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In the last print edition, we took a look at Standards of Learning pass rates for all three of our counties. But beyond that, officials across the state are already counting down until the accreditation report gets released in September. This is an end, of sorts, for the current way of doing things. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) expects to sign off on school accreditation changes later this year. 

Following a year-long process that saw input through public hearings across the state, the new process not only simplifies the way schools are accredited, but adds increased transparency so parents can see how schools are performing.

Virginia Department of Education Senior Communications Advisor Todd Reid said 88% of the state’s schools are accredited. While the current process is complicated, he explained it really has just two outcomes — schools are accredited or they are accredited with conditions.

Reid said a school has to work very hard to have accreditation denied under the current system.

“They have to pretty much refuse to improve and take any steps to improve to have their accreditation die,” he said. “So it is very, very rare.”

Almost every school in the commonwealth is accredited, Reid said.

“As we’ve seen through some of the board presentations over the past number of months, that doesn’t really provide information to students and communities how their schools are performing academically,” he said.

Breaking the system in two 

Reid said the board feels strongly that by breaking the system into two, with accreditation being a review of operations, health and safety measures, staffing levels and such things with accountability as a separate component as outlined in the performance and support framework.

The new performance system will measure schools in four categories — Distinguished, On Track, Off Track and Needs Intensive Support, according to a four-page sheet that explains the framework that would be used if it adopted.

“With the new one, the performance would be in those four categories then and you could see from different levels that they’re doing great, they’re on track, they’re sort of off track and need some help or they really need a lot of support to get where they need to be,” Reid explained. “It is much more academic performance focused and has various different gradations in there.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin called on the state Board of Education to develop these school accreditation changes in 2023.

The state Board of Education began the process by holding at least nine listening sessions across the state to hear what superintendents, principals, teachers and parents had to say, Reid explained.

Then, he said the board took what it had developed back out on the road again to receive comments on what it produced.

“This has been a very inclusive process,” Reid said. “It has been very much of an outside-Richmond process where we have traveled the entire commonwealth to go hear directly about what they wanted to see in an accountability framework.”

He said this has been a priority of the governor and the board.

The need for changing the system became clear following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We saw dramatic learning loss during COVID or coming out of COVID. And yet, almost every school in the state was accredited,” Reid noted. 

School accreditation changes revealed problems

He explained problems weren’t always apparent for parents and communities because almost every school in the state retained accreditation. 

“It just is not really built for that purpose,” Reid said. “That demonstrated a need for a different system that was focused on academics and on academic performance.”

At the state Board of Education’s Aug. 28 meeting, Reid expects it to discuss the state’s Every Student Succeeds plan that is federally mandated. This includes some of the school performance components as well, he noted.

Then in September, he said the board would then be ready to provide final approval to the new performance rating system.

Reid said he expects there will be changes made to the Standards of Learning tests this year.

“We should expect some modification of the current SOL testing,” he said, noting this would be made at the state level.

School divisions across Virginia have already been looking at changes in things such as books as part of new standards for history, science and computer science under the Literacy Act.

“They are already doing their own reviews of instructional materials and things like that and that largely at the school division level,” Reid noted.

How do school accreditation changes work

The framework for the school accreditation changes, if approved in September, takes effect during this school year, Reid said. 

“We’re excited to see it put into place and we think it will really help parents, teachers and communities have a deeper understanding of how their schools are performing,” he said.

The measures used would be based on three areas — mastery, growth and readiness, according to the draft plan.

Schools earning 90 points or above would earn a Distinguished designation, while those falling between 80 and 89 would be considered On Track. Those schools scoring between 65 and 79 points would receive an Off Track ranking, and those below 65 would earn the Needs Intensive Support rating.

The framework document shows accreditation rank would be based on Mastery, Growth, Readiness and Graduation.

At the elementary school level, performance at the accreditation level would be based on 65% Mastery, 25% Growth and 10% Readiness. Those change slightly at the middle school level with Mastery weighted 60%, Growth 20% and Readiness 20%. They change again slightly at the high school level with Mastery weighted at 50%, Readiness at 35% and Graduation at 15%

Elementary school

Readiness in elementary school is focused on regular school attendance and student development of the five Cs — critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship, the VDOE draft document states.

Mastery — Reading Standards of Learning, including the integrated reading and writing component, and the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program tests, 22.5%; mathematics SOL and VAAP tests, 22.5%; science SOL and VAAP tests, 10%; and progress in achievement English language proficiency, 10%.

Growth — Reading expected growth, 12.5%, and mathematics expected growth, 12.5%.

Readiness — Chronic absenteeism, 5%, and the five Cs (critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship) performance task, 5%.

Middle school

At this level, there is a heavier focus on readiness as students prepare for the academic rigor of high school, according to the draft framework. 

In middle school, regular attendance continues to be important, along with a student’s continued development of the five Cs and career exploration in addition to gaining experience taking and succeeding in advanced coursework. 

Mastery — Reading SOL, including the integrated reading and writing component, and VAAP tests, 20%; mathematics SOL and VAAP tests, 20%; Science SOL and VAAP tests, 10%; and progress in achievement English language proficiency, 10%.

Growth — Reading expected growth, 10%, and mathematics expected growth 10%.

Readiness — Chronic absenteeism, 5%; advanced coursework, 7.5%; and career five Cs performance task, 7.5%.

High school

The School Performance and Support Framework at the high school level increases the focus on readiness, with preparing students for life after high school a key outcome of high school performance, according to the draft document. 

In high school, it states that regular attendance continues to be important in ensuring success in and outside of school. 

The Ready for Life: 3E Readiness Framework (Enrollment, Employment, and Enlistment) is included to measure success in the readiness options, according to the draft. The readiness component of high school also includes students who graduate on an extended year timeline, with applied studies included. 

Mastery — Reading SOL, including the integrated reading and writing component, and VAAP tests:,15%; mathematics SOL and VAAP tests, 15%; science SOL and VAAP tests, 10%; and progress in achievement English language proficiency, 10%.

Readiness — Chronic absenteeism, 5%; six-year Extended Year graduation rate with applied studies, 5%; and the Ready for Life 3E (enrollment, employment and/or enlistment) framework, 25%.

Graduation — Federal graduation Indicator (four-year adjust cohort rate), 15%.