Most Hampton Roads schools met or exceeded state expectations for the 2025-2026 school year, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
The state released the State Performance and Support Framework, or SPSF, data Wednesday morning. This is the second year VDOE has used this accountability system, which is calculated using factors including mastery of state assessments, growth on those assessments, chronic absenteeism and graduation rates.
Each school is given a combined score based on those factors. Schools are split into four performance categories: distinguished, when a school is exceeding expectations; meets expectations; approaching expectations, when a school is not meeting expectations; and needs intensive support.
Of the 360 schools in the Hampton Roads area, about two-thirds fell into the distinguished and meets expectations categories. Twenty schools fell into the needs intensive support category.
Across the state, school ratings improved, according to the VDOE. There were 366 more schools that reached the distinguished category and 84 fewer schools in the needs intensive support category.
That’s mostly because the growth component of the score increased by about 4 points in elementary schools and 3 points in middle schools. There was also some increase in state assessment scores and in graduation rates.
Chronic absenteeism, which is when a student misses more than 10% of the school year, improved across the state.
The state is still making changes to the SPSF. Changes started after a December 2025 legislative report on the accountability system. All changes are expected to be approved and implemented for the 2028-2029 school year and be reflected in fall 2029 results.
