Anonymous wrote:Will AART look at VALLS score? My son in 2nd Grade got 700( 720 max). Is it good enough? His I ready and NNAT are very good.
Thanks

Your local AART doesn't decide your child's admission to AAP program. Your local AART only prepare your child's packet for the selection committee, who decide who goes into AAP.

Therefore, your question might be: "will AAP committee look at VALLS score?" I don't have kid this year to apply AAP, so check this year's AAP package requirement to see if VALLS is included.

If it is not included, you can mention the VALLS score in AAP referral form, e.g. https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2023-08/aap-fulltimeservicesreferralform-english.pdf

"In the space below, please provide information to explain why the student should be considered for Full-Time AAP services. Include information to support the committee’s understanding of your student’s learning needs. "

Also, while the iReady Reading test at least rendered a percentile, there was a very wide range of scores lumped into the 99th percentile, and teachers were constantly questioning its usefulness.

It's certainly better to be in the 99th percentile (or low risk group for VALLS with a score near the max), but not all 99th percentile kids will be admitted to AAP and certainly "low risk" for VALLS isn't a determiner to qualify for AAP. Maybe like a PP suggested, VALLS could rule out certain kids, but I seriously doubt those kids would have test/HOPE scores to qualify anyway.


FCPS needs to pick a reliable, robust test that works across several grade levels and stick with it, instead of jumping from testing instrument to testing instrument and wasting all the instruction time on testing. That might be a better way to close the gap between URM and other races. Teach more in the classroom, provide more practice in the classroom, more homework assignments, and we won't need to supplement at home.