On the Eve of a New Year

The last two weeks of December 2008 present the same feeling as climbing the initial hill on a roller coaster. It’s pretty quiet, no meetings, not much email traffic, few phone calls. But each passing day clicks by ominously, bringing us closer to the most challenging year that a Loudoun School Board has ever faced. In a week the Superintendent will unveil the coming impact of the budget crisis. At the same time as it tackles the budget the Board will begin boundary adjustments that will affect fully half of our County. I have spent this time readying for the work to come in several ways, including reviewing my past writings on this blog.

The blog is a key part of my public service, my contribution to open government. I started it several weeks after joining the school board, and have posted 276 entries in that time. Looking back over those entries there is a clear evolution from my first year to the second. Where 2007’s posts were largely informational, 2008 was an occasionally contentious year. My posts reflected that reality by strongly advocating for a continued commitment to excellent public education in budget and land use.

Looking ahead, it is time for this blog to evolve again. This year’s challenges of budgeting and boundaries are so severe that they call not for territorial advocacy but sober, clear-eyed commitment. The people I write this blog for, the residents of my district, want to know where we're going and how we're going to handle the challenges. They need to know how the changes they’re reading about at the state and national levels will affect their children in the classroom. I don’t have all the answers, but I can let you know what the questions are, how I’m approaching them, and ask for your input as we move forward together.

Grading Scale: Rebuttal Against a Change

It's been a week thoroughly exploring the grading scale through the eyes of two Loudoun parents. The final word today goes to our parent advocating against a change in the current 7-point grading scale. Click here for the full rebuttal (it's brief), excerpts are below. You'll see that each parent continues to advocate for a numeric-only scale as a good compromise. When Fairfax releases its study I hope that it will address this question, and I look forward to the LCPS Administration analysis of a numeric-only option. Enjoy the holiday!

I am glad to see that despite two very differing points of view we agree that reporting numeric scores is the fairest system of reporting grades. Perhaps this is worth serious consideration as a possible solution.

I do not believe that there is any nationally accepted standard. Many grade scales exist.

The retention and graduation rate issue is not really a factor. Per the Virginia Department of Education, the state rate for on-time graduation is 81%. Loudoun County far exceeds that with a rate of 92.6%. (Fairfax County’s rate is 91.2%). Ideally the rate would be 100%, but with the rate so high anyway it is hard to imagine that it would rise dramatically with a grade scale change.

A change in grade scale may possibly raise certain student’s Grade Point Averages; however only 10% of students can be in the top 10%, only 25% can be in the top quarter, etc. A school such as UVa, which accepts mostly students from the top 10 %, will continue to do so, negating any benefit of the higher grades.

Grading Scale: Rebuttal in Favor

This week I've been bringing you opposing perspectives on the question of the LCPS grading scale. First from a parent in favor of the change, then from a parent opposed to it. I'm very grateful that each of these parents is engaged enough in the issue to take the time to write about it at length. One of the frustrations of policy debates is often that we only hear from one side at a time, so each side can sometimes talk about an entirely different set of issues than the other.

At my request, each of the parents who wrote on the opposing side was given a copy of the other's analysis, and I asked them each to respond to the other's poins of view. In my experience this is where the most substantive discussion happens, and I definitely found it to be the case in this instance as our two debaters found something to agree on. Today I offer the response of the parent in favor of a 10-point grading scale to the letter opposing the scale that was featured yesterday. Excerpts are below, the full rebuttal is here. Each writer put considerable time and thought into their positions and I hope that everyone who is seriously engaged in this issue will take the time to read the full documents and understand the opposing point of view.

*CON’s concern applies only to high performing students, when in fact we can help all Loudoun students by using the 10 point scale and publishing numeric scores, or just publishing numeric scores. This will facilitate national and international comparisons and distinguish excellence.

CON’s complaint: The “Fairgrade” scale is about pursuing college admissions, but college admissions committees already make adjustments to compensate for Loudoun’s divergent grading scale.

Reality check: INCORRECT. Nothing could be further from the truth. Few schools have any means of converting grades; most admit that they take grades right from the transcript; and those that say otherwise, but nonetheless offer minimum GPAs for admission/scholarships, either aren’t being accurate, or don’t understand the question. As I explain at length in my PRO submission, there is no incentive for college admissions committees to know of, or figure out, differences in grading systems. There is simply no incentive to figure out, or convert, grades on a Loudoun transcript.

