First Week in Alexandria City elementary school

[Anonymous]

Oh for goodness sakes, just because I didn't have time to come back and immediately respond to posts does not make me a troll.

And I did read the feedback and take the advice offered to give it more time, observe, ask questions. My feelings still remain the same right now. What has been emphasied over and over is raising test scores and ability for those in the lowest levels and how they are going to spend so much effort on that this year. This has been stated several times and the classroom activities seem to support that. My child is above average and the majority of her day is spent on busy work right now. (She received the same worksheet to do two days in a row even though she was able to quickly finish it the first time).

I am realizing those parents with no comparator ie private school or other school system may not really appreciate how inadequate a school might be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am realizing those parents with no comparator ie private school or other school system may not really appreciate how inadequate a school might be.

I have several private school comparators. In my experience, the Alexandria public system is dramatically better than any of the NoVa privates. If you believe the curriculum is not sufficiently challenging for your child, you might want to consider raising the issue with the school and seeking a class-level testing protocol; ACPS will do that on request.

[Anonymous]

The first weeks of school are devoted to a series of assessments. One you may have already heard about is the PALS, designed to evaluate the reading level of each student. Teachers administer these tests, and substitutes must be used for portions of the day while these assessments are going on. Might have been some confusion over worksheets during that period, but if something like that happens, you need to contact the teacher.
The purpose of these assessments is to determine what reading level your child is at. Once they have that information, individual groups of children will be formed. Teachers works with smaller groups within their classrooms, and sometimes teachers also "swap" kids in between classrooms to create these groups. The point is, there is a solid process in place to meet your child at their academic level.
This kind of process has to happen at any school, private or public. It is an especially big process in kindergarten, when every single student is new.

You are correct that there is a great deal of emphasis on raising achievement of lower-performing students. This is an area that needs focus and attention. However, it is incorrect to assume that this is a zero sum game, where a commitment to helping those students means that higher achieving students must automatically suffer as a result. The high achieve students are already getting what they need, so it's a situation of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I have two academically advanced students making their way through ACPS. I am very satisfied with the level of academic challenge they are receiving. They are placed in smaller group with more challenging work, they are pulled out of the classroom to work with volunteers on special advanced work, they participate in book clubs that discuss novels. There are ongoing adjustments made to meet them at the appropriate academic level. None of these accommodations occurred in the first week, or even the first month of school. Please let the process proceed, and communicate questions or concerns you have with your child's teacher. Meeting your child's academic needs will be an ongoing process, with adjustments and re-calibrations. It will not be a one-time "leveling" that occurs in the first month of kindergarten. Also, continue communicating with your child's teacher when you have questions and concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am realizing those parents with no comparator ie private school or other school system may not really appreciate how inadequate a school might be.

I have several private school comparators. In my experience, the Alexandria public system is dramatically better than any of the NoVa privates. If you believe the curriculum is not sufficiently challenging for your child, you might want to consider raising the issue with the school and seeking a class-level testing protocol; ACPS will do that on request.

You should really refrain from opining about education quality if you cannot use words correctly. Comparator is an engineering term and is not correctly used in this context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first weeks of school are devoted to a series of assessments. One you may have already heard about is the PALS, designed to evaluate the reading level of each student. Teachers administer these tests, and substitutes must be used for portions of the day while these assessments are going on. Might have been some confusion over worksheets during that period, but if something like that happens, you need to contact the teacher.
The purpose of these assessments is to determine what reading level your child is at. Once they have that information, individual groups of children will be formed. Teachers works with smaller groups within their classrooms, and sometimes teachers also "swap" kids in between classrooms to create these groups. The point is, there is a solid process in place to meet your child at their academic level.
This kind of process has to happen at any school, private or public. It is an especially big process in kindergarten, when every single student is new.

You are correct that there is a great deal of emphasis on raising achievement of lower-performing students. This is an area that needs focus and attention. However, it is incorrect to assume that this is a zero sum game, where a commitment to helping those students means that higher achieving students must automatically suffer as a result. The high achieve students are already getting what they need, so it's a situation of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I have two academically advanced students making their way through ACPS. I am very satisfied with the level of academic challenge they are receiving. They are placed in smaller group with more challenging work, they are pulled out of the classroom to work with volunteers on special advanced work, they participate in book clubs that discuss novels. There are ongoing adjustments made to meet them at the appropriate academic level. None of these accommodations occurred in the first week, or even the first month of school. Please let the process proceed, and communicate questions or concerns you have with your child's teacher. Meeting your child's academic needs will be an ongoing process, with adjustments and re-calibrations. It will not be a one-time "leveling" that occurs in the first month of kindergarten. Also, continue communicating with your child's teacher when you have questions and concerns.

