June 25, 2024 Newsletter
In This Edition:
1. Community Support for Away For The Day Policy
2. APS Proposes Removing 2 More Days of School Next Year
3. School Board Approves CIP in Split 3-2 Vote
4. Grading for Equity (GFE) Comes Under Tough Scrutiny
5. APS Plans Pilot of Read With Me Literacy Program
6. Summer Reading Program Supports Outdoor Lab
7. Make Your Voice Heard: Open Policies
8. Happening Soon
Community Support for Away For The Day Policy
There was strong community and teacher support for the immediate adoption of an Away For The Day policy for personal devices at the APS School Board meeting on Thursday evening, June 20th. Remarks emphasized the need to treat this issue with urgency, after Board Member Zecher Sutton mentioned prior to speaker commentâin a rare moment of addressing speakers presentâthat the goal was to release a policy by the end of 2024. Many speakers, however, urged the School Board to take action this summer to have a policy in place by the beginning of school in August.
Our Take: We need urgent action to address mental health and achievement gaps. Removing cell phones district-wide in a consistent manner effective August 26,2024, is the fastest and most cost-effective solution to addressing these two big challenges our students face. We know there are concernsâthatâs why we address them here. And listen to our recent remarks at the school board meeting.
What You Can Do: Let the school board know you support an Away For The Day policy starting Day 1 of the upcoming school year. Write an email using this template to advocate for a faster implementation timeline.
APS Proposes Removing Two More Days of School for Science of Reading Training
The Issue: APSâ Office of Academics is proposing removing two instructional days from next school yearâs calendar to meet Virginia Literacy Act Professional Learning requirements. APE strongly supports the VLA and efforts to ensure that every teacher is prepared to teach the Science of Reading (SOR), however, we are concerned that APS has not proposed other options to continue providing at least 180 instructional days as mandated in APS policy, while also providing teachers paid time for mandatory training.
FCPS recently announced that to meet these same VDOE SOR PL requirements, they are adding 7 early release days (3 fewer than APS) while also adding childcare for families that need it AND high-dosage tutoring for students that need it, including tutoring from licensed central office staff.
Background: Only one year ago, APS promised its community at least 180 days of instructional time. Since then, APS has added more early release days that reduce instructional time next year. At the time of the calendar adoption, School Board members spoke in support of finding more options to support families on non-instructional and early release days, as many of our neighbors do.
Why It Matters: As APSâs own attendance campaign states, âWhen students attend school regularlyâŠthey have the opportunity to achieve academically and thrive.â APS students are facing historic achievement gaps and mental health struggles - every day in school is a day to learn, build community, and grow. APS has historically provided 181-185 days of school.
Instead of removing days of school, APS could do any of the following
Provide a one-time deferral of other Professional Learning to make time for VDOE SOR training.
Utilize other early release days that are already established (APS has 10 early release days for SY2024-2025, an increase from 6 early release days in SY2023-2024).
Repurpose one of the days already off of school, such as Veteranâs Day or the Friday before Labor day, toward professional development (PD) and include that in teachersâ contract time.
Allow teachers to use floating PD time on the non-instructional religious holidays that they do not personally observe.
What You Can Do: If you would like APS to keep 180 instructional days and find another way to enable educators to complete paid Science of Reading training, please email the School Boardby July 8th, because that is when they plan to vote on this issue.
APS Adopts CIP in Split 3-2 Vote
Last week, the School Board adopted its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) on a 3-2 vote. As previously described in our last enews, the CIP is a 10-year facilities and financial plan for a wide range of infrastructure projects. It essentially requests two new years of bond funding for projects proposed in this CIP with placeholders for the future. As described during Member votes, every new CIP provides the Board the opportunity to assess new information and assumptions made in prior CIPs. This CIP provides the basis for the $84 million bond funding request for the November 5th election and otherwise assumes future bond placeholders of $100 million each for successive CIPs.
The split vote followed significant public comment at the June 11th public hearing on the CIP. Two school board candidates, Kathleen Clark and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley, spoke about the impact of the CIP on the operating budget, lack of alignment to the adopted APS strategic plan, and the need for more equitable allocation of resources. Former School Board Chair Tannia Talento, current and former JFAC chairs, parents, teachers and APE also raised concerns in the public hearing.
Likewise, Board Member Mary Kadera raised important concerns at the June 20th vote (3:15) about new information that was introduced in a late revision to the CIP presentation:
"I am troubled that slides and data hypothesizing the effects of relocating MPSA have been brought forward just tonight, without sufficient advance notice for the board and community to review and ask questions. When two board members, myself included, asked for a study of a very similar, if not identical, alternate scenario last December. The decision not to take the time between then and now, and, instead, put something together at the last minute, does not feel to me careful or transparent"
Why It Matters: APS has significant facility needs. We support a focus on maintaining existing facilities as detailed in APSâ report on the Long-Range Plan to Renovate Existing School Facilities and in the Countyâs guiding CIP principles. At the June 11th hearing, we urged APS to align its CIP with the Countyâs âguiding CIP principles so both bodies can find better solutionsâ for their respective facilities and budget constraints.
Our Take: APE has repeatedly advocated for transparent and data-driven long-term planning and greater collaboration between the County and APS. First, we share Board Member Kaderaâs concern about the addition of last-minute slides during final action on this CIP. An earlier 3-2 vote in December 2023 required APS staff to only consider options for relocating MPSA at the Legacy Career Center, thereby limiting consideration of other scenarios. Second, we are concerned that the adopted CIP does not align with the guiding principles of the County CIP which undermines the collaboration necessary for both APSâ capital budget and operating budget.