The spirit of CON’s concern is entirely addressed by moving to the 10 point scale and publishing numeric scores, or just publishing numeric scores. Indeed, this gives us harmonization, which is crucial if our students are to be compared fairly to their real (versus within-district) cohort, and the kind of differences within each letter grade bracket that CON is worried about. That’s why either solution is win-win.

The good news is that there is a solution that will address both CON’s concern and help all Loudoun students in the process: switch to the 10 point scale and publish numeric scores, or just publish numeric scores. I am delighted to see CON agree with me on this point. To quote CON’s submission, “If a change is made, my suggestion is that it be replaced by one in which no letter grades are given.” Indeed, such a system would go to the heart of CON’s misguided concern about grade inflation, and thus presents us with a win-win proposition. True, CON still pleads to retain the status quo, but this is because CON has mistakenly identified the numeric score-only grading system as a compromise, when in fact it is an optimal solution to the problem facing Loudoun.

Grading Scale: Case Against Change

Continuing on with this weeks' theme, I bring to you today a look at why some parents want to keep the current LCPS grading scale. Below are excerpts from the best of the cases made so far in favor of the current scale, read the complete analysis here.

The top students are the ones who stand to lose.

Take for example, three students in a class who have number grades of 99, 95 and 90. Under the current grade scale these students will receive an A+, A and B+ respectively. Under the “Fairgrade” scale the students will all receive the grade of A. The clear loser here is the top student. His/her extra effort is no longer rewarded. And what about the students who have worked very hard to achieve a grade of 85%? Now these students see that others who have achieved an 80% will be rewarded with the same grade. I believe that in most cases students will work toward the grade scale in place.

NHS requires a GPA of 3.25 or higher for initiation. At Potomac Falls High School, approximately 39% of students in the class of 2008 graduated with a final GPA of 3.3 or higher. Requiring students to be in the top 1/3 of the class is that stringent a requirement. 12% of the Potomac Falls High School graduating class had a final GPA of 4.0 or higher.

If a change is made, my suggestion is that it be replaced by one in which no letter grades are given. The students would be given number grades in academic classes. Pass/fail would be awarded in classes such as PE, Art, Music etc. as these classes are often difficult to grade numerically and are not considered by the colleges for admission and merit scholarships. Class ranks should continue to be reported as this provides additional information to the college admissions staff and serves to further reward our top achievers.

Grading Scale: Case for Change

Today I am giving you not my words but those of a parent in favor of changing the LCPS grading scale. See yesterday's post for a little background. Below are excerpts, click here for the full analysis.

Summary:

• Our county’s 7 point scale diverges from the de facto national standard, which is the 10 point scale.

• This puts Loudoun students at a serious disadvantage when applying to college because their transcripts are arbitrarily less impressive and out of synch with their SAT scores.

• Harmonizing on the 10 point scale will ensure true comparisons with students from across the country and abroad.
  

• There are two ways to harmonize and credibly signal excellence: base letter grades on the 10 point scale and report numeric scores on transcripts, or just report numeric scores.
  

The question of which grading system to use is a standards problem. They raise the costs, in terms of effort and resources, of searching on the quality of their goods and services. Because these search costs can be substantial, businesses seek to lower them by adopting harmonized standards.

School districts across the US have come to the same conclusion: harmonization is the way to level the playing field and get rid of the technical barriers that divergent grading systems create. Indeed, college admissions committees have no incentive to incur the search costs involved in trying to figure out the quality of students who are graded on a 7 point scale, assuming they even realize that the student has been graded on a 7 point scale in the first place.

Divergent grading scales are lost on [admissions committees] making the decisions. While parents hope that universities know about the quality of their school system, committees can’t possibly be aware of, or have the resources to adjust for, differences in grading scales across the country.

It is important, in this regard, to recognize that harmonizing on the 10 point scale will help all of our students, not just those applying to elite colleges. To be sure, Loudoun students on the cusp of gaining admission to larger public schools with Bs and Cs will benefit as much, if not more.

