Governor Glenn Youngkin ran and won on a promise to address covid-era learning loss. But with Standards of Learning test results staying relatively flat, the state board of education is looking to rewrite how Virginia grades schools.
The new standards have been in the works for years and aim to create three tiers to grade school performance. If a school underperforms the Board of Education says teacher and staff training resources will become available.
“Those tiered supports that would come with each one of these tiers would be specific to the needs of each individual school and or division,” board president Grace Creasey said.
Scott Brabrand with the Virginia Association of School Superintendents told the board some of the changes were good. But he expressed concern with future rankings.
“We still see the new framework suggests over 55% of our schools are off track or need extensive support,” Brabrand said. He doesn’t think a majority of Virginia’s school systems are in such dire straits.
But Todd Truitt, a parent of public-school students in Arlington, said failing to update the standards is misleading parents.
“How many parents’ goals is for their child to attend a school in the bottom 55th percentile?" Truitt asked. "Clearly these schools need to make changes.”
The new standards were approved 7-1 with the lone Democratic appointee voting against the effort. The Board said in earlier meetings the changes could start to impact schools in early January with underperforming schools facing additional oversight from the state via memorandums of understanding.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
