Dr. Duran must go

[Anonymous]

One of the biggest problems in APS is the parents. They are not parenting. As a result, everything falls to the teachers, and they have to waste their time dealing with disrespectful behavior and lazy kids instead of spending their time actually teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

We were one of those families. Our oldest was in kinder when COVID hit. Seeing them look at pictures in the book for clues, instead of phonetically sounding out words to build their foundation for reading was completely insane! And now we are fighting tooth and nail to get ANY support services to make up for learning loss.



Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

Exactly.

People discovered some of these issues during the pandemic and never realized that they predated the pandemic. Then they become self-proclaimed experts and think they have it all figured out. So clueless.

There are also a lot of people who had little kids and had no idea these were the issues in APS. All I heard coming into APS was "all of our schools our great schools." Turns out that it's mainly a lot of people paying for tutors and the rest are just pushed through. I had no idea. Duran has made some bone-headed calls but sounds like Murphy was really bad.

[Anonymous]

To be fair, “balanced literacy” (look at pictures) has been the most prevalent ELA approach all over the US for decades now.

It wasn’t unique to APS at all.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/11/14/never-heard-of-lucy-calkins-heres-why-you-should-have/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, “balanced literacy” (look at pictures) has been the most prevalent ELA approach all over the US for decades now.

It wasn’t unique to APS at all.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/11/14/never-heard-of-lucy-calkins-heres-why-you-should-have/

So? Arlington is supposed to be a leader and top system. Just because everyone else is doing it isn't an excuse.

[Anonymous]

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, “balanced literacy” (look at pictures) has been the most prevalent ELA approach all over the US for decades now.

It wasn’t unique to APS at all.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/11/14/never-heard-of-lucy-calkins-heres-why-you-should-have/

So? Arlington is supposed to be a leader and top system. Just because everyone else is doing it isn't an excuse.

+1000

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that “balanced literacy” was deep throughout education. Teachers didn’t learn “science of reading” until recently. So there is a generation of teachers (or more) who were never taught that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that “balanced literacy” was deep throughout education. Teachers didn’t learn “science of reading” until recently. So there is a generation of teachers (or more) who were never taught that.

True but parents realized the problem as did many professionals but Murphy would not budge. Credit to Duran for ending it and embracing science of reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that “balanced literacy” was deep throughout education. Teachers didn’t learn “science of reading” until recently. So there is a generation of teachers (or more) who were never taught that.

True but parents realized the problem as did many professionals but Murphy would not budge. Credit to Duran for ending it and embracing science of reading.

I think most of the parents who don't like Duran are parents of young kids or parents who just engaged and have no idea how much better Duran is compared to Murphy.

Duran isn't perfect and I don't agree with all that he's done, but he's made some really good changes and we could do a whole lot worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that “balanced literacy” was deep throughout education. Teachers didn’t learn “science of reading” until recently. So there is a generation of teachers (or more) who were never taught that.

True but parents realized the problem as did many professionals but Murphy would not budge. Credit to Duran for ending it and embracing science of reading.

I think most of the parents who don't like Duran are parents of young kids or parents who just engaged and have no idea how much better Duran is compared to Murphy.

Duran isn't perfect and I don't agree with all that he's done, but he's made some really good changes and we could do a whole lot worse.

+1

He started at a terrible time. Imagine starting a job during all of that.

He’s been thoughtful and a great communicator. Not perfect but 10000% better than the last guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that “balanced literacy” was deep throughout education. Teachers didn’t learn “science of reading” until recently. So there is a generation of teachers (or more) who were never taught that.

True but parents realized the problem as did many professionals but Murphy would not budge. Credit to Duran for ending it and embracing science of reading.

I think most of the parents who don't like Duran are parents of young kids or parents who just engaged and have no idea how much better Duran is compared to Murphy.

Duran isn't perfect and I don't agree with all that he's done, but he's made some really good changes and we could do a whole lot worse.

+1

He started at a terrible time. Imagine starting a job during all of that.

He’s been thoughtful and a great communicator. Not perfect but 10000% better than the last guy.

Agree. You get the sense he’s listening and responding to what he hears. He’s made some questionable calls. But he’s even acknowledged he would handle the pandemic differently. Certainly more than any board member during pandemic has done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP of this thread and I said it then and I’ll say it now, Dr. Duran must go.

And yet, a year later, he hasn’t “gone” and won’t be “going,” but thanks for your empty proclamation, random nobody on an anonymous mommy message board.

[Anonymous]

Duran isn't perfect butt he's the best we've have maybe since Smith. Certainly better than Murphy. New parents here who are outraged should take a breath. It's a long, hard slog, and you'll come to appreciate APS is better than most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duran isn't perfect butt he's the best we've have maybe since Smith. Certainly better than Murphy. New parents here who are outraged should take a breath. It's a long, hard slog, and you'll come to appreciate APS is better than most.

I agree. Plus with the shortage of superintendent candidates, the 10 million dollar lawsuit, the outdoor lab incident and a recent overdose there’s zero chance we could get someone better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duran isn't perfect butt he's the best we've have maybe since Smith. Certainly better than Murphy. New parents here who are outraged should take a breath. It's a long, hard slog, and you'll come to appreciate APS is better than most.

I agree. Plus with the shortage of superintendent candidates, the 10 million dollar lawsuit, the outdoor lab incident and a recent overdose there’s zero chance we could get someone better

You think the lawsuit and outdoor lab incident and overdose are bad? wait till y'all find out about "grading for equity" that APS is mandating and what it means (don't be fooled by that name), hold tight parents.