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

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

Parents have to take time off for a reentry meeting, deal with their kids while they are home. I agree there should be alternate path for kids and their families if they don’t want to be there. Democrats would never allow that though and they run Arlington.

Social Services should get involved in some of these situations. Educational neglect is a real problem.

They barely get involved in severe cases anymore. There’s too much need.

And no one can make the connection how this type of societal decay is impacting schools?

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

Parents have to take time off for a reentry meeting, deal with their kids while they are home. I agree there should be alternate path for kids and their families if they don’t want to be there. Democrats would never allow that though and they run Arlington.

Social Services should get involved in some of these situations. Educational neglect is a real problem.

They barely get involved in severe cases anymore. There’s too much need.

And no one can make the connection how this type of societal decay is impacting schools?

Pretty much everyone does, but there’s nothing we can really do the laws in Virginia actually allow for a lot of what would be considered abuse by most people

[Anonymous]

I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course they are! first they tried to blame Duran -- as if these problems didn't exist before him and in other school districts! - then they moved onto sped kids and their parents. read the whole thread.

I’ve read the whole thread. No one is blaming sped kids. Calm yourself.

yes, yes they are, or maybe you are. you're gaslighting now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

Did you read what the teacher wrote? We need to stop measuring success or proficiency by tests that are not developmentally appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

Did you read what the teacher wrote? We need to stop measuring success or proficiency by tests that are not developmentally appropriate.

I’m a teacher. We need to reduce the tests and separate by ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course they are! first they tried to blame Duran -- as if these problems didn't exist before him and in other school districts! - then they moved onto sped kids and their parents. read the whole thread.

I’ve read the whole thread. No one is blaming sped kids. Calm yourself.

yes, yes they are, or maybe you are. you're gaslighting now.

It’s not the kids fault that adults have decided to put everyone of all levels together so that the class pace either is too fast or too slow for half the kids in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

Did you read what the teacher wrote? We need to stop measuring success or proficiency by tests that are not developmentally appropriate.

Two things can be true. Standardized tests aren’t a great way to measure learning. And not all children are capable of learning at the same depth/speed, regardless of being the same age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

Did you read what the teacher wrote? We need to stop measuring success or proficiency by tests that are not developmentally appropriate.

I’m a teacher. We need to reduce the tests and separate by ability.

AND

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a special education teacher. I work with students in the general education classroom only, I don’t do pull out. One issue is that students who have LDs actually do require more time and reteaching to learn grade-level skills. It’s very hard to do that in Gen Ed because we move quickly in order to cover the ever-growing list of skills required each year. Then, we have to move forward before SWD have had enough time to become proficient. But if we don’t keep going we aren’t even exposing them to all that will be on the SOL. It becomes a cycle that results in them falling behind because if you need more time you aren’t able to cover something else that other students are getting. There is a lot of pressure to keep going and cover all the curriculum for good reason but it’s not best for SWD or even all students on these foundational skills. I don’t have a solution but we are literally trying so hard to get all students to meet these standards. We text on our off time with ideas of different ways to motivate and teach our students in new ways. We are always looking for new insight. But at the end of the day these are 10 year olds and we are relying on them to be motivated by a test that literally means nothing to them and requires developmentally INappropriate levels of attention and care.

We have to become more comfortable separating kids by ability, even if it doesn’t feel good. Everyone working at their pace to MASTERY is much better than 1) forcing struggling learners to move on to the next topic when they haven’t mastered other foundational skills and 2) holding capable kids back to avoid hurt feelings.

Everyone should learn at his or her own pace. There’s no shame in that.

(And I am all for increased funding for higher-needs students. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, etc. Because it’s absolutely true that some of these kids have the capacity to catch up. But making everyone else wait while they do so? Absurd.)

Did you read what the teacher wrote? We need to stop measuring success or proficiency by tests that are not developmentally appropriate.

I’m a teacher. We need to reduce the tests and separate by ability.

I have two children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, & adhd. The entire time I was working with the school, I kept asking for special ed and they kept pushing inclusion. It doesn't work! My kids needed smaller classes in English, for sure and math too. This "inclusion" thing has become a way of not meeting kids' needs just like exclusion used to be.

[Anonymous]

Then what happens when your student is put in special ed setting but starts to fall behind due to slower pacing. Are you okay with that? When is that time going to be made up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then what happens when your student is put in special ed setting but starts to fall behind due to slower pacing. Are you okay with that? When is that time going to be made up?

I’m perfectly okay with that. One of my children is in a sheltered class, and it’s the only class they have an A in. And you know why? These classes go at their pace, not the school systems.

I don’t even care anymore if they don’t pass the SoLs. APS accreditation is their problem, not mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then what happens when your student is put in special ed setting but starts to fall behind due to slower pacing. Are you okay with that? When is that time going to be made up?

PP suggested increased funding and resources for higher-need classrooms. Smaller class sizes, more tutoring, summer school, etc.

But the fact remains, slow forward progress is better than no progress at all. It certainly beats sitting in a classroom and having to move on to the next topic despite not understanding the material that’s already been presented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then what happens when your student is put in special ed setting but starts to fall behind due to slower pacing. Are you okay with that? When is that time going to be made up?

We need more options than Gen Ed and sped. We need high ability, regular ability (or a nicer name for the same idea), sped, intensive English immersion to get kids ready for traditional classrooms.