"Grading for Equity" Policies Come Under Tough Scrutiny
âGrading for Equityâ initiatives are receiving increased scrutiny from education experts concerned with the lack of evidence basis of its effectiveness and the perception that it has led to grade inflation amid declining test scores. Critics include APS secondary teachers, who are concerned that the program could disguise reductions in learning and accountability. Per the WSJ, âhigher grades have come even as studentsâ test scores and attendance rates have dropped.â
Background: Grading for Equity (or GFE) is the term for a grading system which seeks to implement more equitable grading practices, based on Joe Feldmanâs book âGrading for Equity,â and allows for multiple retakes of tests, reduces or eliminates late penalties for homework, and minimizes homeworkâs weight in a class grade.
Our Take: APE is concerned with the system-wide implementation of a program that appears to lack empirical evidence, particularly when many APS teachers consider the program to be ineffective. Weâre concerned that the new grading system could be both worsening educational outcomes and masking such worse outcomes. APS should solicit broad feedback from teachers, as well as track objective data, all of which should be presented and evaluated at a School Board meeting.
The Timeline:
Spring 2018 - APS begins reviewing grading practices at Gunston Middle School in the 2018-2019 school year.
Fall 2021 - Wakefield teachers send a letter to APS School Board criticizing GFE for its potential negative effects on APS students and existing achievement gaps while APS develops an implementation plan.
âHow do we reconcile these policy changes with our efforts to prepare students for the challenges of their post-secondary school lives--challenges which certainly involve deadlines as well as successful completion of assigned tasks? In reality, students use very little of the factual information that they acquire in high school in their daily lives. However, the habits of mind (acquiring and synthesizing information) and work habits (timely attendance, work completion, positive participation in group activities) make for successful careers.â
March 2022 - APE newsletter informs APS community about impending grading changes known as GFE.
School Year 2022-2023 - APS expands the trial run of GFE (âpilotâ per Gunston website) in certain secondary classrooms.
April 2022 & May 2023 - APE calls for empirical evidence for any grading changes prior to full implementation at APS.
August 2023 - APS implements GFE without public analysis of APS trial run data.
August 2023 - Crescendo Education Group offers a public forum or a webinar with the founder on GFE in APS, but then the founder backs out.
October 2023 - APS parent, on behalf of APE, discusses on national news the lack of evidence for GFE and APSâ implementation of GFE prior to receiving any trial-run data.
October 2023 - The New York Times runs articles (here and here) discussing the lack of evidence basis behind certain GFE policies and how GFE policies may be leading to greater grade inflation, chronic absenteeism and teacher turnover.
January 2024 - APS partially rolls back GFEâs test retake policy after one semester because of complaints from teachers and an excessive amount of retakes by students.
February 2024 - Education think tank, the Fordham Institute, releases a large report critical of GFE, titled âThink Again: Does âequitableâ grading benefit students?â
April 2024 - APSâ implementation and subsequent âbacktrackedâ changes to the policy are discussed in a nation-wide article.
April 2024 - EdWeek interviews Feldman to provide an opportunity to respond to the Fordham report in which he alleges certain aspects of the Fordham report are misleading.
May 2024 - Fordham researchers respond in EdWeek to Feldmanâs accusations:
âThe research base on which Feldmanâs work rests is thin. As far as we can tell, his assertion that his program âdecreases both grade inflation and grade deflationâ relies on a single analysis that his company conducted internally for use in its marketing materials.â
May 2024 - APS is in the news again. A Wall Street Journal article examines GFEâs rise in grade inflation, despite declining test scores and attendance. Notably, an APS high school teacher stated that GFE âhas led students to procrastinate on assignmentsâŠand teachers to cut back on course content because they have to return to certain topics. The result is higher grades but less learningâŠâI canât hold students accountableâŠThen they graduate high school not really having learned certain things.ââ
May 2024 - APS Student Advisory Board members criticize changes to the test retake policy, implying GFE creates a high-stakes testing environment.
APS Plans Pilot Program of Read With Me Volunteer Literacy Program
Kudos to APS! We are so happy to hear that APS' English Language Arts department is planning to pilot a volunteer elementary school-based literacy program called Read With Me at three APS elementary schools this fall. Read With Me was started in 2004 in the Coachella Valley, CA, as a one-on-one program where students read to adult volunteers twice a week. The program has driven dramatic (50%) increases in literacy among elementary school participants in the program. We are so happy that APS reviewed the strong, supportive data and decided to move forwardâa step we believe will greatly benefit English Language Learners and other struggling readers at APS.
Our Take: This is a fantastic opportunity to remediate learning loss and improve APS literacy achievement by tapping into community members who want to give back. We look forward to learning more about the pilot, which is slated to be implemented at Fleet, Tuckahoe and MPSA this coming fall.
What You Can Do: APS is seeking volunteers for this program. You can learn more about volunteering in APS and/or encourage other community members to apply!
Arlington's Summer Reading Program Supports the Outdoor Lab
Arlington Public Library launched its annual summer reading program on June 1st, but readers can register all the way through September 1st. This yearâs program supports the Outdoor Laband will donate one dollar for every reader who completes the challenge. We welcome the Libraryâs continued support for Arlington students, including the recently launched Reading Buddies program, the new teen space at various locations, and now this support of the Outdoor Lab, which is an Arlington treasure that generations of APS students have enjoyed.
Happening Soon
Wednesday, June 26, 7pm, APE Exchange discussion of Screen Schooled, meeting room on first floor of Central Library.
Friday, June 28, 8am, Audit Committee Meeting. Syphax, Suite 260.
Monday, July 8, 7pm, School Board Organizational Meeting. Syphax. Watch live.
Thursday, July 18, 7pm, School Board Meeting. Sign up to speak. Syphax. Watch live.
Don't forget! You can subscribe to APS School Calendars here.
