New SOLs -- the contrast between Arlington and Alexandria City's failing Public Schools

[Anonymous]

ACPS MS Teacher here,

I think that would have to be a factor. Maybe another factor was that they had a new curriculum that involved transfer tasks that took a lot of time from teaching the material. The tasks were meant to show that the kids could transfer what they learned outside of the classroom (apply their knowledge - higher order thinking skills). The problem was they took a long time to complete and much of it or all of it had to be done in the classroom, putting teachers behind schedule completing the curriculum. I don't think transfer tasks are a bad idea, maybe they were just not implemented well. When we go back in a couple of weeks, maybe the district will shed some light on this for us and I will let you know what they say.

[Anonymous]

Pp - thanks for posting. I was not aware of the transfer task initiative - sounds good to me.