New GS rankings

[Anonymous]

There was a thread earlier about GS rankings changing dramatically in a traditionally highly rated part of Fairfax.
I’m an APS parent and was dismayed to see the same drop has happened Arlington as well.
Yorktown is rated a 5?
This is ridiculous. Is there a way to contest these numbers?

[Anonymous]

There are now only two elementary schools in Arlington that are rated a 10. Don’t know if this reflects problems with the school system or something else.

[Anonymous]

Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

[Anonymous]

The schools that hard still scored high don't appear to have the new rankings regarding how low income students do. At least not the ones I am looking at. I imagine their rank will drop once that is added in.

[Anonymous]

Wilson in DC is rated a 7

This will absolutely affect property values in Arlington. People have decamped from DC for a better high school.
Well, why do that now?
Wilson is a better rated school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson in DC is rated a 7

This will absolutely affect property values in Arlington. People have decamped from DC for a better high school.
Well, why do that now?
Wilson is a better rated school.

The schools in Arlington are being compared against other schools in VA. A 7 in VA is not the same as a 7 in DC. Also not the same as a 7 in MD. Apples and oranges.

But I do think it's interesting that the scores in NORTH Arlington are no longer so much higher than South Arlington overall. There are of course some outliers, but I don't think I'd pay six figures more for a house based on a 2 point GS difference. Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

It's more than that:

"Beginning Thursday, the site will also rate schools based on student growth from year to year, and, for secondary schools, on graduation rates, Advanced Placement offerings and enrollment, and students’ average performance on college placement tests. It also includes an “equity” rating, based on whether there are achievement gaps for students from racial minority groups, those in poverty, and those with special needs, as well as on how students in those groups fare compared to similar students statewide. The revamped site also uses federal civil rights data to flag schools that show high rates of student absenteeism or disproportionate discipline for different groups of students."

[Anonymous]

So our northern va Hispanic immigrants are doing much much worse than the rest of Virginia??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

I did spend quite some time reading about the new GS ratings technique. Regarding so many schools failing FARMS and ESL students, it's puzzling to me as so many different counties and cities school boards have put so much into aiding, not ignoring this problem over the last decade. More $$$, more teachers and aids, smaller class sizes, one on one tutoring, translation specialists who work with students and parents on how to help, support groups and more.

I'm not sure what the problem is that FARM and ESL students haven't seen greater gains on testing, but I don't think it is for lack of effort on the part of Northern Virginia public schools. Could it be that Great Schools is not picking up on ways students are achieving? Is NoVA seeing such a new influx of students each year such that it starts the wheel turning again? Is Common Core itself not succeeding?

[Anonymous]

TJ isn't even rated. GS can't figure out how to lower their rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

I did spend quite some time reading about the new GS ratings technique. Regarding so many schools failing FARMS and ESL students, it's puzzling to me as so many different counties and cities school boards have put so much into aiding, not ignoring this problem over the last decade. More $$$, more teachers and aids, smaller class sizes, one on one tutoring, translation specialists who work with students and parents on how to help, support groups and more.

I'm not sure what the problem is that FARM and ESL students haven't seen greater gains on testing, but I don't think it is for lack of effort on the part of Northern Virginia public schools. Could it be that Great Schools is not picking up on ways students are achieving? Is NoVA seeing such a new influx of students each year such that it starts the wheel turning again? Is Common Core itself not succeeding?

Well I think part of it is inherent biases in standardized testing which is how GS rates things. But you are right. My son goes to Claremont and the school is still has a 15 to 20 or gap in test scores for Hispanic kids. Why is That? ATS does a really good job of educating disadvantaged kids. Why? What are they doing that other schools are not. How can we adopt these methods at other schools.


I think you also have to think about inherent biases many may have against Hispanic students ( whether intentional or not). Schools all around the country even in CA and AZ are failing Hispanic low ikncomd students. Why? It isn't just language, most Hispanic kids are fluent in English and American born. We see the same with black students. Why obviously aren't addressing why schools are really failing these students. I think there are a lot of biases we need to overcome if we really want to answer these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

I did spend quite some time reading about the new GS ratings technique. Regarding so many schools failing FARMS and ESL students, it's puzzling to me as so many different counties and cities school boards have put so much into aiding, not ignoring this problem over the last decade. More $$$, more teachers and aids, smaller class sizes, one on one tutoring, translation specialists who work with students and parents on how to help, support groups and more.