Seen for what it is—a standards problem—there really isn’t much of a debate to be had about moving to a 10 point grading scale. The sooner we recognize this, the faster we can ensure that all of our children fully capitalize on the quality education they receive in Loudoun.

Tomorrow I will present the case made by a parent in favor of keeping the current scale.

Grading Scale: Cases for and Against a Change

While the School Board and LCPS Administration has primarily focused on budget issues this fall, the biggest issue for parents seems to be the LCPS grading scale. Loudoun currently grades on a 7-point scale, meaning that an A spans seven percentage points, a B spans seven points, etcetera. See the details on the chart below.

Letter	Percentage	GPA
A+	98-100	4.3
A	93-97	4.0
B+	90-92	3.3
B	85-89	3.0
C+	82-84	2.3
C	77-81	2.0
D+	74-76	1.3
D	70-73	1.0
F	69 & below	0.0

A group of parents in Loudoun advocates for a 10-point scale, where 90s are As, 80s are Bs etcetera. Instead of explaining their case here, I'll point you to their website: FairGradeLoudoun.org.

Fairfax parents raised this question first with their own grading scale. The Fairfax school administration embarked on a year-long study of the issue, still overdue. I wrote about this earlier in the year and said that I would wait until Fairfax County completed their year-long study of the issue. Not the Fairfax decision, just the Fairfax data. Fairfax is a little late in publishing the study but I have received some good analysis both for and against the change from two Loudoun County parents. I got their permission to publish their writing, and also asked them to respond to each other's outlook. For the rest of this week, this space will feature their writing on the question instead of mine.

Monday will be the writing of a parent in favor of the change.
Tuesday will be the writing of a parent opposed to the change.
Wednesday will feature the response of the parent in favor.
Thursday will feature the response of the parent opposed.

I hope everyone will find this valuable.

Early Comment & Complaints

I was contacted by a parent yesterday who submitted a complaint back in September, three months after the Comments & Complains Policy (8-10) was passed by the Board. The complaint form wasn't available at the time and the question came up about whether the new policy governed her complaint.

The long and short of it is that complaints are only subject to the rules of the policy if submitted using the form. The form was not available until the last week of October. Therefore, if you submitted a complaint prior to the form being published, you were not entitled to a confirmation of receipt within 5 days, or a response within 30 days as the policy requires. Additionally, your complaint was not added to the statistics that will be reported to the Board semi-annually.

The flip side is that if you were to now re-submit your complaint using the form, it must be considered a new complaint subject to all of the applicable rules in the policy, and to statistical tracking.

Joint Committee Wraps up its First Year

This afternoon at 4pm, the Joint Committee of the Loudoun County School Board and Board of Supervisors meets in Leesburg. (The link leads to the Committee's documents). This being the last meeting of the first year of this committee, I thought I'd look back to see where we started, perhaps it will shine some light on where we are now. The quotes below are from the official transcript (labeled minutes as a document). I have done minor editing for space and when the transcriber slipped into third-person mode.

Supervisor Sally Kurtz assumed the role of Chairman of the committee in January, over the objections of the School Board members who felt the committee should be jointly chaired by our senior representative, At-Large member Tom Reed. Read the opening statements of the first meeting's transcript:

S. Kurtz: (Calling the meeting to order). I am chairman of the joint committee and Tom Reed is the Vice Chairman. I welcome everyone in the meeting. I ask members and staff present to make an introduction.

T. Reed: I know we are to talk about this, but an early issue was when Chairman Dupree talked to Chairman York…they are to be called as co chairs. I don’t know if this would be an issue…

S. Kurtz: It is not really an issue for me, but we could bring this up when we discuss the issue of collaboration and the purpose of the committee. I am certainly willing to discuss this.

(Then, later on)

S. Kurtz: I am pretty easy and intend to run the agenda with Tom and review the Minutes with Tom, and have everything that come out of this to be available seven days ahead of time to give people a chance to review. I am hoping to get a good flow on this. If this committee is not making decisions that could be forwarded to the School Board or the Board of Supervisors on ways to improve this game, I do not want to play. I am hoping and ask Tom if there is still a role issue regarding the structure of the committee and its purpose.

T. Reed: By the end of the night I think this can be resolved.

This was never discussed again. The topic never came up, and from that point forward Supervisor Kurtz has chaired, and Mr. Reed has played the role of Vice Chair. This may seem a small point. I think it's illustrative of the relationship between the two Boards.

