Simply put the standards have to be raised for all schools, regardless of demographics. Perhaps that will mean hiring more qualified teachers, having a maximum of 18 kids per classroom, and extra homework as well as mandatory tutoring sessions for struggling students (including ESOL kids). The FCPS needs to reevaluate its priorities and shift the lion's share of it's funding towards ensuring high academic achievement for all students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which one is a "better" school, then?

You mean which one has higher income families? I love the reliance here on FARMS rates whenever we start talking about how good schools are.

It's an unfortunate axiom but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that schools like Chesterbrook or Churchill Road or Great Falls ES or even bursting-at-the-seams Haycock offer a different academic experience than a Lemon Road, a Shrevewood or a Timber Lane. I'm not attacking lower SES families. Rather, I am implicitly putting the onus on FCPS to address the rampant inconsistencies in school curricula and the low expectations for academic achievement in high FARMS schools. Bad teachers aren't retrained or dismissed but sent to lower performing schools where their incompetence is a non-issue. Gotta love unions!

I could just as easily suggest the bad teachers get sent to higher performing schools where their incompetence won't matter, due to the extra help and tutoring that students receive. Are you sharing a theory or an experience? I think it's very dangerous to generalize here.

Send bad teachers to high SES neighborhood schools? Hmmmmmm....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which one is a "better" school, then?

You mean which one has higher income families? I love the reliance here on FARMS rates whenever we start talking about how good schools are.

It's an unfortunate axiom but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that schools like Chesterbrook or Churchill Road or Great Falls ES or even bursting-at-the-seams Haycock offer a different academic experience than a Lemon Road, a Shrevewood or a Timber Lane. I'm not attacking lower SES families. Rather, I am implicitly putting the onus on FCPS to address the rampant inconsistencies in school curricula and the low expectations for academic achievement in high FARMS schools. Bad teachers aren't retrained or dismissed but sent to lower performing schools where their incompetence is a non-issue. Gotta love unions!

I could just as easily suggest the bad teachers get sent to higher performing schools where their incompetence won't matter, due to the extra help and tutoring that students receive. Are you sharing a theory or an experience? I think it's very dangerous to generalize here.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know where you are looking. The school profiles are located here.

http://commweb.fcps.edu/schoolprofile/

The most recent data was compiled by the state as of October 2014 and had Lemon Road at 19% FARMS. Something close to that number should show up eventually on the school profile on the FCPS website. The profiles typically are updated after the current school year ends and before school starts the following year. Shrevewood was closer to 24% FARMS.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/nutrition/statistics/free_reduced_eligibility/2014-2015/schools/frpe_sch_report_sy2014-15.pdf

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Lemon Road has closer to 30% FARMS which is rather high for a school with only 300 kids. I'm now curious about the school boundaries.

Lemon Road now has a 21% farms rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which one is a "better" school, then?

You mean which one has higher income families? I love the reliance here on FARMS rates whenever we start talking about how good schools are.

It's an unfortunate axiom but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that schools like Chesterbrook or Churchill Road or Great Falls ES or even bursting-at-the-seams Haycock offer a different academic experience than a Lemon Road, a Shrevewood or a Timber Lane. I'm not attacking lower SES families. Rather, I am implicitly putting the onus on FCPS to address the rampant inconsistencies in school curricula and the low expectations for academic achievement in high FARMS schools. Bad teachers aren't retrained or dismissed but sent to lower performing schools where their incompetence is a non-issue. Gotta love unions!

I don't know where you are looking. The school profiles are located here.

http://commweb.fcps.edu/schoolprofile/

Actually, Lemon Road has closer to 30% FARMS which is rather high for a school with only 300 kids. I'm now curious about the school boundaries.

Anonymous wrote:Which one is a "better" school, then?

You mean which one has higher income families? I love the reliance here on FARMS rates whenever we start talking about how good schools are.

Both schools have between a 20-25% FARM rate which is below average for FCPS. FCPS has been careful to draw boundaries which keep the FARMS rates of the schools in this area about equal.

Which one is a "better" school, then?

So does Lemon Road
http://m.schooldigger.com/go/VA/schools/0126000522/school.aspx

Anonymous wrote:You mean there isn't a high number of FARMS and ESOL students?

You can look up the percentages. It's not <5% like the McLean schools, but it's not Title I either. It's actually a decent mix of diversity.

You mean there isn't a high number of FARMS and ESOL students?