I'm not sure what the problem is that FARM and ESL students haven't seen greater gains on testing, but I don't think it is for lack of effort on the part of Northern Virginia public schools. Could it be that Great Schools is not picking up on ways students are achieving? Is NoVA seeing such a new influx of students each year such that it starts the wheel turning again? Is Common Core itself not succeeding?

Well I think part of it is inherent biases in standardized testing which is how GS rates things. But you are right. My son goes to Claremont and the school is still has a 15 to 20 or gap in test scores for Hispanic kids. Why is That? ATS does a really good job of educating disadvantaged kids. Why? What are they doing that other schools are not. How can we adopt these methods at other schools.


I think you also have to think about inherent biases many may have against Hispanic students ( whether intentional or not). Schools all around the country even in CA and AZ are failing Hispanic low ikncomd students. Why? It isn't just language, most Hispanic kids are fluent in English and American born. We see the same with black students. Why obviously aren't addressing why schools are really failing these students. I think there are a lot of biases we need to overcome if we really want to answer these.

Segregation. It's the segregation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

I did spend quite some time reading about the new GS ratings technique. Regarding so many schools failing FARMS and ESL students, it's puzzling to me as so many different counties and cities school boards have put so much into aiding, not ignoring this problem over the last decade. More $$$, more teachers and aids, smaller class sizes, one on one tutoring, translation specialists who work with students and parents on how to help, support groups and more.

I'm not sure what the problem is that FARM and ESL students haven't seen greater gains on testing, but I don't think it is for lack of effort on the part of Northern Virginia public schools. Could it be that Great Schools is not picking up on ways students are achieving? Is NoVA seeing such a new influx of students each year such that it starts the wheel turning again? Is Common Core itself not succeeding?

Well I think part of it is inherent biases in standardized testing which is how GS rates things. But you are right. My son goes to Claremont and the school is still has a 15 to 20 or gap in test scores for Hispanic kids. Why is That? ATS does a really good job of educating disadvantaged kids. Why? What are they doing that other schools are not. How can we adopt these methods at other schools.


I think you also have to think about inherent biases many may have against Hispanic students ( whether intentional or not). Schools all around the country even in CA and AZ are failing Hispanic low ikncomd students. Why? It isn't just language, most Hispanic kids are fluent in English and American born. We see the same with black students. Why obviously aren't addressing why schools are really failing these students. I think there are a lot of biases we need to overcome if we really want to answer these.

It's parental help. The average white middle class family is extremely involved in their kids schooling and learning how to read. Same with Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson in DC is rated a 7

This will absolutely affect property values in Arlington. People have decamped from DC for a better high school.
Well, why do that now?
Wilson is a better rated school.

The schools in Arlington are being compared against other schools in VA. A 7 in VA is not the same as a 7 in DC. Also not the same as a 7 in MD. Apples and oranges.

But I do think it's interesting that the scores in NORTH Arlington are no longer so much higher than South Arlington overall. There are of course some outliers, but I don't think I'd pay six figures more for a house based on a 2 point GS difference. Nope.

This. If you look at absolute test scores and proficiency levels, they are higher at Yorktown than at Wilson. gS scores aren't comparable across states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you look at why? It is because they are failing low income students and the is a large achievement gap. For test scores overall it is still ranked well. I am glad GS changed their ratings.

I did spend quite some time reading about the new GS ratings technique. Regarding so many schools failing FARMS and ESL students, it's puzzling to me as so many different counties and cities school boards have put so much into aiding, not ignoring this problem over the last decade. More $$$, more teachers and aids, smaller class sizes, one on one tutoring, translation specialists who work with students and parents on how to help, support groups and more.

I'm not sure what the problem is that FARM and ESL students haven't seen greater gains on testing, but I don't think it is for lack of effort on the part of Northern Virginia public schools. Could it be that Great Schools is not picking up on ways students are achieving? Is NoVA seeing such a new influx of students each year such that it starts the wheel turning again? Is Common Core itself not succeeding?

I'm in MD, not Virginia, but clicked through because the same thing happened in our area. What I saw this year was that schools that had surged on the basis of magnet (language or test-in) programs suffered in the GS rankings this year, which makes sense because they are investing a lot of resources in a small number of mostly white and Asian middle class kids, and relying on those kids to boost the overall test scores.

So, schools that had focused their energies on luring middle class families took a hit because they actually WEREN'T doing a great job with low income kids and kids of color. However, schools without magnet programs that had taken a "slow and steady" approach to improving student performance actually went up a few points.