February 28, 2024 Newsletter
In This Edition
1. Parent's Corner: Large Class Sizes Dysregulate Kids
4. Make Your Voice Heard: Open Policies at APS
5. What We're Reading
6. February 22nd School Board Meeting Recap
7. Happening Soon
Parent's Corner: Large Classes Dysregulate Kids, Stop Making This Unforced Error
(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.)
My elementary-age son has some sensory processing differences which he works through in occupational therapy (OT), an experience which has taught us both so much. What I wish people understood, especially APS administrators, is that a significant amount of challenging classroom behavior, like emotional overreactions and hyperactivity, have sensory processing roots. Although most people will not require OT, everyone has different sensory processing tolerances and tendencies. In fact, our natural strengths and weaknesses often boil down to what input we are better or worse at processing. Even typical children will display challenging behavior at school that's rooted in sensory overwhelm. And when a child is overwhelmed on a sensory level, they lose some of their ability to regulate and maintain self-control (this happens to adults too!).
I say this because classrooms can be overwhelming experiences for children, not only for kids with special needs but also for typical children. In fact, where that line fallsābetween having a āspecial needā or notāis often dictated by just how stimulating the environment is. But do you know the number one factor that determines how stimulating a classroom is? How many children are in the class. I canāt tell you how many conversations Iāve had with other parents of sensitive children like my son where their absolute top priority is that their childās classroom is no more than X number of children. Thatās because we know our childrenās thresholds, we know the point at which they will be so busy trying to process all the input around them that they will no longer be able to engage with the teacher, no longer able to make progress on a project, no longer able to have positive peer interactions.
There are many kids like my son, whose processing sensitivities or differences are undetectable in some environments or can land them on the side of having āspecial needsā in busy environments. It's extremely stressful as a parent of one of these children to feel like every school year could go in a wildly different direction: you could be called literally every week, with administrators involved, and your child internalizing that he's āa bad kidā. Or you could just get a smaller class and he'll have a totally run-of-the-mill year with lots of growth. Families of these kids are stuck between a rock and hard place, wondering if they should home-school or go broke on private school they are so convinced their child will be unable to succeed in a large classroom. A friend of mine is currently considering moving to another APS zone sheās heard has smaller classes. The struggle is real!
Smaller classes donāt just allow teachers to spend more time with each child, but they can be the difference between a child functioning or shutting down (or, more accurately, acting out) from the moment they enter the class, regardless of how much teacher attention they receive. And of course, a dysregulated child means a disrupted learning environment for everyone. But with lower class sizes this negative āsnowball effectā can be shifted in a positive direction: with fewer students, sensitive children will be able to function, typical children will get overwhelmed less frequently, learning will be less interrupted, and teachers will spend less time managing the behavior of a few and more time teaching everyone. Itās a win-win-win.
Please, APS, help me help you. From the parent of a potentially-disruptive child, please save everyone these headachesāand heartachesāand prioritize smaller class sizes. It will benefit us all. As the saying goes, āone ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cureā.
What Weāre Listening To and Reading
Va. lawmakers consider sweeping changes to special education (Virginia Mercury)
Two Virginia lawmakers [including Arlington State Senator Barbara Favola)] are proposing sweeping measures to improve the stateās provision of special education services as criticisms from parents and the federal government over Virginiaās compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act continueā¦[T]he proposals would create a statewide system to oversee the development and use of individualized education programs (IEPs) for students with special needs, require more training for educators about how to provide inclusive special education instruction, set up eight regional āspecial education parent support centersā and provide additional specialists to divisions.