Below, what the various members hoped for at the beginning of the year:

Priscilla Godfrey, School Board, Blue Ridge District, Democrat:

I think the two governing bodies need to work more closely when it comes to financing and capital improvement and operating budget, 2) need to work together in the acquisition of school sites that meets the specification of the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning requirements of the County. This is a sub committee, and no decision should be made without both parties participating in full. On the other hand, I feel this committee could lay the ground work for those areas that I have enumerated in which we do share responsibilities.

John Stevens, School Board, Potomac District, Democrat:

What is key for the committee is to develop a familiarity with each other, communication styles, so it would be easier to bring up difficult issues between the boards. The greatest benefit is that communication would be open. I want to commit a solid year. Right now the two boards are in a stressful stage. At this time next year, if they feel that this is still an important meeting to have, then they have made a lot of progress and will continue to move forward. If we are in this point next year and dread to come to this meeting, it is probably not working out.

Susan Buckley, Supervisor, Sugarland Run, Democrat

I am excited to be part of the committee and see this as an opportunity to create a new and improved working relationship between the Board of Supervisors and School Board. I see this as an opportunity to build collaborative relationship and that to be successful; there would be bumps along the road. To be successful there are three things: 1) we need to come to the table with an open mind, 2) we need to leave excess baggage outside and not bring it on the table; and 3) it has been perceived in the past, true or not, that the Board of Supervisors sometimes are seen as being on the offense and the School Board are often seen being on the defense. For this committee to be successful, both boards have to abandon those positions.

Kelly Burk, Supervisor, Leesburg, Democrat

I hope that the committee would accomplish a less rancorous budget process. It is so harmful every year when we go though this process. Everybody is working with the intent of what is best for the kids, then when comes here it is what is most affordable. If we work it out before, maybe it would not be so rancorous and maybe we won’t be on opposite sides at the end of the day.

Jim Burton, Supervisor, Blue Ridge, Independent

Is this going to make a difference? Will things be different if we get together and talk about things? There is a good chance that some things might change and I am willing to try it. I look forward to a dialogue, but we are not going to agree on a lot of things. I hope to get over the disagreements. It is my assessment that the relationship between the two boards has improved over the last eight years even though the financial situation has been up and down. I hope the board would find a better understanding and agreement on what they could afford to spend in building these schools. I think these concerns are fallen on deaf ears lately. The two boards have some fundamental differences. I am willing to give this a try and will keep an open mind. I am a little skeptical as to whether or not something useful will come out of this and I probably should not be. I look to the last year that Priscilla and I have spent with the Western School Task Force. The way this group dealt with each other at the beginning, but over time, by the end of the year, a genuine communication started to occur; even the mayors felt the same way. If this group can come out in six months or a year with the same feeling, I will consider that a success. I don’t know if we can change the basic fundamental things between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors when it comes to money. They should recognize that there will be differences in opinion.

Tom Reed, School Board, At-Large, Republican

The School Board is all about educating kids. The School Board is just a small sliver of what the school system is involved with the Board of Supervisors, except when you summarize it the word is money. The School Board does not have this autonomy and they have to come to the Board of Supervisors for this. I hope to have this dialogue and have an understanding of their goals. I have a copy to all Board members of the School Board’s goals. If we agreed on goals, if these are common goals it would eliminate a lot of issues. I hope the discussion would be kept in an adult level and that at the end of the day, they should remember that this is all about the children.

Sally Kurtz, Supervisor, Catoctin, Democrat

I have been in this for eight years and believe that they need to be at the table. I don’t need to be at the table the way they’ve been at the table for eight years. The only reason that the School Board is at the table is because they need money. Otherwise, they will have no contact with the Board of Supervisors. If it weren’t for budget and land use, we’d be out of your hair. I would say, even as we look at this committee in the way that it has been set up…I hope the committee would be open minded and that they would make some good progress in recognizing the collaboration of what they already do.I am very much interested in the concept on fiscal clarity. I have been in the Board for eight years, but was unable to understand the School Board budget. I could not figure out how the money was spent when looking at the School Board budget. I hope the committee could discuss having a budget document where average people could easily understand it. I believe we will be doing a lot of research on ways to do new things. The Board of Supervisors is being perceived as on the offensive and the School Board being on the defensive. I see this committee as a new animal and the added member of the EDC will be part of this to bring a business perspective to this committee. I am excited to see something new and different, not what they’ve had before. I hope we have another vision than what was done in the past.