Thanks this is helpful information about the testing etc that is going on. I wouldn't put my child in the "academically advanced" category. She works above average for her grade level but she is not grade levels ahead so I fear that she is exactly the kind of the child that ends up just getting moved along year to year with no challenge.

[Anonymous]

PP you just responded to. My reference to academically advanced was not meant to suggest that only those kids get challenged. Differentiation is the fancy education term for creating multiple levels of challenge in a classroom. In my experience, there have been 4-6 reading groups in a single classroom, with movement within those groups as needed. The goal is for EACH group to be challenged appropriately, based on wherever they are at. If you sense after you've been in school for a bit that your daughter is bored, you can discuss that with your teacher. The beauty of the the timing of the parent teacher conferences is that it occurs shortly after the first half of the first quarter, when the teacher has had a chance to get a good sense of your child, and you've had a chance to see how your child is reacting to their assignments. It's an ideal time to have a discussion with the teacher if you think your kid could use some more challenging activities. You don't have to wait until the parent teacher conference, of course, if you want to speak with your child's teacher, but you will probably have a more productive discussion if your child has been in school for at least a month.

[Anonymous]

what school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh for goodness sakes, just because I didn't have time to come back and immediately respond to posts does not make me a troll.

And I did read the feedback and take the advice offered to give it more time, observe, ask questions. My feelings still remain the same right now. What has been emphasied over and over is raising test scores and ability for those in the lowest levels and how they are going to spend so much effort on that this year. This has been stated several times and the classroom activities seem to support that. My child is above average and the majority of her day is spent on busy work right now. (She received the same worksheet to do two days in a row even though she was able to quickly finish it the first time).

I am realizing those parents with no comparator ie private school or other school system may not really appreciate how inadequate a school might be.

Can't you say this about every school?

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm making sure there's a place in Ashburn just for you. Your past as a DCUM can be forgotten and you can vote Republican and complain about the poors to all your new friends. I won't tell a soul; it'll just be between you and me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP you just responded to. My reference to academically advanced was not meant to suggest that only those kids get challenged. Differentiation is the fancy education term for creating multiple levels of challenge in a classroom. In my experience, there have been 4-6 reading groups in a single classroom, with movement within those groups as needed. The goal is for EACH group to be challenged appropriately, based on wherever they are at. If you sense after you've been in school for a bit that your daughter is bored, you can discuss that with your teacher. The beauty of the the timing of the parent teacher conferences is that it occurs shortly after the first half of the first quarter, when the teacher has had a chance to get a good sense of your child, and you've had a chance to see how your child is reacting to their assignments. It's an ideal time to have a discussion with the teacher if you think your kid could use some more challenging activities. You don't have to wait until the parent teacher conference, of course, if you want to speak with your child's teacher, but you will probably have a more productive discussion if your child has been in school for at least a month.

Op here - Thanks - again very helpful. I appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

So does "troll" mean someone who is just putting an inflammatory thought out there to be controversial and get people posting? I ask in all seriousness, no sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

OP: My child had a very similar experience thru 2nd grade; we went private, are thrilled, and never looked back. It is a world of difference and kid is thriving - and I work full-time in order to pay tuition. Alexandria Public Schools work for many, but IMHO the children that that system is least likely to work for is the 'above-average-but-not-gifted' group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: My child had a very similar experience thru 2nd grade; we went private, are thrilled, and never looked back. It is a world of difference and kid is thriving - and I work full-time in order to pay tuition. Alexandria Public Schools work for many, but IMHO the children that that system is least likely to work for is the 'above-average-but-not-gifted' group.

I thought all schools wait until third grade to test for gifted and talented. You suggest acps differentiates k-2 students. How do they treat gifted kindergartners differently than above average but not gifted kindergartners?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: My child had a very similar experience thru 2nd grade; we went private, are thrilled, and never looked back. It is a world of difference and kid is thriving - and I work full-time in order to pay tuition. Alexandria Public Schools work for many, but IMHO the children that that system is least likely to work for is the 'above-average-but-not-gifted' group.

I thought all schools wait until third grade to test for gifted and talented. You suggest acps differentiates k-2 students. How do they treat gifted kindergartners differently than above average but not gifted kindergartners?

The test is administered in 2nd grade. It's intended to capture kids whose parents might not naturally advocate for their children.

Differentiation occurs in K-2 within the classroom as teachers decide which kids can read at what abilities, etc.

There's also TAG and teachers or parents can refer. It's rather political, kind of like AAP light with the nonsense. Which is one reason they went to universal testing. Only 98th percentile on the test get in from that, though.

[Anonymous]

For the purposes of this discussion, can someone please define "gifted"? I've met many smart and very smart kids (my own included) but very few who are truly "gifted" as I understand the term. I didn't grow up in the US so my ideas about many things academic are a bit off.