Hearing Testimony on FCPS Proposed CIP

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't eliminating VGLA also affect elementary schools and middle schools with high ESOL?

From the memo to Division supervisor on July 14, 2017,
"...To comply with these ESSA requirements stated above, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA) Reading assessment will no longer be administered to students after the 2016-2017 school year. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, English Learner (EL) students will be expected to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading assessments."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2017/205-17.shtml

[Anonymous]

I would think so.

[Anonymous]

Assuming 2 semesters in one school year, does that mean that ELs who have been in the school system since kindergarten don't have to take the SOL until 5th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't eliminating VGLA also affect elementary schools and middle schools with high ESOL?

From the memo to Division supervisor on July 14, 2017,
"...To comply with these ESSA requirements stated above, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA) Reading assessment will no longer be administered to students after the 2016-2017 school year. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, English Learner (EL) students will be expected to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading assessments."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2017/205-17.shtml

So it is a federal mandate then that ESOL kids can't take the VGLA? Why would the federal government do this when there were already so many complaints about NCLB? Can we get Trump to remove this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't eliminating VGLA also affect elementary schools and middle schools with high ESOL?

From the memo to Division supervisor on July 14, 2017,
"...To comply with these ESSA requirements stated above, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA) Reading assessment will no longer be administered to students after the 2016-2017 school year. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, English Learner (EL) students will be expected to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading assessments."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2017/205-17.shtml

So it is a federal mandate then that ESOL kids can't take the VGLA? Why would the federal government do this when there were already so many complaints about NCLB? Can we get Trump to remove this?

Jesus. Someone explained this in very clear terms. You are too lazy and motivated to sow discord and be a drama llama. This is. A state decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll try to explain this in general terms. First, the feds told the states, hey, find a test and create some sort of system to determine whether children are learning. There is no federal "pass" standard. There's no rule except that the states must make up the rules and hold all of the schools in their respective states accountable.

The feds said there can be some allowances for ESOL students. It's up to the state to determine what, if any, but they need to develop a standard and apply it consistently across the state.

Virginia as we all know has the SOL. They also developed standards for when and how ESOL students would either be tested or included in a school accountability data. Up until recently, it didn't include certain students and others were allowed to take an alternative portfolio assessment -- the VGLA. That's now over.

That's one side of the story.

On the FCPS side, it had a really good ESOL program for older learners/recent arrivals. It opted to cut this program and essentially offer those students spots at certain schools (Stuart and Lee). The overwhelming majority went to Lee. Many people just opted to drop out all together, which is awful and tragic (we are assholes for not fighting to save the program but that's a whole 'nother thread).

So, Lee got a lot of new low level, older, recent arrival ESOL students (essentially the most difficult to teach because language learning gets more difficult with age). The program runs like a lot of programs that the county provides. For example, SPED has programs in specific schools and out of bounds students are bussed in for example (so let's not get it twisted, it's not controversial or crazy thing to do).

The county saved a few million by cutting instructional salaries by doing this.

Then Virginia decided to change its testing standards in a way that assessment people determine would torpedo Lee. Do they admit defeat? No.

Enter regional IB center.

I hope this makes more sense.

Reading is fundamental

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw the presentation. I believe only one feeder was proposed to go to Annandale. Two, I think were proposed for West Springfield, One was for Edison, and South County and Hayfield also got one, IIRC.

There was shifts from WS to Lake Braddock proposed. Orange Hunt, I think? Maybe Sangster? And there was a shift of one feeder to Robinson from Lake Braddock. White Oaks, I think? There was a mention of moving part of Woodson back to Annandale because it is so under utilized.

There was also a net out from each of these schools proposed. I think each of the five schools (Edison, West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, and Annandale) would be allocated 100 seats at the proposed center. The working assumption is that would alleviate crowding and potentially reduce the need for the Lake Braddock/Robinson redistricting. One wrinkle is that Annandale's feeder is a 6-8 and the others are all 7-8. It may just get the additional school from Lee and Woodson and not participate in the program, fwiw. If that's the case, only four schools would participate and they'd get more seats.

They are doing research into the program as a contingency plan. IIRC, a lot depends on whether Lee's performance tracks the current e-cart performance assessment has been seeing.

The idea is being developed, but I don't think it will happen unless the crap hits the fan, fwiw.

This plan would give Springfield Estates to Edison, Saratoga to South County, Crestwood and Lynbrook to West Springfield, leaving Forestdale for Hayfield. Would be so unfair to give Springfield Estates to Edison since they are already getting a center at Bush Hill (and already has two local level 4's, an immersion school and an academy in its zone). Just looking at the map, you can see which schools would go where. Ugg. what a mess. Hayfield is already in a teetering position and can least afford to take a low-performing school. Edison is similarly situation, but if it gets Springfield Estates, that's a boost, not a drag. South County and West Springfield are better positioned to take one low-performer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the presentation. I believe only one feeder was proposed to go to Annandale. Two, I think were proposed for West Springfield, One was for Edison, and South County and Hayfield also got one, IIRC.

