March 5, 2025 Newsletter
In This Edition:
1. APS Should Send Home Assessment Reports
2. APS Reducing Summer School Despite Ongoing Learning Loss
3. School Board Meeting Recap
4. Happening Soon - Including an upcoming APE Exchange!
APS Should Equitably Communicate Assessment Results to Families
Sending home paper copies of report cards and test assessment results is a simple, practical way for APS to improve equity and academic achievement. Some elementary schools routinely and proactively print and send home these critical academic documents while others do not. APS needs to address this inequity and ensure all families receive timely information about their students’ progress.
The goal of a school system is to educate, and the goal of grades per APS policy is to "communicate goals, progress, and expected outcomes." Report cards and test assessments are the demonstration of this education and children’s attainment of critical skills, such as reading comprehension and math facts. Keeping students and parents informed of a student's progress on these critical life skills should be a top goal—simply printing and sending home these documents is an easy way to achieve this goal.
We encourage APS to address this equity gap and instruct schools to—in addition to posting them in ParentVue—send home paper report cards and test assessments.
Don't forget to take our survey and share what you think of APS' new Standards-Based Grading (SBG) report cards. Read more about SBG here.
APS to Pare Back Summer School Despite Ongoing Learning Loss and Achievement Gaps
This January, APS presented its Annual Summer School Report to the School Board. APS said its remedial K-7 summer program in 2024 produced little academic benefit, and that it would be scaling back in-person summer offerings for elementary students in 2025.
Back Story
In January, APS provided a bleak recap of the results of its 2024 Summer School program. APS said its K-7 problem-based learning (PBL) summer program, Engineering is Elementary, failed to yield benefits for students who attended. While the intention was to help struggling students improve their academic proficiency in literacy and math, APS noted that “There was not much difference in their NWEA scores” in the fall, between students who attended and those who did not.
While disappointing, the chosen pedagogy may have been the issue, since APS chose programming focused on engagement rather than instructional methods backed by empirical evidence for improving learning. Just because a student is engaged in an instructional activity does not mean that student is necessarily learning the target content for the subject area. For instance, research shows that problem-based learning is best suited for students who already have foundational skills (see sources here and here). Conversely, for struggling elementary math students the U.S. Department of Education recommends resources marked by its highest level of evidence-basis, termed “Strong." Struggling students should receive instruction for which “there is consistent evidence that meets WWC standards and…practices [that] improve outcomes for a diverse student population,” including direct instruction, worked examples and timed activities for memorizing math facts (pp2-3, Box 1, Table 1).
However, instead of adjusting the format of its programming to evidence-based instructional methods, APS has instead decided to pare back its in-person summer offerings for elementary students in 2025. The only in-person elementary programs it will provide are i) Pathways to Progress for 250 recently arrived English Learners in K-5, and ii) Extended School Year (ESY) for selected PreK-5 students with IEPs. The remaining elementary students identified as needing support will partake in virtual tutoring or self-paced online courses via the Summer Skills Boost Program, where they will continue intervention work from the school year.
Why It Matters
APS students continue to display significant pandemic-related learning loss. Tragically, in math, APS SOL pass rates in 2023-24 were still down eight percentage points relative to 2018-19 rates. APS needs to ensure that students make up this lost ground; math knowledge builds on itself each year, and a failure to remediate these losses now will leave students without the foundation necessary for future math classes. In-person summer school with a properly chosen curriculum for elementary students is critical to closing this achievement gap.
Our Take
In a tight budget year, APS needs to refocus and direct its resources toward its core mission—ensuring that its graduates are literate and numerate. That includes offering in-person summer remediation to all struggling elementary students. APS could look to Loudoun County Public Schools for ideas; LCPS is offering in-person summer school to all identified elementary students, not just to specific sub-groups. LCPS has also secured industry funding for its Summer Math Discovery Program. APS could also seek out private funding and do whatever it takes to provide more comprehensive—and effective—in-person summer programming in 2025.
February 27th School Board Meeting Recap
Highlights from the meeting include:
Consent agenda approved 5-0, including Safe School Zone Resolution which details how APS schools treat every student regardless of immigration status or background.
Dr. Durán acknowledged the Dear Colleague letter from the from US DOE which says DEI efforts are at odds with longstanding civil rights laws and his concerns about the letter’s potential impact on APS. Dr. Durán defended APS’ DEI practices and showed a video on DEI and culturally responsive teaching.
Your Voice Matter survey is closing soon, community needs to fill it out by March 13th.
APS has transitioned from X to Bluesky because, per APS, engagement on X is largely negative and has significant engagement from outside of APS. (For those of you still on X we will try to repost as much as we can there! Follow us here)
30 speakers participated in public comment; the largest constituency (11) advocated for the Integration Station program, which serves special needs preschoolers and may be discontinued as part of the new budget proposal. (Read more about APS consultant's recommendations for the budget here)
Procedures were added detailing how APS interacts with law enforcement agencies other than ACPD, including requirements that law enforcement present a valid, signed judicial warrant or subpoena or be turned away, which then must be reviewed by Division Counsel.
Read the full recap here.
Happening Soon
Wednesday, March 5, 7:00 – 8:30 PM, ACTL Meeting. Held at the Syphax Building, 2110 Washington Blvd., in conference rooms 452/454/456.
Thursday, March 13, 7:00 PM, School Board Meeting. The Request to Speak form will be posted at 4:00 PM on Friday, March 7, and will remain open until 4:00 PM on Wednesday, March 12. Watch live on Comcast Channel 70 or Verizon Channel 41.
Friday, March 14, 1:00 PM, Joint School Board and County Board Budget Work Session. Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Room 307.
Monday, March 17, 6:45 - 7:45 PM, APE Exchange to discuss APS Devices with a social after nearby! Central Library, Quincy Room
Monday, March 17, 6:00 – 8:00 PM, Open Office Hours with Board Member Zuraya Tapia-Hadley. Virtual. Sign up on the APS homepage.
Tuesday, March 25, 1:00 – 2:30 PM, Budget Work Session #1. School Board Work Session. Syphax Education Center, 2110 Washington Blvd. Watch live.
Tuesday, March 25, 2:45 – 4:00 PM, Budget Work Session #2. School Board Work Session. Syphax Education Center, 2110 Washington Blvd. Watch live.
Thursday, March 27, 7:00 PM, School Board Meeting. The Request to Speak form will be posted at 4:00 PM on Friday, March 21, and will remain open until 4:00 PM on Wednesday, March 26. Watch live on Comcast Channel 70 or Verizon Channel 41.
