November 20, 2025
In This Edition:
1. What We're Reading
2. Parent Tip: Family Report for MAP Testing
3. School Board Meeting Recap, October 23
4. School Board Meeting Recap, November 13
5. Open Policies: Make Your Voice Heard
6. Happening Soon
What We’re Reading
Higher SOL cut scores coming (Virginia Mercury)
The Virginia Board of Education endorsed a four-year phased plan to raise [math and reading SOL cut scores]…to better align…with the rigor of the National Assessment of Educational Progress…[In support,] Mim Luangraj, a resident in Arlington, said parents — including those from working families and those who speak English as a second language — likely do not know where standards should be set for college and career readiness. “As a product of that community and on behalf of those that can’t advocate for their own children, I’m here today to say it’s crucial that their children receive an education at schools with high academic expectations and real opportunity — because for many of them, that’s the only place they’ll get it,” Luangraj said.
In Virginia, Newly Elected Governor Inherits School Improvement Push (The74 Million)
Among the top priorities listed in [Spanberger’s] 10-page policy plan is a commitment to upholding academic rigor by making student outcomes more transparent to families…[S]lumping student achievement had preceded COVID’s emergence by several years, but was masked by the lowering of cut scores for proficiency on state tests in 2019 and 2021; strikingly, that decision was reached even as most other states around the country were raising their own proficiency bar…[Spanberger’s plan] specifically mentions not just [her support for] the implementation of tougher school accountability measures, but also changes to state tests “to ensure that parents and educators have the best information possible to improve student performance.”...[S]upport for higher standards is considered likely to hold steady.
The Digitization of American Schooling (The American Enterprise)
According to an Education Week survey, 55 percent of American students spend between one to four hours of class time on screens, and 27 percent of students spend five hours this way…They practice math problems on the latest learning app. They read literature online. They log into digital textbooks and answer questions on virtual forms. They turn in assignments on learning-management software systems. They watch videos in history class. They play online games if they finish an assignment early. From bell to bell, our students are staring at and interacting not with books, classmates, teachers, papers, and pencils, but with laptops and tablets. Instead of providing moments of relief from screen addiction, schools are leading drivers of it.
Small-Group Reading Instruction Is Not as Effective as You Think (EdWeek)
With time so limited [in a small-group model], teachers have to devote almost all those 25 minutes to phonics and foundational skills. This means critical elements of literacy are likely to be mostly or entirely ignored. Only miniscule amounts of time are left for explicit instruction in the other indispensable elements of literacy—like reading and being read to and lessons in fluency, vocabulary, prosody, knowledge acquisition, discussion, and writing…Is the small-group model truly superior to whole-class teaching for either reading or foundational literacy skills? Alas, no. We need not abandon small-group instruction but should employ it sparingly—and strategically. By doing so, we would increase the amount of instruction at least threefold, overnight. It would allow every child to spend much more time reading with purpose and building reading stamina; acquiring knowledge and vocabulary; writing and learning to write and participating in meaningful discussions—every day, all year. Joined with serious teacher training in effective whole-class instruction, we could reasonably expect to see unprecedented improvements in early-grade literacy acquisition, with tremendous subsequent benefits across all courses and grade levels.
American Students are Getting Dumber (The74 Million)
[I]n the N.C.L.B. era of accountability at the bottom, all students were improving! In the post-N.C.L.B. era, the best students are doing okay and the weakest students are in crisis…[E]ven if schools drop the ball, the best students wind up doing okay thanks to a blend of natural ability, self-motivation, and parental supplementation. But when you hold schools accountable for results at the bottom, they have no choice but to pay attention to instruction methods that work, which has positive results for basically all students.
Parents Helping Parents: Tips for Navigating APS
MAP Testing Family Report
We wanted to make sure everyone knows that APS teachers can pull a "Family Report" for the MAP Growth test. This report dives much deeper into the data and provides a projected SOL score for your student. We have been advocating with APS to add this feature to ParentVue and to have every school print and distribute it at parent/teacher conferences. They have informed us that they are working with the vendor to add this to ParentVue, but we currently do not have an expected timeline. In the meantime, we recommend asking your student's classroom teacher to send it to you if you did not receive it during your Parent/Teacher conference. Our steering committee members have found it very useful!
We Watch the School Board Meetings So You Don’t Have To
Top Four Takeaways from the
November 13, 2025 School Board Meeting
Chronic Absenteeism & Disciplinary Trends: APS’s first-quarter monitoring report showed reductions in overall chronic absenteeism rates compared with last year, yet significant over-representation persists among Hispanic students, English Learners, and Students with Disabilities
Final fiscal close-out & CIP quarterly update The fiscal close-out revealed a reserve level around 4.8 % of operating budget and an unqualified audit opinion. The CIP quarterly report was included in the agenda.
Updates to the Secondary Programs of Studies and course offerings in middle/high schools: Staff presented modifications to the Program of Studies including the addition of “intensified” options in 8th and 6th grade (e.g., world geography, disciplinary literacy) and open-enrollment models.
Delay of final action on the CIP direction until December-18 meeting A notable agenda update: the Board will act on the Superintendent’s proposed CIP direction at the December 18 board meeting, allowing more time for discussion and community input
Read the full recap here.
Happening Soon
Wednesday, December 3, 8:30 AM - Policy Subcommittee Meeting, Syphax Education Center, School Board Conference Room Suite 260
Friday, December 12, 8:00 AM - Audit Committee Meeting, Syphax Education Center, School Board Conference Room Suite 260
Wednesday, December 17, 8:30 AM - Policy Subcommittee Meeting, Syphax Education Center, School Board Conference Room Suite 260
Thursday, December 18, 7:00 PM – School Board Meeting. Syphax Education Center, 2110 Washington Blvd. Sign up to speak Watch live
