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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I don't think those elementary schools were doing better a few years ago. The current middle schoolers were all affected hard by COVID. I'm suspicious that there is catching up that seems to be happening by middle school or you'd see a bigger impact from unprepared kids arriving from poor performing elementary schools. I have to work, but it would be interesting to look through that data more closely.

[Anonymous]

Weren’t most of the elementary schools in APS failing only with respect to serving students with disabilities? Not all of the students?

[Anonymous]

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

[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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

I guess they could hire a bunch of people to show up at students’ homes and make them go to school. Maybe these same people can be 1:1 aides for students who don’t know how to behave/pay attention in school.

Is it a shock that students who just entered the country and speak little to no English don’t perform well?

These are huge problems, and no, we don’t need to throw ALL of our resources in that direction. All of the money in the world can’t fix parental IFGAF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

Like WHAT? Seriously, what — specifically — would you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Someone? Anyone?

[Anonymous]

APS cut self contained rooms, pushes kids out of MIPAA programs and shoots for 80% of SPED students in gen ed 80% of the time. It’s a huge failure and does damage to SPED students and their gen ed peers.

[Anonymous]

Just another way to demonstrate schools’ SES levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS cut self contained rooms, pushes kids out of MIPAA programs and shoots for 80% of SPED students in gen ed 80% of the time. It’s a huge failure and does damage to SPED students and their gen ed peers.

This is such a problem. No one benefits and everyone is disrupted in the name of inclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

Like WHAT? Seriously, what — specifically — would you do?

Better, content-rich curriculum.
Phonics-based reading.
Teaching facts and knowledge rather than nebulous skills.
More days in school.
Fewer screens, more textbooks.
Smaller classes in some cases.
More differentiation.
Don’t pass on kids that need to repeat.
Schedules that provide routine that make kids feel secure.
Deal with and eventually separate out discipline cases.

Or you can just throw in the towel on achievement, like Jonathan Chait talks about here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/school-reform-progressives/685179/?gift=rGeOi84Cw86O5rDyk0k6nh1ypn4wQDUwI8-VeiN1kyg&fbclid=IwdGRjcAOqMqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe1XUEPi21nipkFi3vEY1fW_ZqBGzT1cECCwbAJGeijqqTA7Tsud4XXmc2qGU_aem_mkd5L1BfI3YuOJqVmhPTeQ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Someone? Anyone?

It is based on federal designation. Basically, they look at the scores of the 5th percentile of Title 1 schools in the state, and then look at designated demographic subgroups. If any subgroup has scores that are worse than this 5th percentile threshold across all of math, reading, and science (if applicable, not all groups have science scores), then they get designated as a Targeted Support and Improvement school and they are docked a level on the accountability rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

Like WHAT? Seriously, what — specifically — would you do?

Better, content-rich curriculum.
Phonics-based reading.
Teaching facts and knowledge rather than nebulous skills.
More days in school.
Fewer screens, more textbooks.
Smaller classes in some cases.
More differentiation.
Don’t pass on kids that need to repeat.
Schedules that provide routine that make kids feel secure.
Deal with and eventually separate out discipline cases.

Or you can just throw in the towel on achievement, like Jonathan Chait talks about here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/school-reform-progressives/685179/?gift=rGeOi84Cw86O5rDyk0k6nh1ypn4wQDUwI8-VeiN1kyg&fbclid=IwdGRjcAOqMqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe1XUEPi21nipkFi3vEY1fW_ZqBGzT1cECCwbAJGeijqqTA7Tsud4XXmc2qGU_aem_mkd5L1BfI3YuOJqVmhPTeQ

The top four have all been done in the past few years. We're at 180 days again. CKLA and 95 Phonics are viewed as quality choices.

The real gap is that APS doesn't have any math curriculum at all and you see scores continue to drop. The lean on IXL and Dreambox, but neither is supposed to be used as a math curriculum.

The other big gap is that APS has decided that kids don't need differentiation. Both the push in and pull out gifted model have been pulled back in favor of whole class activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

Like WHAT? Seriously, what — specifically — would you do?

Better, content-rich curriculum.
Phonics-based reading.
Teaching facts and knowledge rather than nebulous skills.
More days in school.
Fewer screens, more textbooks.
Smaller classes in some cases.
More differentiation.
Don’t pass on kids that need to repeat.
Schedules that provide routine that make kids feel secure.
Deal with and eventually separate out discipline cases.

Or you can just throw in the towel on achievement, like Jonathan Chait talks about here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/school-reform-progressives/685179/?gift=rGeOi84Cw86O5rDyk0k6nh1ypn4wQDUwI8-VeiN1kyg&fbclid=IwdGRjcAOqMqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe1XUEPi21nipkFi3vEY1fW_ZqBGzT1cECCwbAJGeijqqTA7Tsud4XXmc2qGU_aem_mkd5L1BfI3YuOJqVmhPTeQ

The top four have all been done in the past few years. We're at 180 days again. CKLA and 95 Phonics are viewed as quality choices.

The real gap is that APS doesn't have any math curriculum at all and you see scores continue to drop. The lean on IXL and Dreambox, but neither is supposed to be used as a math curriculum.

The other big gap is that APS has decided that kids don't need differentiation. Both the push in and pull out gifted model have been pulled back in favor of whole class activities.

We have increased days but reduced consistency and that matters more IMO. I'm at elementary level, I think it probably matters less at higher levels but we really need kids in school 5 days a week as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

THIS. This is the problem, and there’s nothing Duran can do to fix it.

Fix it entirely? No. But there is a huge amount schools can do to boost performance and outcomes.

Like WHAT? Seriously, what — specifically — would you do?

Better, content-rich curriculum.
Phonics-based reading.
Teaching facts and knowledge rather than nebulous skills.
More days in school.
Fewer screens, more textbooks.
Smaller classes in some cases.
More differentiation.
Don’t pass on kids that need to repeat.
Schedules that provide routine that make kids feel secure.
Deal with and eventually separate out discipline cases.

Or you can just throw in the towel on achievement, like Jonathan Chait talks about here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/school-reform-progressives/685179/?gift=rGeOi84Cw86O5rDyk0k6nh1ypn4wQDUwI8-VeiN1kyg&fbclid=IwdGRjcAOqMqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe1XUEPi21nipkFi3vEY1fW_ZqBGzT1cECCwbAJGeijqqTA7Tsud4XXmc2qGU_aem_mkd5L1BfI3YuOJqVmhPTeQ

None of this works unless you’re willing to separate kids by ability, and that is never going to happen.