I took a peek at the January '08 committee documents. There are four. Three of them pertain to Wake County, NC public schools. See our agenda for the December meeting and you'll see more documents about Wake County. To my knowledge, nobody from the School Board has ever been asked whether Wake County, NC is an appropriate subject for discussion or point of comparison. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but one would think that this would be at least an established point of agreement before committing time and resources to it. As it happens, I don't think we've ever actually reviewed these documents. I don't know anything more about Wake County, NC than I did in January. Draw your own conclusions.

We have produced very little in the way of work product. A recommendation on energy efficiency that never made it to our full boards. Kudos from the Supervisors to one of our schools. What didn't we discuss? Lenah & Rouse, the two giant elephants in the room. The one tangible success did stem from those land use train wrecks: a subcommittee of three that worked out a revised land approval process that hopes to avoid future train wrecks.

Nevertheless from my perspective, now as in January, this Joint Committee has been very important for the simple fact that the two Boards now know each other better. Judging from his remarks in January Mr. Burton hopefully feels the same way based on the same criteria (I hope he isn't mad at me for teasing him above). I know from discussions that Supervisor Buckley continues to take the role of the Joint Committee very seriously. Presumably Chair Sally Kurtz also feels that the committee is valuable, as she has plotted meeting dates well into next year.

We are headed into the worst budget adoption process since the School Board became an elected body in Loudoun County 12 years ago, maybe the worst the County has ever seen. The real impact of the Joint Committee won't be known until April when the dust settles. For all of its warts, I'm willing to give it a thumbs-up for now.

On the agenda for today's meeting:

1. LCPS Budget Update by Chairman Robert DuPree
2. Review of Wake County, NC Capital Planning Model led by Sally Kurtz (a look at how another high-growth school district approaches its planning challenges)
3. School Capital Facility Standards Recommendations (how many acres, fields and square feet do we need?)
4. Discussion of whether money saved by the schools this year (FY2009) should be returned to the schools next year (FY2010).

This meeting, like the others, is open to the public and allows 15 minutes of public comment at the beginning.

WABE Guide

The Washington Area Boards of Education issued its annual comparison figures again today, titled the FY2009 WABE Guide (PDF). The Loudoun School Board received a presentation summarizing some of its figures last night. I did extensive analysis of the FY2008 WABE numbers last year (Budget Tools and Indicators). In that post, I explained that the WABE guide provides comparisons between our district and others in the Washington area. It is an apples-to-apples comparison of many key budget areas, and not just in strict dollars and cents.

Below, some bite-sized numbers from this year's guide comparing Loudoun to eight of its neighbors. In comparison, Loudoun County Public Schools:

• grew by 6.1% last year. Next closest was tiny Falls Church City whose 64 new students constitute 3.3% growth. Next sizable neighbor: Arlington at 2.0%.
• has the lowest percentage of ESL students in the Washington area
• has the lowest percentage of students receiving Special Education services. This is a point of concern among many parents.
• has the largest elementary school class size of all districts
• has the 3rd smallest middle school class size
• is 5th of 9 in high school class size
• is now 7th in cost per pupil, slipping from our position in 6th place last year
• is also 7th in beginning teacher salaries
  
• has the 2nd-highest percentage of school-based positions. Manassas City first.
• has the 2nd-highest percentage of graduates going on to postsecondary education (93.0%). Falls Church City is first.
• has the lowest dropout rate (0.85%)
  

School Board Legislative Breakfast

On Monday morning at 8AM, the School Board hosted an annual breakfast with Loudoun's representatives to the legislature in Richmond. Attending were Senator Mark Herring and Delegates Caputo, Rust and Marshall. Legislative Assistant Nancy Duke attended on Delegate Joe May's behalf.

As chair of the Legislative/Policy Committee, I gave the presentation, which focused on two primary themes: how to best handle the budget crisis at the state level, and increasing local autonomy for school boards.