There was shifts from WS to Lake Braddock proposed. Orange Hunt, I think? Maybe Sangster? And there was a shift of one feeder to Robinson from Lake Braddock. White Oaks, I think? There was a mention of moving part of Woodson back to Annandale because it is so under utilized.

There was also a net out from each of these schools proposed. I think each of the five schools (Edison, West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, and Annandale) would be allocated 100 seats at the proposed center. The working assumption is that would alleviate crowding and potentially reduce the need for the Lake Braddock/Robinson redistricting. One wrinkle is that Annandale's feeder is a 6-8 and the others are all 7-8. It may just get the additional school from Lee and Woodson and not participate in the program, fwiw. If that's the case, only four schools would participate and they'd get more seats.

They are doing research into the program as a contingency plan. IIRC, a lot depends on whether Lee's performance tracks the current e-cart performance assessment has been seeing.

The idea is being developed, but I don't think it will happen unless the crap hits the fan, fwiw.

This plan would give Springfield Estates to Edison, Saratoga to South County, Crestwood and Lynbrook to West Springfield, leaving Forestdale for Hayfield. Would be so unfair to give Springfield Estates to Edison since they are already getting a center at Bush Hill (and already has two local level 4's, an immersion school and an academy in its zone). Just looking at the map, you can see which schools would go where. Ugg. what a mess. Hayfield is already in a teetering position and can least afford to take a low-performing school. Edison is similarly situation, but if it gets Springfield Estates, that's a boost, not a drag. South County and West Springfield are better positioned to take one low-performer.

Don’t forget Garfield. One of the three West Springfield replacements would go to Annandale unless that goes bust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't eliminating VGLA also affect elementary schools and middle schools with high ESOL?

From the memo to Division supervisor on July 14, 2017,
"...To comply with these ESSA requirements stated above, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA) Reading assessment will no longer be administered to students after the 2016-2017 school year. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, English Learner (EL) students will be expected to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading assessments."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2017/205-17.shtml

So it is a federal mandate then that ESOL kids can't take the VGLA? Why would the federal government do this when there were already so many complaints about NCLB? Can we get Trump to remove this?

Jesus. Someone explained this in very clear terms. You are too lazy and motivated to sow discord and be a drama llama. This is. A state decision.

Isn't this the federal language which says they can no longer administer an alternate assessment? If so, then it was a federal mandate to not have two different assessments.
"Accordingly, a State may no longer administer an alternate assessment aligned with grade-level achievement standards."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't eliminating VGLA also affect elementary schools and middle schools with high ESOL?

From the memo to Division supervisor on July 14, 2017,
"...To comply with these ESSA requirements stated above, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA) Reading assessment will no longer be administered to students after the 2016-2017 school year. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, English Learner (EL) students will be expected to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading assessments."

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2017/205-17.shtml

So it is a federal mandate then that ESOL kids can't take the VGLA? Why would the federal government do this when there were already so many complaints about NCLB? Can we get Trump to remove this?

Jesus. Someone explained this in very clear terms. You are too lazy and motivated to sow discord and be a drama llama. This is. A state decision.

Isn't this the federal language which says they can no longer administer an alternate assessment? If so, then it was a federal mandate to not have two different assessments.
"Accordingly, a State may no longer administer an alternate assessment aligned with grade-level achievement standards."

I take no strong position on the matter of Lee. I was just trying to understand why the VGLA went away along with the alternative school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the presentation. I believe only one feeder was proposed to go to Annandale. Two, I think were proposed for West Springfield, One was for Edison, and South County and Hayfield also got one, IIRC.

There was shifts from WS to Lake Braddock proposed. Orange Hunt, I think? Maybe Sangster? And there was a shift of one feeder to Robinson from Lake Braddock. White Oaks, I think? There was a mention of moving part of Woodson back to Annandale because it is so under utilized.

There was also a net out from each of these schools proposed. I think each of the five schools (Edison, West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, and Annandale) would be allocated 100 seats at the proposed center. The working assumption is that would alleviate crowding and potentially reduce the need for the Lake Braddock/Robinson redistricting. One wrinkle is that Annandale's feeder is a 6-8 and the others are all 7-8. It may just get the additional school from Lee and Woodson and not participate in the program, fwiw. If that's the case, only four schools would participate and they'd get more seats.

They are doing research into the program as a contingency plan. IIRC, a lot depends on whether Lee's performance tracks the current e-cart performance assessment has been seeing.

The idea is being developed, but I don't think it will happen unless the crap hits the fan, fwiw.

This plan would give Springfield Estates to Edison, Saratoga to South County, Crestwood and Lynbrook to West Springfield, leaving Forestdale for Hayfield. Would be so unfair to give Springfield Estates to Edison since they are already getting a center at Bush Hill (and already has two local level 4's, an immersion school and an academy in its zone). Just looking at the map, you can see which schools would go where. Ugg. what a mess. Hayfield is already in a teetering position and can least afford to take a low-performing school. Edison is similarly situation, but if it gets Springfield Estates, that's a boost, not a drag. South County and West Springfield are better positioned to take one low-performer.

