Arlington Co. Schools receive sobering report on student literacy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to find results from particular schools? We are trying to evaluate local schools near us.

Keep in mind that some schools are going to have better test results regardless of instruction in school. Some kids come into K reading b/c they were either at a preschool that taught reading or had a caregver who worked with the child at home.

The make up of our community didn't suddenly change in the last two years. These are comparisons to APS's prior results, not some unachievable goal.

Ok. And?

The pandemic really sucked and now we need to remediate. What’s you point?

Perhaps a conversation on what's been working this year and areas where APS is failing? What should we be doing to get back to where we were? And why aren't we doing those things?

If you'd rather stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes, and pretend these gaps aren't real, you're welcome to go sit next to Dr. Duran and Bridget Loft.

Ok. That’d be a valuable conversation instead of irrationally sh-ting all over APS again and again.

[Anonymous]

There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This outcome was completely predictable. Young kids (K-3) needed to be in person at school during this critical developmental phase. It was an urgent issue. Virtual school for this group was completely inappropriate and it didn't take an education degree to see this and know this from early on. And no, of course some of these kids will never catch up.

It's disgusting and shameful.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is tired and stale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can be done? I have a second grader who is at the lowest bar of the graph. Very below goal or something like that. Can can hardly write, and his reading has improved a lot this year forming nothing to something. The teacher is trying to catch him up, and he’s not alone. He missed the most important part of K and all of first.

What are you doing at home? Over summer? My APS is the same grade and with a late summer birthday, one of the youngest in his class. He could barely read a few sight words when school shut down in March 2020. I used “how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and BOB books to teach him at home. He muddled through virtual first with a teacher who didn’t make him finish anything. We had to be involved, checking SeeSaw every day and helping him on our own for 20-30 min every night.
If a year of in-person school hasn’t helped, you need to line up a tutor for summer or research ways to help him yourself. Unfortunately APS alone will not fix this for you.

Too many parents don’t want to bother with this. It’s too much work that’s cutting into their Netflix binge time. It’s far easier to scream fruitlessly at the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

OMG! - how long will this one last before it is kicked to the curb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we have a generation of kids who weren’t properly taught how to read.

So glad we are getting back to structured literacy. We need something like Wilson FUNdations in all early elementary classrooms. And screening for all kids with early interventions.

This this this this, and I am so SICK of schools not taking accountability for their role!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

What a horrendous choice, don’t know why you’re excited about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

What a horrendous choice, don’t know why you’re excited about this.

What’s the deal with this curriculum?

This choice has been finalized already?

Did they look at Wilson?

[Anonymous]

The report mentions writing testing in 5th and 9th grades, but doesn't mention the writing SOL, which was given to 8th and 11th graders in March. They must have those scores by now. Why aren't they mentioned at all in the report?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can be done? I have a second grader who is at the lowest bar of the graph. Very below goal or something like that. Can can hardly write, and his reading has improved a lot this year forming nothing to something. The teacher is trying to catch him up, and he’s not alone. He missed the most important part of K and all of first.

What are you doing at home? Over summer? My APS is the same grade and with a late summer birthday, one of the youngest in his class. He could barely read a few sight words when school shut down in March 2020. I used “how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and BOB books to teach him at home. He muddled through virtual first with a teacher who didn’t make him finish anything. We had to be involved, checking SeeSaw every day and helping him on our own for 20-30 min every night.
If a year of in-person school hasn’t helped, you need to line up a tutor for summer or research ways to help him yourself. Unfortunately APS alone will not fix this for you.

Too many parents don’t want to bother with this. It’s too much work that’s cutting into their Netflix binge time. It’s far easier to scream fruitlessly at the schools.

Unfortunately, this is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can be done? I have a second grader who is at the lowest bar of the graph. Very below goal or something like that. Can can hardly write, and his reading has improved a lot this year forming nothing to something. The teacher is trying to catch him up, and he’s not alone. He missed the most important part of K and all of first.

