includes bi-monthly school board meeting recaps, to in-depth reporting and analysis in APE Reports and the APE Think Tank - we are writing about the issues that matter.
Our Why:
All APS students deserve a dynamic and engaging public school environment where they are challenged educationally through excellent, equitable and effective instruction and high expectations. Our APS teachers deserve smaller class sizes, in-school supports and priority in the budget for their compensation and benefits. And our community deserves transparency and accountability from our school leaders and our elected school board members when it comes to decision-making and community engagement.
Learn more by exploring our website and follow us on Twitter. Join our Facebook forum to meet other Arlington parents and post your own questions. Have questions about funding? See our FAQ.
APS: Student Progress Dashboard Needs Your Focus
In 2022, APS created a Student Progress Dashboard - a step towards transparency that we applaud. However, over the past year, APS has not yet developed a metric to measure student academic growth in its strategic plan and will not do so until this summer (2023). The Board has not publicly asked APS why it is taking upwards of a year to develop these critical metrics.
Why It Matters:
The Dashboard data shows we need more focus on academics in Board and school administration meetings and work sessions; last year the Board allocated only 8% of its time to addressing academic issues in its general school board meetings. Showing the data is only useful if APS and the Board evaluate what that data reveal about APS, and make plans to correct deficiencies and improve overall performance. More public discussion at the Board level is needed to address how to improve student performance on standardized tests and other measures of academic performance. If detailed goals are not set, benchmarks will not be applied to student performance. When the Board fails to focus on academic achievement, it sends a message to the entire community about APS’ priorities.
Join a School Board Advisory Committee
If you are interested in helping provide community input on a wide range of issues and recommendations related to policies, academic instruction, and operations of the school division at APS, please apply to join. Apply here.
Advisory Committees cover several topics that may interest you! For example, the APS Office of EdTech is also looking for members for one of the Advisory Council for Teaching & Learning (ACTL) Subcommittees that focuses on Educational Technology. If you are interested in helping shape the future of Educational Technology in APS, please apply to join this committee by selecting the “Educational Technology Advisory Committee.”
Parent's Corner: Inappropriate Elementary School Device Access
(Editor's Note: From time to time, we will offer a perspective written by an APS parent or teacher on a topic of concern or interest for APS. What follows has been only lightly edited for clarity. This letter was originally shared on a school-based listserv but the author asked it to be included in our Parent's Corner as well.)
It has come to my attention recently the vast amount of inappropriate APS-issued iPad usage by students. Parents have been informed that there are controls in place blocking inappropriate content, and/or that use is monitored. As we are ALL aware, too much screen time has significant deleterious effects on our developing children’s' brains, and yet more and more screen time is encouraged/mandated (e.g. - 2nd graders must do at least 30 min of Reflex (math app) 3x per week until they reach the green light, 3rd graders must do “so much” Lexia per week, these things are tracked and used as a benchmark).
I became aware of an 11-year-old boy viewing explicit graphic pornography on a school-issued device through an acquaintance of mine. He fought against his mother to get the iPad before she could see what was on it. It was then revealed that he has been viewing this content since December.
This is not new, this was an issue at Oakridge Elementary School last year, and the intervention was to keep all of the devices at school instead of sending them home.
It is very disturbing how much time is spent on devices both in class and at home. These devices should be used as an extension, and only when necessary, not as a primary instruction tool. We are also all aware of the dangers of YouTube, yet YouTube access is unrestricted, as we are told that the benefits outweigh the risks. There are too many anecdotes to count of inappropriate use of YouTube on school devices. Furthermore, it is one thing to use YouTube to be able to do something or teach something that would otherwise be inaccessible, e.g. a virtual trip to the Louvre, or something along those lines, vs routine everyday instruction and lessons.
I asked my 2nd grade son and 4th grade daughter, both of whom are students at APS, if they were aware of any students using school iPads inappropriately. Both of my children immediately said yes, and details followed. My 4th grade daughter told me she was aware of 4th-grade boys looking at naked pictures of girls on their school iPads during extended day. My second-grade son was two seats behind a 5th grader on the bus who was looking at a naked picture of someone defecating, with it zoomed in on the buttocks and anus, and that student was sharing it with another student, all from her school iPad.
This is widespread and happening at all of the schools.
Children are not mature enough to handle constant internet access when bored. Screen time restrictions help prevent random searching because children will be very eager to play specific games.
Some of the current school board members' position on devices and technology in the classroom is very concerning. For example, I recently read that Board Member Diaz-Torres commented on her positive experience watching teachers use technology for both math and reading in classroom settings. She praised the effectiveness of learning on devices after observing a class where students were watching the World Cup on their iPads while simultaneously being taught by a teacher a lesson about the American internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This is too much stimulation for a child's brain, and promotes unhealthy brain development.
Multi-tasking is NOT good for learning.
In February 2020, former School Board Member Nancy Van Doren was concerned and said, “How do we dial back these devices? If that means we need to put a moratorium on the use I’m all for that at this point because I’m actually scared of what we’ve been doing. I think we’ve gone too far. I would really like [the staff] to listen to that research about what we’re doing. I think the technology has overtaken us…has taken over our children. I would be a supporter of pulling that back K to 5…I don’t think giving them unfettered access to devices at the elementary level does them the service that we should be doing this. We need to attend to the actual research that it is getting in the way of kids learning words and how to talk. It is getting in the way of kids looking each other in the eye and talking to adults and learning how to have empathy. We have kids who can’t hand-write. Yet we’re told in research that you learn the material and handwrite to take notes you learn it better than typing…the pendulum needs to swing back…please learn about the negative effects and how to, particularly for the younger children, ratchet it down…leave time for their social and emotional development.”