For more information, view my presentation slides (PDF), read the Leesburg Today article and download the School Board's Legislative Program (coming soon).

LCPS School Board's Budget Priorities

The School Board voted on the following budget priorities on Monday night, providing advance budget guidance to the Superintendent for the first time.

The resolution is below:

To the maximum extent practical, the Superintendent’s budget should strive to:

1. Preserve and support existing academic programs designed to promote student achievement.
2. Provide an adequate compensation package to employees including, if possible, both a step increase and some degree of a COLA
3. Minimize increases in class sizes
4. Maximize operational efficiency
5. Expand the use of user fees
6. Seek savings in the areas of non-School-based staffing, recruitment and non-academic programs
   

Transition from Pre-K to K for Autistic Students

Tonight (Dec 3, 2008) Special Education Director Mary Kearney will lead a meeting for parents of autistic children with concerns about the transition from preschool to kindergarten, particularly for students who are fully included in the general education classroom.

The meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. in room 420 of the LCPS Administration building.

Elementary special education supervisors will be available to hear parent concerns.

Comments and Complaints

There's a new policy in effect at LCPS, passed by the Board back in June but just now getting some attention. The Comments and Complaints policy (Section 8-10, PDF) has the following goals:

• Ensure that when a parent or student takes the time to write to a principal, a written response will be provided within an expected time.
• Provide parents with an easy to understand chain of appeals, from the principal to the Superintendent to the School Board.
  
• Generate statistics on complaints for analysis over time.
  

The policy mandates a form to be used that helps with statistical tracking. To my mind, this is all pretty straightforward. It's common sense. I'm concerned because I've heard from a few teachers that there is a negative buzz among LCPS faculty that the School Board is encouraging parents to complain about teachers, and then sending the complaints "to the higher ups." This is not the case.

Taking the time to write something down is a step that most parents never resort to. For that reason, a written communication deserves a written response. Simple as that. A written complaint deserves a timely response. This community expects it. This policy requires it.

Parents also need to know... if I discuss something with the principal and get nowhere, who do I go to next? Most parents don't know, this helps them. This is especially true for new parents and parents from other countries where there wasn't an expectation that parents would have input into the public school system.

It is important for teachers also to know that this was not done hastily or quietly. This policy was discussed publicly for months. There were multiple committee meetings, followed by at least two full board meetings which were both webcast and televised. Principals attended, teachers attended, LEA representatives attended. I mentioned it in blog posts on May 5, June 9 and June 24. Tom Reed blogged about it. Members of the public spoke about it during our public comment time.

Once the policy was passed, the Superintendent's staff worked to prepare and roll out the form this fall. The Board did not preview it or take further action. Once the form and the policy have had some time to season we can review and decide whether modifications are necessary.

It should interest teachers to know that to date, the preponderance of complaints have related to practices and administrative decisions and not teacher performance. To my knowledge, none has yet been appealed past the Superintendent.

The complaint form is available to all students and parents, both online and at each school's front office. To find it online, go to the LCPS Website and look on the left side for "LCPS Complaint Form."

Exceeding SOL Expectations

The Washington Post published an interesting article on Thanksgiving day that you might have missed amidst the stuffing, the football and the family tension.

Half of elementary students in Northern Virginia and a third in the Maryland counties that surround Washington are scoring at the highest levels on state tests in reading and math, blowing past the goals of the No Child Left Behind law
The finding... suggests that area schools have ambitions beyond the federal education mandate and don't need the threat of sanctions to reach them. It could also allay fears among some parents and academics that the 2002 law would dumb down public education by forcing schools to focus on low achievers.

Here's the full story: Area Schools Reach for a Higher Bar On State Tests

The Post also published the list of the top 100 elementary schools in Northern Virginia for SOL achievement. Among them are the following 23 schools from Loudoun:

Aldie ES	Arcola ES	Ashburn ES
Banneker ES	Belmont Station ES	Emerick ES
France Hazel Reid ES	Hamilton ES	Hillsboro ES
Leesburg ES	Lincoln ES	Little River ES
Lowes Island ES	Lucketts ES	Mill Run ES
Mountain View ES	Mountain View ES	Rosa Lee Carter ES
Round Hill ES	Sanders Corner ES	Selden's Landing ES
Sycolin Creek ES	Waterford ES