APS Duran School Performance Email - Is Long Branch a Failing School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its hard to see that EVERY single North Arlington elementary schools are distinguished. Its a hard fact of life.

Agreed! But close to 1/3 of all APS elementary schools Needs Intensive Support? We're not even close to talking about Distinguished. Is it too much to ask that a school like Long Branch is On Track?

To ask is to seek answers to what the real difference is between a Taylor and a Long Branch. Why the disparate findings?

[Anonymous]

What is off track- trending down? Overall APS should be concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at another school that is on the list and IMO it’s justified. I am neither a fan or huge critic of Duran though I feel he is partially responsible for some of what is happening. When I talk to friends across the county they have similar concerns. The way we are educating special education students and ELs is not supportive in many cases. At the same time there have been huge cultural shifts in parenting that are impacting achievement.

Would love to hear more about cultural shifts in parenting as I think that could be understated factor. I have some ideas, but not sure if they are the same as how you are seeing it from your vantage point.

Over the past decade (and really since COVID hit it feels like parents are more likely to fall into 2 categories: completely checked out or combative and that. There are also more parents who really struggle with literacy and English Language

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its hard to see that EVERY single North Arlington elementary schools are distinguished. Its a hard fact of life.

Agreed! But close to 1/3 of all APS elementary schools Needs Intensive Support? We're not even close to talking about Distinguished. Is it too much to ask that a school like Long Branch is On Track?

I mean, 15 of 25 Arlington elementary schools were On Track or better, compared to 2 of 12 Alexandria ones. It’s all just a matter of perspective.

[Anonymous]

We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

[Anonymous]

The scores and labels are not perfectly aligned — some off-track schools are actually above the threshold but still labeled that way because one subgroup is falling behind more than others. It’s quite difficult to determine how these labels are generated and to fully understand the process unless you dedicate significant time to it. I don’t think this assessment system is particularly informative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

But couldn't you make the case that this new standards system that results in more schools being "off track" or "needs intensive support" would cause these schools to be eligible for more funding? And - apologies for introducing politics into this, but I wouldn't think a Republican governor/administration would be in favor of more schools qualifying for educational assistance from the government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

Except it doesn’t? Almost 70% of APS schools are on track or better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

I'm a Democrat but the Republicans were not in charge when APS closed for a ridiculously long time during COVID, which did more to undermine public schools than anything Youngkin did.

[Anonymous]

I’m too tired to do this now, but I hope someone will explain subgroup size, the subgroup reporting requirements, and how that skews the data in — if I may say so — stupid systems like this.

[Anonymous]

A whole bunch of schools are now apparently failing. Will the VDOE actually give supports and funding to these schools to bring their scores up or is it an unfunded mandate that APS is just supposed to figure out?

Or is this just a way to point fingers so that Virginia goes the charter school and voucher route leaving the most vulnerable kids with even less funding in their public schools?

[Anonymous]

The middle schools are reasonably tightly clustered, as are the high schools. Some differences, but none of the schools are failing (excluding Arlington Community High, which should really be evaluated differently, IMO).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this would happen when Youngkin’s board of ed proposed the new standards a year or so ago. They knew then how many and which schools would be labeled “off track” and “needs intensive support.” They’re new labels applied to the same test scores that used to be considered okay. It’s all part of the relentless attack on public schools to argue for vouchers and a two-tiered system.

The governor's office will be blue come January. Hopefully this assessment will be used to support those schools and isn't just thrown out because it was ordered by Youngkin. If there are schools in need of intensive supports, they should be provided. If there are schools off track, that should be fixed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The middle schools are reasonably tightly clustered, as are the high schools. Some differences, but none of the schools are failing (excluding Arlington Community High, which should really be evaluated differently, IMO).

But if so many elementary schools are falling behind and not preparing the students for the next level. how will the middle school and high school assessment numbers look 3-6 years from now?