Prince Edward County Public Schools Director of Accountability and Research Dr. Greg Wheeler discussed the academic review conducted by the Office of School Improvement on Nov. 15 at the Feb. 7 Prince Edward County School Board meeting.

As a part of accreditation standards in Virginia, schools must have a 75 percent pass rate in English Standards of Learning (SOL) tests and a 70 percent pass right in math, science and social studies SOL tests. Currently, Prince Edward County High School is rated as “Partially Accredited: Warned School-Pass Rate.” Prince Edward County Elementary School and Prince Edward County Middle School are rated as “Partially Accredited: Reconstituted.”

According to a Virginia Department of Education press release, under revised standards, schools — beginning in 2018- 19 — will be rated as either “Accredited” or “Accredited with Conditions” based on performance in relation to multiple school quality indicators.

“New indicators would include progress made by students toward proficiency in English and mathematics, achievement gaps in both subjects, absenteeism and dropout rates,” officials said in the release. “Schools that fail to implement state-required improvement plans could be rated as ‘Accreditation Denied.’”

According to Wheeler’s presentation, essential actions to be taken by Prince Edward County High School (PECHS) include developing and implementing a system for monitoring and providing feedback on the implementation of the written and taught curriculum to ensure alignment to the SOLs in content and cognition. He said the school needs to create and implement a professional development plan, with scheduled dates, that connects teaching to student learning outcomes based on the school’s data and needs.

He said essential actions for the Prince Edward County Middle School (PECMS) include developing, implementing and monitoring a process to ensure lesson planning and delivery is aligned to the SOL in content and cognition. PECMS will also implement and monitor the Virginia Tiered System of Supports (VTSS). According to the Virginia Department of Education, VTSS is a data-driven decision-making framework for establishing the academic, behavioral and social-emotional supports needed for a school to be an effective learning environment for all students.

According to Wheeler, next steps include a meeting between Superintendent Dr. Barbara Johnson and central office administrators and the faculty and staff of PECHS and PECMS to discuss the essential actions identified as a result of the academic review. Johnson and central office administrators will discuss the essential actions containted in the recently developed reconstitution agreement between VDOE and Prince Edward County Public School.