What are you doing at home? Over summer? My APS is the same grade and with a late summer birthday, one of the youngest in his class. He could barely read a few sight words when school shut down in March 2020. I used “how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and BOB books to teach him at home. He muddled through virtual first with a teacher who didn’t make him finish anything. We had to be involved, checking SeeSaw every day and helping him on our own for 20-30 min every night.
If a year of in-person school hasn’t helped, you need to line up a tutor for summer or research ways to help him yourself. Unfortunately APS alone will not fix this for you.

Too many parents don’t want to bother with this. It’s too much work that’s cutting into their Netflix binge time. It’s far easier to scream fruitlessly at the schools.

Unfortunately, this is true.

Isn’t teaching kids how to read one of the most fundamental jobs schools have? Most parents have no idea where to begin with filling in literacy gaps. If you’re like me , you go about it all wrong and make things worse until you hire a tutor and they undone all the damage of whatever the school was (not) doing and your misguided efforts. PP - take your concerns to the school and ask to an assessment to rule out learning disabilities. This is their job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can be done? I have a second grader who is at the lowest bar of the graph. Very below goal or something like that. Can can hardly write, and his reading has improved a lot this year forming nothing to something. The teacher is trying to catch him up, and he’s not alone. He missed the most important part of K and all of first.

What are you doing at home? Over summer? My APS is the same grade and with a late summer birthday, one of the youngest in his class. He could barely read a few sight words when school shut down in March 2020. I used “how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and BOB books to teach him at home. He muddled through virtual first with a teacher who didn’t make him finish anything. We had to be involved, checking SeeSaw every day and helping him on our own for 20-30 min every night.
If a year of in-person school hasn’t helped, you need to line up a tutor for summer or research ways to help him yourself. Unfortunately APS alone will not fix this for you.

Too many parents don’t want to bother with this. It’s too much work that’s cutting into their Netflix binge time. It’s far easier to scream fruitlessly at the schools.

Unfortunately, this is true.

NP here, I accept that these problems won't get fixed without significant parental involvement. But I also reserve the right to think about how much money APS spends per student (including out of my own tax dollars, but not exclusively) and be completely unsatisfied that this is the best they can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

What a horrendous choice, don’t know why you’re excited about this.

What’s the deal with this curriculum?

This choice has been finalized already?

Did they look at Wilson?

Why is it horrendous? Ed reports has given it a favorable review. The Knowledge Matters Campaign has covered it in their school tour. Natalie Wexler has written favorably about it. It earned a tier 1 rating in Louisiana (which developed a rating system for curriculums that many districts now use). I am curious what issues you have with it.

As to the Wilsons, I thought we use it already? ATS does. My question would be is CKLA replacing Wilson’s since it already has a phonics component? Or will Wilson’s still be used as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is some good news too. Arlington is adopting amplify ckla as its ELA curriculum for k-5. It’s a knowledge based curriculum with a strong phonics curriculum. Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap has written a lot about it. Super exciting news! Obviously the next step would be adequate teacher training on the new curriculum. I’m worried there isn’t enough time for that but I am not an educator so I don’t know how much time should be allocated to teacher training.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/08/how-show-kids-joy-reading/615109/

Unfortunately I don’t know much about math curriculums so I have no idea if the curriculum they adopted is a good one. Figures crossed that it is.

What a horrendous choice, don’t know why you’re excited about this.

What’s the deal with this curriculum?

This choice has been finalized already?

Did they look at Wilson?

Take a look at the Atlantic article I posted. Also this study: https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rrq.338

Along with Wit & Wisdom (when it’s combined with Wilson’s Fundations) Amplify CKLA is considered one of the best curriculums out there and there is a lot of research to back it up. Like I said in a previous post - take a look at the Knowledge Matters Campaign website. Also look at Achieve the Core. I myself would have preferred Wit & Wisdom but CKLA has an excellent reputation as well.

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness I love core knowledge!! I’ve been using it for my homeschool curriculum and it is so fun! DS and I had a blast with King Arthur this year. I really hope that APS does it.