Don’t forget Garfield. One of the three West Springfield replacements would go to Annandale unless that goes bust.

They went through this earlier in the thread (assigning all the Lee feeders out and forgetting Garfield). The next step i the post is moving a bunch of schools around to accommodate the changes. I think she got up to moving over a dozen elementary schools when all was said and done, including having some schools piggybacking over each other to skip over the closest high school to go to another.

It was like a political gerrymandered map, elementary version.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I forgot Garfield! That would surely be for West Springfield.

Oh what a mess that would be to do all this wrangling... when life would be a lot better if they just made Lee AP! It's got a great location for people who commute to DC or Belvoir, and those houses around it are prime for teardowns -- small little boxes. There is opportunity here for Lee to be as good as West Springfield... or at least as good as Edison.

[Anonymous]

What are the chances they re-open the night school program for the older ESOL students? That sounds like it would solve a lot of problems at Lee and Stuart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the presentation. I believe only one feeder was proposed to go to Annandale. Two, I think were proposed for West Springfield, One was for Edison, and South County and Hayfield also got one, IIRC.

There was shifts from WS to Lake Braddock proposed. Orange Hunt, I think? Maybe Sangster? And there was a shift of one feeder to Robinson from Lake Braddock. White Oaks, I think? There was a mention of moving part of Woodson back to Annandale because it is so under utilized.

There was also a net out from each of these schools proposed. I think each of the five schools (Edison, West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, and Annandale) would be allocated 100 seats at the proposed center. The working assumption is that would alleviate crowding and potentially reduce the need for the Lake Braddock/Robinson redistricting. One wrinkle is that Annandale's feeder is a 6-8 and the others are all 7-8. It may just get the additional school from Lee and Woodson and not participate in the program, fwiw. If that's the case, only four schools would participate and they'd get more seats.

They are doing research into the program as a contingency plan. IIRC, a lot depends on whether Lee's performance tracks the current e-cart performance assessment has been seeing.

The idea is being developed, but I don't think it will happen unless the crap hits the fan, fwiw.

This plan would give Springfield Estates to Edison, Saratoga to South County, Crestwood and Lynbrook to West Springfield, leaving Forestdale for Hayfield. Would be so unfair to give Springfield Estates to Edison since they are already getting a center at Bush Hill (and already has two local level 4's, an immersion school and an academy in its zone). Just looking at the map, you can see which schools would go where. Ugg. what a mess. Hayfield is already in a teetering position and can least afford to take a low-performing school. Edison is similarly situation, but if it gets Springfield Estates, that's a boost, not a drag. South County and West Springfield are better positioned to take one low-performer.

What about Saratoga and Garfield to West Springfield? Move South County HS boundaries to pick up Lorton Station and all of Halle from Hayfield, then give SEES and Forestdale to Hayfield. Lynbrook to Edison, and Crestwood to either Edison or Annandale. That kind of screws Annandale even more though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the presentation. I believe only one feeder was proposed to go to Annandale. Two, I think were proposed for West Springfield, One was for Edison, and South County and Hayfield also got one, IIRC.

There was shifts from WS to Lake Braddock proposed. Orange Hunt, I think? Maybe Sangster? And there was a shift of one feeder to Robinson from Lake Braddock. White Oaks, I think? There was a mention of moving part of Woodson back to Annandale because it is so under utilized.

There was also a net out from each of these schools proposed. I think each of the five schools (Edison, West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, and Annandale) would be allocated 100 seats at the proposed center. The working assumption is that would alleviate crowding and potentially reduce the need for the Lake Braddock/Robinson redistricting. One wrinkle is that Annandale's feeder is a 6-8 and the others are all 7-8. It may just get the additional school from Lee and Woodson and not participate in the program, fwiw. If that's the case, only four schools would participate and they'd get more seats.

They are doing research into the program as a contingency plan. IIRC, a lot depends on whether Lee's performance tracks the current e-cart performance assessment has been seeing.

The idea is being developed, but I don't think it will happen unless the crap hits the fan, fwiw.

This plan would give Springfield Estates to Edison, Saratoga to South County, Crestwood and Lynbrook to West Springfield, leaving Forestdale for Hayfield. Would be so unfair to give Springfield Estates to Edison since they are already getting a center at Bush Hill (and already has two local level 4's, an immersion school and an academy in its zone). Just looking at the map, you can see which schools would go where. Ugg. what a mess. Hayfield is already in a teetering position and can least afford to take a low-performing school. Edison is similarly situation, but if it gets Springfield Estates, that's a boost, not a drag. South County and West Springfield are better positioned to take one low-performer.

What about Saratoga and Garfield to West Springfield? Move South County HS boundaries to pick up Lorton Station and all of Halle from Hayfield, then give SEES and Forestdale to Hayfield. Lynbrook to Edison, and Crestwood to either Edison or Annandale. That kind of screws Annandale even more though.

Crazy spider leg, gerrymandered school zones screws all of the kids.