Arlington Co. Schools receive sobering report on student literacy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

PP who posted about CKLA. Glad I’m not the only one! I am critical of APS as well but I give credit when credit is due. I do think that this is a good indication that Dr Duran is serious about making some major changes to APS. For some reason I posted a reply to a post on AEM about the report saying that one good thing is that APS might be adopting amplify CKLA and my reply and the post was deleted. Have no idea why.

Oh man. That’s really too bad. It’s unfortunate that the core knowledge foundation has a reputation as being more conservative and anti-teacher. I hope there isn’t a big bias against it that way. I mean, right now I’m doing an essay on Robin Hood with DS and he chose to write about how the story suggests that people should rebel against unjust power structures because Robin Hood’s actions were more ethical than those of the sheriff and a church leader! Plus the curriculum has a solid basis in the cognitive science of learning.

Anyway, my kids will miss out on this at school for sure but if it sticks I’ll be recommending APS much more than I do now.

well, I’m sure many many people base their school choices on your recommendation- so fandillytastic! ;0

I wonder why people are so mean and snarky. Hopefully you’re not like this in real life 🙁

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

PP who posted about CKLA. Glad I’m not the only one! I am critical of APS as well but I give credit when credit is due. I do think that this is a good indication that Dr Duran is serious about making some major changes to APS. For some reason I posted a reply to a post on AEM about the report saying that one good thing is that APS might be adopting amplify CKLA and my reply and the post was deleted. Have no idea why.

Oh man. That’s really too bad. It’s unfortunate that the core knowledge foundation has a reputation as being more conservative and anti-teacher. I hope there isn’t a big bias against it that way. I mean, right now I’m doing an essay on Robin Hood with DS and he chose to write about how the story suggests that people should rebel against unjust power structures because Robin Hood’s actions were more ethical than those of the sheriff and a church leader! Plus the curriculum has a solid basis in the cognitive science of learning.

Anyway, my kids will miss out on this at school for sure but if it sticks I’ll be recommending APS much more than I do now.

well, I’m sure many many people base their school choices on your recommendation- so fandillytastic! ;0

I wonder why people are so mean and snarky. Hopefully you’re not like this in real life 🙁

Dunno, but name calling isn’t exactly live, laugh, love!

I find it strange that you believe your opinions as “not an educator” lead you recommend a school system.

[Anonymous]

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.

That was in response to someone asking to look at individual school results to compare when picking where to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

PP who posted about CKLA. Glad I’m not the only one! I am critical of APS as well but I give credit when credit is due. I do think that this is a good indication that Dr Duran is serious about making some major changes to APS. For some reason I posted a reply to a post on AEM about the report saying that one good thing is that APS might be adopting amplify CKLA and my reply and the post was deleted. Have no idea why.

Oh man. That’s really too bad. It’s unfortunate that the core knowledge foundation has a reputation as being more conservative and anti-teacher. I hope there isn’t a big bias against it that way. I mean, right now I’m doing an essay on Robin Hood with DS and he chose to write about how the story suggests that people should rebel against unjust power structures because Robin Hood’s actions were more ethical than those of the sheriff and a church leader! Plus the curriculum has a solid basis in the cognitive science of learning.

Anyway, my kids will miss out on this at school for sure but if it sticks I’ll be recommending APS much more than I do now.

well, I’m sure many many people base their school choices on your recommendation- so fandillytastic! ;0

I wonder why people are so mean and snarky. Hopefully you’re not like this in real life 🙁

Dunno, but name calling isn’t exactly live, laugh, love!

I find it strange that you believe your opinions as “not an educator” lead you recommend a school system.

Ha I didn’t see this comment. I am the one taking about APS, not the PP who called you snarky.

Between using the term “fandillytastic,” putting “not an educator in quotes,” and the “live laugh love” comment, I don’t know what your point is. But people ask me about APS on a regular basis. It never occurred to me to say, “sorry, I’m not an educator, I can’t give you a recommendation.” Both my kids have had years of experience at APS and I keep up with school board happenings so I do feel like I know enough to share my experience.

One of my big issues with APS, which is no different from the vast majority of public elementary programs, is that the curriculum is skills-based instead of content based. So you learn what a table of contents is not because you’re actually using it to find information, but as a kind of a memorized fact separate from its use (except for this ridiculous assignment where my son had to write a book during distance learning that had a table of contents in it, despite the fact that he barely knew how to construct a good sentence). So my feelings about APS are lukewarm. If they fixed my primary objection to APS, I’d obviously be thrilled and share that with people who are deciding where to send their kids to school.

[Anonymous]

https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

Looks like you’d need to add Wilson for Wit & Wisdom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

Looks like you’d need to add Wilson for Wit & Wisdom.

Yep… but Arlington schools already use Wilson’s Fundations so i figured it would be a great fit. I say Arlington schools but apparently not all of them. ATS does and I’m pretty sure there are others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

Looks like you’d need to add Wilson for Wit & Wisdom.

Yep… but Arlington schools already use Wilson’s Fundations so i figured it would be a great fit. I say Arlington schools but apparently not all of them. ATS does and I’m pretty sure there are others.

Campbell also uses Fundations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

Sounds great! So no more differentiation and all whole group instruction right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn't all bad:

On a positive note, the report showed an increase in student proficiency among Title I schools. Elementary ELA Supervisor Sarah Cruise says that added proficiency will eliminate the opportunity gap for those students later on. Black and Hispanic students in kindergarten and first grade have also seen a 5-7% increase in their writing proficiency.

Though many of the numbers may seem pessimistic, there have been marginal improvements. With the exception of fourth-grade students, the report states the total number of EL learners in the red “at risk” category has actually decreased since the last reporting period.

I have a (white) kid with learning disabilities and I"ve been very impressed with the remediation. I know she passed the SOL b/c I didn't get a call back and I"m not sure how well she scored but the remediation has been amazing this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. This is terrible.

We really need our schools funded. We have got to get these kids tutors, reading specialists, etc.

Parents who can read, also need to work with their kids.

[Anonymous]

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.

This has always been a key factor, even before covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

I stopped trusting APS curricular decisions earlier this year when a higher up from APS who helped bring phonics95 to APS left APS mid year to become a "regional sales associate" for that same company. Made me wonder about the adoption process for sure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.tulsakids.com/is-ckla-the-best-way-to-teach-children-to-read/

Interesting to see how Amplify CKLA is perceived from people who use it in the real world with ESL and SPED populations.

I haven’t vetted this website, but wanted to add this as food for thought.

This is one of the few negative articles I have seen on CKLA and ppl keep sharing it. I suggest you go to the website https://knowledgematterscampaign.org/ and read the many positive stories regarding the many districts adoption of CKLA. CKLA is not the only knowledge rich curriculum out there - you will see by reading the stories on the website that there are many others. I, for example would have preferred APS adopt Wit & Wisdom which I absolutely love. But Wit & Wisdom is intense and even more difficult to implement so it scares many teachers. I’m thinking that that’s perhaps the reason why APS is recommending CKLA over Wit & Wisdom but who knows. Either way it’s an excellent knowledge rich curriculum and is evidence based. No curriculum is perfect of course but thankfully we have great teachers at APS that are smart enough to figure out how to best tailor CKLA to the needs of their students.

Looks like you’d need to add Wilson for Wit & Wisdom.

Yep… but Arlington schools already use Wilson’s Fundations so i figured it would be a great fit. I say Arlington schools but apparently not all of them. ATS does and I’m pretty sure there are others.

Campbell also uses Fundations.

So two option schools? It’s not broadly used.

I think it’s be great if more schools used it.