Tag Archives: James Sherlock

by James C. Sherlock

Lots of people think the schools their kids and grandkids attend are above average — the logical extension of the Lake Wobegon effect. In Virginia, they had better hope they are right. The average Virginia public school is not providing a decent education to major portions of its student body.

The Virginia Constitution makes the establishment and continual maintenance of a quality education the responsibility of the General Assembly.

It has demonstrably failed in that duty.

SOL results. A student must get a raw score of 400 or higher on their SOL(s) in order to pass the test. Except lower in math as you will see below. A perfect score is 600. So, let’s look at statewide SOL pass rates.

I offer below a chart of Virginia public school Spring 2019 SOL pass rates (all schools all grades) for different subgroups of students.  The 2018-2019 school year was the last before COVID, i.e. the last “no excuses” year. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

I have some very good news about public education at the K-12 level. Just not yet in Virginia.

But first a baseline of Virginia statistics to get our heads straight.

The bad news. I offer below a chart of Virginia public school Spring 2019 SOL pass rates (all schools all grades) for different subgroups of students.   The 2018-2019 school year was the last before COVID. The last “no excuses” year.

The statewide student populations of those subgroups in 2018-19 were:

• White: 624,738 – (projecting results to all grades, 106,000 were not writing at grade level)
• Asian: 92,122
• Black: 286,032 – over 100,000 of these kids could not read at grade level).
• Hispanic: 208,739 – 54,272 could not perform math at grade level)
• Economically Disadvantaged: 520,827  –  182,289 were not reading at grade level
• Not Economically Disadvantaged: 769,940 – 107,791 could not perform math at grade level
• Students with Disabilities: 170,750 – 90,497 were not reading at grade level

Many schools, of course, have far worse results. Those schools are not providing appropriate learning environments and are not teaching these kids properly. Not even close.

There is no shortage of “experts” with unworkable, even counterproductive ideas of how to fix this. Such people are thickly congregated in graduate schools of education.

Perhaps we should look to people who have actually succeeded. Just a thought. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

Virginia school districts desperately need to find ways to improve public education for poor minority children.

The lowest performing schools are concentrated in urban areas, but, as I have shown here, are present in even America’s richest county, Loudoun.

Charter management organizations (CMOs), non-profits who operate two or more charter schools, focus on educating those very students. The best, like New York’s Success Academy, have produced spectacular results with the very kids whom many Virginia schools are failing. But they will not locate in Virginia right now due to our laws. They would not be able to operate here in the manner that has made them successful.

This article will show what is necessary for Virginia to position itself to compete for their services for the kids we most often fail to educate.

We really must do it. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

I wrote a column the other day that exposed gaping fissures in learning among subgroups of children in Loudoun County Public Schools.

I asked readers to check the SOL data especially at Frederick Douglass Elementary, Leesburg Elementary, Sully Elementary, Sugarland Elementary, Sterling Middle and Park View High.

This article will offer the data for enrollment and chronic absenteeism in those six schools. I will use the same year, 2018-19, that featured the SOL scores in that article.

They are tough cases, but they have to succeed. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

I wrote yesterday of the epic failures of many Loudoun County Public Schools to educate their Black and Hispanic children.

Fortunately, there are proven solutions available.

They were not invented here, but rather New York City by the most successful charter management organization in America. That organization offers educator instruction in those solutions online free of charge.

Loudoun County Public Schools can take advantage and learn from them. I recommend they do so without delay. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

Kids and their parents don’t ask much of their schools. Just a quality education in a safe and moral environment. Even at ages before the children fully realize what the words education and moral mean.

The kids themselves have no choice but to take what the school system puts in front of them and do the best they can with it.

Loudoun is the richest county in the United States. Number two is not even close.

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) have helped white and Asian kids from economically comfortable homes. In fact, the Asian kids are such terrific academic achievers and grace Loudoun County schools in such large numbers that their successes mask rot underneath.

But educating the economically disadvantaged as a macro group and Black kids, Hispanics, students with disabilities and English learners as sub-cohorts of that group are the true test of a school system.

LCPS has largely failed those kids. The LCPS administration is responsible and must be held accountable. Continue reading →

by James C. Sherlock

I am a big fan of small schools.

Studies and common sense both indicate the benefits for the kids and staff can outweigh any disadvantages.

But small public schools are being driven out of business by costs in some parts of Virginia. Much of the cost disadvantage in those small schools is driven by administrative bloat forced by a combination of state laws and regulations and school division mandates.

Some of the latter-day “must haves” of management and specialist staffing for schools have demonstrated value in improved outcomes for the kids, some have not. In general, the state mandates the positions that matter, local school often districts require additional ones that don’t.

The fixed cost of management and administration must be absorbed no matter the size of the school, driving up per student costs in smaller schools. Many are being driven out of existence by costs they are not permitted to control.

I am going to offer here for comparison two schools, both elementary schools, one in Loudoun County and the other in Wise County. Continue reading →