Are option schools in Arlington reducing or exacerbating FARMS distribution

[Anonymous]

I realized with the new data that APS published last night on 'resident' FARMS students, that I could reverse out the number of FARMS students who transfer as compared to the number of non-FARMS students who transfer out of a given zone. I thought others might be interested.

Abingdon- 114 FARMS transfers- 432 total transfers.

Barcroft- 56 FARMS Transfers- 322 total transfers.

Henry 25 FARMS Transfers- 110 total transfers.

Long Branch- 17 FARMS transfers 181 total transfers

Oakridge 42 FARMS transfers 220 total transfers

Randolph 1 FARMS transfer 166 total transfers

[Anonymous]

So that means all of these schools would have a lower overall FARMS rate with no transfers, correct? I had no idea the transfer rate was so high. That's another problem with drawing boundaries.

[Anonymous]

I had the same thought as you OP and was going to post this morning. I have thought this for a while about option schools and now have numbers to show it. Look at drew zoned numbers. Believe they are 100% non-fr/l transfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had the same thought as you OP and was going to post this morning. I have thought this for a while about option schools and now have numbers to show it. Look at drew zoned numbers. Believe they are 100% non-fr/l transfers.

I left Drew and Hoffman-Boston off b/c of the preschool problem. The official FARMS report includes preschoolers. The data APS published last night is just k-5. So when you look at the Drew and Hoffman-Boston data, they actually have a higher FARMS rate then there 'resident' FARMS rate. I don't think they are importing FARMS students I think it is the additional preschoolers.

[Anonymous]

But yes- this data strongly suggests that the option schools are exacerbating segregration, not reducing it. Because it allows the more resourced families who live in the high FARMS area to transfer out- leaving the FARMS rate even higher.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this has been well-known for a while. When people argue for expanding option programs, most of the time what they’re really arguing for is giving more ways for UMC whites in SA to get away from their less-affluent brown/black peers.

[Anonymous]

stopping transfers out of Barcroft would bring the FARMS rate down to 51%. It would bring Randolph down to 67%. Those are much better numbers then they have now.

[Anonymous]

These numbers can’t be correct.
Randolph is sending a high number of ELL students ( who are also Frl recipients) to Claremont.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So that means all of these schools would have a lower overall FARMS rate with no transfers, correct? I had no idea the transfer rate was so high. That's another problem with drawing boundaries.

Doesn’t it also mean that all these schools would be tremendously overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realized with the new data that APS published last night on 'resident' FARMS students, that I could reverse out the number of FARMS students who transfer as compared to the number of non-FARMS students who transfer out of a given zone. I thought others might be interested.

Abingdon- 114 FARMS transfers- 432 total transfers.

Barcroft- 56 FARMS Transfers- 322 total transfers.

Henry 25 FARMS Transfers- 110 total transfers.

Long Branch- 17 FARMS transfers 181 total transfers

Oakridge 42 FARMS transfers 220 total transfers

Randolph 1 FARMS transfer 166 total transfers

Can you describe your arithmetic? I think the interpretation is plausible but you'd expect to see stronger effects at schools with higher farms rates if "fleeing" holds water. Also, Oakridge and Henry have themselves lower farms rates than the option schools ... so what are those families "fleeing"?

You'd also want to know which schools are just transferring a lot of kids as a proportion of resident total, rich or poor - and that would point to things like neighborhood preference for option schools . Then there is spanish immersion, which further complicates the analysis since it was actually designed not as a way to escape economic diversity but to encourage it; that is why Key became immersion in 1986, to get white families back into the school.

So I think the "fleeing" explanation is a factor there are a lot of variables that make quantifying it messy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So that means all of these schools would have a lower overall FARMS rate with no transfers, correct? I had no idea the transfer rate was so high. That's another problem with drawing boundaries.

Doesn’t it also mean that all these schools would be tremendously overcrowded.

If option programs didn’t exist those building could be turned into more neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These numbers can’t be correct.
Randolph is sending a high number of ELL students ( who are also Frl recipients) to Claremont.

I doubt it. They are sending some. Claremont has 35 VPI students. I would imagine that some of those come from Randolph and some come from Abingdon. They then continue on through the grades at Claremont. But it appears that Claremont is taking even more non- FARMS students from Randolph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, this has been well-known for a while. When people argue for expanding option programs, most of the time what they’re really arguing for is giving more ways for UMC whites in SA to get away from their less-affluent brown/black peers.

Option schools are open to everyone and APS makes a lot of effort to publicize the opportunities to everyone, offers free transportation, etc.

Also, they allow UMC whites in NA the opportunity to go to MORE diverse schools than they otherwise would.

ATS does has a specific, consistent approach to education. The Montessori model is unique. Immersion is immersion. It's not like people are just choicing to a random other school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I realized with the new data that APS published last night on 'resident' FARMS students, that I could reverse out the number of FARMS students who transfer as compared to the number of non-FARMS students who transfer out of a given zone. I thought others might be interested.

Abingdon- 114 FARMS transfers- 432 total transfers.

Barcroft- 56 FARMS Transfers- 322 total transfers.

Henry 25 FARMS Transfers- 110 total transfers.

Long Branch- 17 FARMS transfers 181 total transfers

Oakridge 42 FARMS transfers 220 total transfers

Randolph 1 FARMS transfer 166 total transfers

Can you describe your arithmetic? I think the interpretation is plausible but you'd expect to see stronger effects at schools with higher farms rates if "fleeing" holds water. Also, Oakridge and Henry have themselves lower farms rates than the option schools ... so what are those families "fleeing"?

You'd also want to know which schools are just transferring a lot of kids as a proportion of resident total, rich or poor - and that would point to things like neighborhood preference for option schools . Then there is spanish immersion, which further complicates the analysis since it was actually designed not as a way to escape economic diversity but to encourage it; that is why Key became immersion in 1986, to get white families back into the school.

So I think the "fleeing" explanation is a factor there are a lot of variables that make quantifying it messy.

I'm happy to 'show my work.' This table gives 'resident' FARMS students- https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/School-Level-Data-Table-Revised-October-2018.pdf

These table gives 'enrolled' FARMS students- https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/FREE-REDUCED-OCTOBER-31-2017.pdf
Resident subtracted by enrolled gives you the number of resident farms students who are transferring out.
Transfer report gives total number of transfer students- https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Transfer-Report-2017-18.pdf

[Anonymous]

Thanks for doing the updated math. When more than 50% of kids in a school zone transfer out, that indicates a problem. Might help to target where option schools should go. That is, if we keep options. At Elementary, outside of immersion, options are making segregation worse.