Unfortunately, COVID arrived, and then the increase of technology has increased. Our children went back to school in person, but they use devices constantly in class.
I think an acceptable immediate intervention is to NO LONGER SEND DEVICES HOME with K-5 students. Some of the APS schools do not send devices home, and this should be the standard for all APS schools. The device and technology usage needs to be reevaluated. Our children are at stake, and it falls on the shoulders of APS and its leadership to do something about this dangerous issue immediately.
What We’re Reading
Soft-on-Consequences Discipline is Terrible for Teachers (Fordham Institute):
“In an open letter to Milwaukee Public Schools, one teacher described how her former feelings of joy and excitement about her job have changed to ‘fear of how my colleagues and I will be abused for yet another day.’ What began as regular instances of students cussing out teachers or acting in deliberate insubordination escalated to a scenario where teachers are just trying to put out ‘bigger fires’ like fights and vandalism.
One dismayingly popular policy that fosters such disorder is the eradication of punitive discipline like suspensions. We have countless case studies—from cities like Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh to entire states like Illinois and California—that demonstrate the necessity of discipline. When policies bar schools from using suspensions and instead make them rely on soft approaches like ‘positive behavior interventions and supports’ (PBIS) or ‘restorative justice,’ then misbehavior, bullying, classroom disruptions, and more severe behavior all flourish.” Read more.
Study of LAUSD confirms benefits of four years of math; Superintendent Alberto Carvalho embraces findings (EdSource)
“‘Some may be approaching senior year math as, “I don’t enjoy math and I will take other things in my senior year”’ said Meredith Phillips, an associate professor of public policy and sociology at UCLA and co-author of the research. ‘I can relate to that. But what the research suggests is that it probably makes sense to take that math class in senior year because it will be helpful in opening doors. Everything else being equal, those students that take more math are more likely to earn a BA if they start at a four-year than if they start at a two-year college.
The students who chose a fourth year of math, Carvalho said, put themselves in 'a more challenging and rigorous environment. The longer-term benefit of resilience and success in college more than pays for the early, very small drop in their high school GPA,' he said." Read more.
Alarming Findings From a New Study on Kids' Screen Time During *and After* School Interruptions (Silent Lunch)
“Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, and Columbia, among other institutions, found that, during the period of December 2020 through April 2021, screen time for kids aged 4 to 12 increased by nearly fifty percent, from 4.4 to 6.6 hours per day, versus pre-pandemic levels...You might be thinking that the increase was only during the height of interrupted schooling, when many kids were in fully remote or hybrid school, or had an otherwise restricted in-person school experience. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. The authors looked at a second period, from May 2021 through August 2021, and the numbers just barely budged downward. In other words, the screen habits that began with the lockdowns persisted even after a semblance of normal schooling and other activities had resumed for most kids.” Read more.
Thousands of Kids are Missing from School: Where did they go? (AP)
“She’d be a senior right now, preparing for graduation in a few months, probably leading her school’s modern dance troupe and taking art classes. Instead, Kailani Taylor-Cribb hasn’t taken a single class in what used to be her high school since the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She vanished from Cambridge, Massachusetts’ public school roll in 2021 and has been, from an administrative standpoint, unaccounted for since then. She is among hundreds of thousands of students around the country who disappeared from public schools during the pandemic and didn’t resume their studies elsewhere.” Read more.
A Leader Who’s Busting Down Barriers to Gifted Education (EdWeek)
“‘There must be some flexibility to ensure we are making appropriate decisions, especially considering historically excluded students who have testing biases stacked against them,’ he said.” Read more.
2/16 School Board Recap
The following are key events from the 2/16 School Board meeting:
Dr. Durán’s proposed budget announcement will be on February 23, 2023.
APS Staff expects $17.7 million in closeout funds for FY 2023.
Community Conversations are planned in February and March on school safety.
An APS teacher commented that “APS is a fantastic place to work...if you are a 12-month employee.” According to the teacher, 12-month employees have 260-day contracts but in 2022-2023 with 31 paid holidays plus accrued leave, and teachers are on 200-day contract and are not paid for holidays or winter or spring break – but twelve-month employees are paid for those days.
There was no discussion on curriculum, learning loss or educational excellence.
Why It Matters: We are glad to see engagement on mental health and the safety of APS staff, students and teachers. The fiscal monitoring report shows APS' spending choices, and how the projected close out will be used reveals APS' priorities. We urge APS and the school board to focus the upcoming budget's priorities and close out spending on hardworking teachers and student outcomes. It is also clear from public comment that it is important to ensure fairness in how twelve-month employees are compensated versus how teachers and other ten-month employees are compensated, and to devote more time to addressing learning loss and academic achievement in its budgetary decisions.
Read the full recap.
See our scorecard for this meeting.
Happening Soon
Wednesday, February 22nd, 7:00 - 9:00 PM: Office Hours with Board Member Mary Kadera. Sign up here.
Wednesday, February 22nd, 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM: APE Meet and Greet, Arlington Rooftop 3rd Floor (Indoor Mezzanine), RSVP here or just show up!
Thursday, February 23rd, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: "Making Healthy Choices" with the Kenmore Community Families in Action, Juntos en Justicia and ASHPA. More information here.
Thursday, February 23rd, 6:30 PM: Budget Work Session #1. Watch here.
Thursday, March 2, 5:30 PM: Committee of the Whole Meeting. Watch here.
Thursday, March 2nd, 7:00 PM: Next School Board Meeting. Sign up to speak. Watch live.
