November 5, 2025 Newsletter
In This Edition:
1. Make Your Voice Heard TODAY - Support Raising Cut Scores
2. APS Working Group Voices Support for Eliminating ACTL Subcommittees
3. APS Considers Applying Science of Learning to Math
4. Monique "Moe" Bryant Wins APS School Board Election
5. What's Happening Soon
APE Supports Raising Virginia’s Low SOL Cut Scores
Urgent: Make Your Voice Count Before Tomorrow’s Noon Deadline - Submit Your Comment to VDOE in Support of Raising Virginia’s Low Cut Scores
APE recently submitted a letter to Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera, State Superintendent Emily Anne Gullickson, and the Board of Education voicing strong support for the new proposed Math and Reading cut scores as well as articulating preferences regarding certain implementation issues. Read the full letter here.
The Background: Per the U.S. Department of Education, Virginia has the lowestproficiency cut scores for Math and Reading in the nation (tied with one other state). The Math and Reading cut scores were lowered by the Board of Education in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Virginia Board of Education will likely soon approve a plan to raise them.
To give schools time to adjust, the State Board will approve either a 4- or 5-year phase-in process for the new proficiency cut scores at its next meeting. The State Board is also adding a temporary category titled “Approaching” between the new intermediate level and the higher proficiency level to help facilitate the phase-in. This increase has been endorsed by the leading educational civil rights group, The Education Trust, among many others.
Why It Matters: Virginia adopted new, more rigorous Math and Reading standards in 2023 and 2024, respectively. As part of a 3-year process, the Virginia Board of Education voted last month to set a new intermediate threshold and significantly increase the proficiency threshold (aka cut scores) on Math and Reading SOL exams to levels consistent with “the nation’s report card,” the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The Bottom Line: These new cut scores will raise academic standards while also providing more nuanced and actionable information to parents, teachers and the community about children’s academic progress.
Virginia has a massive “honesty gap” (defined as the difference between state-reported proficiency rates and those set by NAEP). For instance, on NAEP’s 4th grade math test in 2024, Maryland had a 38% proficiency rate while Virginia had a 40% proficiency rate.In contrast, on their respective state math assessments for the 2024-25 school year, 4th graders in Maryland had a 35% proficiency rate while Virginia 4th graders had a 73% proficiency rate.
What’s Next: The Board of Education will meet next week to decide on the implementation period of these new cut scores.
We understand that VDOE plans to delay any increases to SOL cut scores until the 2026–27 school year. Even then, the first year of increases would be minimal, leaving Virginia’s passing thresholds among the lowest in the nation. We urge VDOE to begin raising cut scores this school year instead. Incremental progress toward higher standards should not be delayed any further.
You can submit your comments to the VDOE here until Thursday, November 6th at noon.
APS Working Group Voices Support for Eliminating All Standing ACTL Subcommittees
An APS working group voiced support via a vote on October 28th for eliminating the standing subcommittees of the Advisory Council on Teaching and Learning (ACTL) (except those required by VA statue). These subcommittees focus on specific content areas and student populations and were the driving force behind a number of APS’ academic policies, including Science of Reading and Away for the Day, and establishing Middle School Intensified courses. Recent ACTL and APS community surveys showed overwhelming opposition to the proposed elimination of these standing ACTL subcommittees.
Background
APS commissioned a working group last year to review the School Board Advisory Committees. One of these committees is ACTL, which reviews APS curriculum and instruction. The main ACTL committee has roughly 50 volunteers who maintain ongoing dialogue between their school communities and APS.
The subcommittees of ACTL focus on fifteen specific content areas and student populations, including English & Language Arts, Math, English Learners, Advanced Learners, and Students with Disabilities. The subcommittees are composed of another 150+ volunteers who develop policies to enhance instruction and make recommendations to ACTL and the School Board.
At an upcoming School Board Work Session, the APS working group plans to voice its support for ending these standing ACTL subcommittees, in order to increase focus on Strategic Plan goals. If these subcommittees were to be closed, APS would be turning away 150+ volunteers who are content experts and who are currently working on ways to improve Tier 1 Instruction across APS schools. This change would take place at a time when APS SOL scores have stagnated and the new Virginia accountability system—which emphasizes content mastery—is taking effect. Under the current formulation, the ACTL itself will also shift its focus from informing school families to working on ad-hoc topics. We think this puts the working group proposal at odds with APS’ Strategic Plan goal to “strengthen and develop partnerships built on trust with students, families … to support student learning.”
Public Response
The public response to the option of ending all standing ACTL subcommittees has been overwhelmingly negative. According to the ACTL survey, no ACTL member supported the elimination of all standing subcommittees; 90% of respondents supported retaining at least some standing subcommittees and 10% preferred another alternative. In an APS survey of roughly 200 parents, staff, and community members, 70% of respondents did not support eliminating all standing ACTL subcommittees, believing instead that at least some subcommittees should be kept. ACTL subcommittee chairs have also opposed the proposal.
What’s Different Now
APS made a similar proposal to scale back the ACTL subcommittees in 2017 but ended up withdrawing the proposal in deference to the widely negative feedback it received. This time, however, the APS working group chose to ignore the overwhelmingly negative public feedback and will voice support for ending all standing ACTL subcommittees nonetheless.
What’s Next
On November 18 from 9:00 - 10:30am, The School Board is scheduled to host a work session on the APS working group’s proposals, which includes the proposal to eliminate all standing ACTL subcommittees. If you have thoughts on this proposal, please email School Board members.
APS Considering Applying Science of Learning
Principles to Math Instruction
APS presented its Math and Science Monitoring Report at the 10/23 School Board Meeting where it described its plan to apply Science of Learning principles to instruction in math and other content areas. We commend APS for undertaking this exploration of the Science of Learning approach. The stagnation of APS Math SOL scores (especially for English Learners and Students with Disabilities) since the COVID decline shows that the current APS approach to math instruction is not serving our students as well as it could. Only 13% of APS schools showed growth on the MAP Math assessment in 2024-25 compared to 59% posting growth on the MAP Reading Assessment.
APS has embraced the Science of Reading and its emphasis on building firm foundational skills through explicit phonics instruction. It is time to apply this Science of Learning strategy to math as well. APS needs to ensure that students have solid skills in math facts and procedures so that students have the foundation needed for math success through the entire school progression. Increasing the amount of direct instruction and use of worked examples in class, and offering age-appropriate homework to reinforce skills learned at school, will help build this foundation.
The US Dept of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse has outlined the benefits of such an approach for struggling elementary math students. However, these approaches benefit all students, since higher-level math requires a solid command of foundational concepts. We give kudos to APS for exploring ways to reshape its math instruction around Science of Learning principles.
Monique "Moe" Bryant Wins APS School Board Election
Moe Bryant won this week’s election for the Arlington Public Schools School Board with approximately 67% of the vote. She will be sworn in on January 1, 2026.
We look forward to collaborating with Ms. Bryant to advance educational excellence, accountability, transparency and high expectations for all learners, ensuring that every student in Arlington has access to rigorous academics, evidenced-based instruction and a supportive learning environment.
Learn more about her platform and vision for APS at her website.