Reading Supports Abound in Schools, But Effective Math Help Much Harder to Find (The74)
Recent national and international tests have revealed unprecedented declines in student math scores brought on, in part, by the pandemicā¦But some teachers say the current science of reading movement, whose phonics-focused method of instruction swept through classrooms, has dominated discussions of student improvementā¦āIn the early grades, the dominant focus for intervention is on reading. Thereās a general belief that reading is more important than math,ā said Lynn Fuchs, professor emerita of special education, psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University. āBut in todayās workplace and everyday life, to be successful in terms of your occupation, your earnings are going to be greater if you not only read well, but are also proficient in math.ā
Wrong Ideas about Teacher Pay, Happiness May Keep Students from the Profession (The74)
Teachers generally like teaching. They stay in their chosen profession about as long as accountants or social workers stay in theirsā¦The Get the Facts Out campaignā¦found that many young people who decide not to pursue teaching give low pay as the main reason. But when the Get the Facts Out team followed up and asked what salary would make them reconsider, the students gave numbers that were in line with current teacher compensationā¦It turns out that students desired salaries very similar to what teachers actually earned; their misperceptions about pay were turning them away from the classroom.
āEncodingā Explained: What It Is and Why Itās Essential to Literacy (EdWeek)
āEncoding and decoding go hand in hand; theyāre like two sides of a coin,ā said Crystal Whitman, an instructional coach at Rosman Elementary School in North Carolinaās Transylvania County. āOur hands have been heavier on the decoding side, so we have some weak spellers, weak writers.āā¦[E]ncoding is often underrepresented in early literacy instruction, even in programs that claim to be steeped in evidence-based practices.ā¦āYou canāt separate the different strategies of language,ā said Murdoch, an assistant dean and associate professor in the School of Education at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati.
In the Battle over Early Algebra, Parents are Winning (WSJ)
San Franciscoās public school district set off a years long fight with parents when it decided to prevent students from taking algebra until high school, an attempt to combat racial inequities in math by waiting until more students were readyā¦A study by Stanford University researchers released in March 2023 found that San Franciscoās policy largely failed in its equity goals, with the proportion of Black and Latino students enrolling in Advanced Placement math courses hardly movingā¦[In January], officials posted a proposal that will go before the school board later this month. It lays out a path to return algebra to all middle schools by 2026-27, with pilot programs and online and summer options until then.
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February 22nd School Board Meeting Recap
The School Board Chair Cristina Diaz-Torres opened the meeting, recognizing Black History Month, and students from Charles Drew Elementary sang the Black National Anthem. Highlights from the meeting include:
The Board announced Dr. DurƔn received the 2024 Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award from the American Association of School Administrators
Slideshow Presentation on the English learner (EL) program in elementary schools.
FY 2025 Budget timeline:
February 29: Superintendentās Proposed FY 2025 Budget
March 14: Public Hearing on the Superintendentās Proposed Budget
March 19: Budget Work Sessions #1 ā 4
March 22: County Board/School Board Joint Budget Work Session
April 11: School Boardās Proposed FY 2025 Budget
April 23: Public hearing on the School Boardās Proposed Budget
May 9: School Boardās Adopted FY 2025 Budget
Public comment:
Three teachers spoke: one on the need for the new copiers at schools to have the hole-punch function, another on how important it is to provide COLA and raises for staff like bus drivers despite the tough budget season, and another regarding how her request for a chair was denied (which she needs for health reasons).
Science monitoring report was presented by Dr. Dat Le.
Read the full summary of the meeting here.
Happening Soon
Tuesday, February 27, 3:00 PM, County Board Recessed Meeting - Fiscal Year 2025 Proposed Budget-Requests to Advertise. Watch live.
Tuesday, February 27, 6-8 pm, Office Hours with School Board Member Cristina Diaz-Torres. Virtual.Sign up.
Thursday, February 29, 7-9 pm, Superintendentās Proposed FY 2025 Budget Presentation. Syphax. Watch live.
Thursday, March 7, 7:00 pm School Board Meeting. Sign up to speak. Syphax. Watch live.
Monday, March 11, 5-7 pm, Office Hours with School Board Member David Priddy. Virtual. Sign up.
Wednesday, March 13, 7:00 pm APE School Board Candidate Forum. Stay tuned for more details!
Don't forget! You can subscribe to APS School Calendars here.
