APE and tech (APS)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s significant that APE and AEA are in agreement with this. I support it as well as APS staff/parent

I don't take educational "recommendations" from a lobbying group that twists the "science" to fit its agenda. No thanks.

+1

I don’t trust stealth Republicans no matter what they might say to embed themselves in the community.

So is the head of the teachers' union a "stealth republican" then? Truly, there is no limit to APE's insidious, corrupting influence!

The issue isn’t that they think iPads in k-2 are bad; everyone agrees that they’re not ideal. The issue is that they are shifting the conversation to it. I agree that K-2 shouldn’t spend much time on iPads, but given they don’t actually spend a lot of time on them (and they need them for state testing), it’s a low-priority “issue”. There are many more important issues they should be addressing.

Their goal is to scream about APS and pretend like they’re building community consensus. They don’t actually address the hard issues.

Huh? Did you read the article? APE brought it up at March budget meeting as a way to save money. 1:1 devices in K-2 is something that could be cut that wouldn't hurt K-2 education while making room in the APS budget. As far as I know addressing the budget is a super important issue right now.

I'm not an APE supporter, but rejecting this proposal because it is also supported by APE is stupid.

So they’re arguing over a tiny amount vs addressing a huge cut in the budget by Youngkin.

It’s a distraction.

They have talked about. And told people to email about it. Besides the General
Assembly rejected the Youngkin budget and passed on with higher funding.

But not recouping the full cut.

Which newsletter? I scanned through all in 2024 and don’t remember seeing that.

And they want parents to email him? It’s a lobbyist org who only wants to “lobby” when it’s APS, not their buddy Youngkin.

Link to it or it didnt happen. And where is APE's own lobbying of Youngkin?

https://www.arlingtonparentsforeducation.org/newsletter-2024/march-12-2024-newsletter

ZERO mention of Youngkin here.

No letter to Youngkin, just the GA representatives.

No encouraging parents to write him.

An anti-equity RWNJ political rant that isn’t based on facts.


Why is this lobbying group not actually lobbying for our kids? The only thing they seem cabanas of doing is beetching about APS.

[Anonymous]

Ah another day. Another dcum thread going off the rails by people who are tired of talking about APE who keep talking about APE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah another day. Another dcum thread going off the rails by people who are tired of talking about APE who keep talking about APE.

Will APE stop talking on behalf of the rest of us parents then who don't agree with your priorities?

I'll stop when that happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah another day. Another dcum thread going off the rails by people who are tired of talking about APE who keep talking about APE.

This thread is literally called "APE and tech (APS)." I mean, isn't that the topic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s significant that APE and AEA are in agreement with this. I support it as well as APS staff/parent

I don't take educational "recommendations" from a lobbying group that twists the "science" to fit its agenda. No thanks.

+1

I don’t trust stealth Republicans no matter what they might say to embed themselves in the community.

So is the head of the teachers' union a "stealth republican" then? Truly, there is no limit to APE's insidious, corrupting influence!

The issue isn’t that they think iPads in k-2 are bad; everyone agrees that they’re not ideal. The issue is that they are shifting the conversation to it. I agree that K-2 shouldn’t spend much time on iPads, but given they don’t actually spend a lot of time on them (and they need them for state testing), it’s a low-priority “issue”. There are many more important issues they should be addressing.

Their goal is to scream about APS and pretend like they’re building community consensus. They don’t actually address the hard issues.

Huh? Did you read the article? APE brought it up at March budget meeting as a way to save money. 1:1 devices in K-2 is something that could be cut that wouldn't hurt K-2 education while making room in the APS budget. As far as I know addressing the budget is a super important issue right now.

I'm not an APE supporter, but rejecting this proposal because it is also supported by APE is stupid.

So they’re arguing over a tiny amount vs addressing a huge cut in the budget by Youngkin.

It’s a distraction.

They have talked about. And told people to email about it. Besides the General
Assembly rejected the Youngkin budget and passed on with higher funding.

But not recouping the full cut.

Which newsletter? I scanned through all in 2024 and don’t remember seeing that.

And they want parents to email him? It’s a lobbyist org who only wants to “lobby” when it’s APS, not their buddy Youngkin.

Link to it or it didnt happen. And where is APE's own lobbying of Youngkin?

https://www.arlingtonparentsforeducation.org/newsletter-2024/march-12-2024-newsletter

ZERO mention of Youngkin here.

No letter to Youngkin, just the GA representatives.

No encouraging parents to write him.

An anti-equity RWNJ political rant that isn’t based on facts.


Why is this lobbying group not actually lobbying for our kids? The only thing they seem cabanas of doing is beetching about APS.

APE's leadership actually congratulated Youngkin when he won. The guy who wants to defund public schools into "Lab" and charter schools. Not to mention private school vouchers. I saw the letter when it came out. I bet it's still on my computer.

Every single DCUM thread reflect their dysfunction. They want the chaos. They just do it anon here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah another day. Another dcum thread going off the rails by people who are tired of talking about APE who keep talking about APE.

Will APE stop talking on behalf of the rest of us parents then who don't agree with your priorities?

I'll stop when that happens.

+1

They are not advocating for the kids. They're just trying to push their own agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this forum is just APE members arguing with each other. And like maybe a person or two who sees them for who they are.

iPads are not a big deal. My kid has one, and it has not corrupted him or disadvantaged his education. His teacher uses it in the classroom so that she can focus on small group education for a small percentage of the day.

We can't talk about anything else that's truly wrong with APS because APE takes up all of the air. Just stop listening to them. Done.

This is sort of this TechEd fantasy that hasn't really panned out. Often the rest of the kids are watching youtube. If they are doing Lexia, they can just tap on answers until they get enough right to go to the next level. The behavior problems in schools are pretty bad due to no-fail and inclusion policies (which are good in theory but often poorly implemented), so even kids who do want to work are often distracted by kids who don't. And this doesn't even address the issue of kids over-using devices at home because they tell their parents they need them for homework. Which they often do!

Studies have shown that large group instruction is generally more efficient than small group instruction because kids rarely work independently when the teacher's focus is completely elsewhere. Test scores have consistently gone down in the US, despite billions of dollars spent on tech. And we know that screens have detrimental impacts. There is no evidence that the benefits of individual devices outweigh the costs. I have no strong feelings one way or another about APE but I am dismayed that people don't seem to realize how bad individual devices in schools are.

Signed,

A teacher

[Anonymous]

If you are truly an APS teacher, you wouldn’t be anonymously commenting in a cesspool space. This like everything else posted here sounds like APE talking points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this forum is just APE members arguing with each other. And like maybe a person or two who sees them for who they are.

iPads are not a big deal. My kid has one, and it has not corrupted him or disadvantaged his education. His teacher uses it in the classroom so that she can focus on small group education for a small percentage of the day.

We can't talk about anything else that's truly wrong with APS because APE takes up all of the air. Just stop listening to them. Done.

This is sort of this TechEd fantasy that hasn't really panned out. Often the rest of the kids are watching youtube. If they are doing Lexia, they can just tap on answers until they get enough right to go to the next level. The behavior problems in schools are pretty bad due to no-fail and inclusion policies (which are good in theory but often poorly implemented), so even kids who do want to work are often distracted by kids who don't. And this doesn't even address the issue of kids over-using devices at home because they tell their parents they need them for homework. Which they often do!

Studies have shown that large group instruction is generally more efficient than small group instruction because kids rarely work independently when the teacher's focus is completely elsewhere. Test scores have consistently gone down in the US, despite billions of dollars spent on tech. And we know that screens have detrimental impacts. There is no evidence that the benefits of individual devices outweigh the costs. I have no strong feelings one way or another about APE but I am dismayed that people don't seem to realize how bad individual devices in schools are.

Signed,

A teacher

+1-another teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this forum is just APE members arguing with each other. And like maybe a person or two who sees them for who they are.

iPads are not a big deal. My kid has one, and it has not corrupted him or disadvantaged his education. His teacher uses it in the classroom so that she can focus on small group education for a small percentage of the day.

We can't talk about anything else that's truly wrong with APS because APE takes up all of the air. Just stop listening to them. Done.

This is sort of this TechEd fantasy that hasn't really panned out. Often the rest of the kids are watching youtube. If they are doing Lexia, they can just tap on answers until they get enough right to go to the next level. The behavior problems in schools are pretty bad due to no-fail and inclusion policies (which are good in theory but often poorly implemented), so even kids who do want to work are often distracted by kids who don't. And this doesn't even address the issue of kids over-using devices at home because they tell their parents they need them for homework. Which they often do!

Studies have shown that large group instruction is generally more efficient than small group instruction because kids rarely work independently when the teacher's focus is completely elsewhere. Test scores have consistently gone down in the US, despite billions of dollars spent on tech. And we know that screens have detrimental impacts. There is no evidence that the benefits of individual devices outweigh the costs. I have no strong feelings one way or another about APE but I am dismayed that people don't seem to realize how bad individual devices in schools are.

Signed,

A teacher

+1-another teacher

+1 - and another one
and of course we would comment here… It’s anonymous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are truly an APS teacher, you wouldn’t be anonymously commenting in a cesspool space. This like everything else posted here sounds like APE talking points.

Look at how people react here to anything that seems to agree with APE. If I commented publicly I have no doubt someone would come for my job.

[Anonymous]

This teacher disagrees vehemently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This teacher disagrees vehemently.

What grade level do you teach?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the other "teachers" here should tell us what level they "teach" too!

[Anonymous]

DP and not a teacher. AEA is quoted in the article as in agreement with this recommendation.