HD48 - Blueprint for Educational Excellence


Executive Summary:
The Commission on the Future of Public Education, established by the 1996 General Assembly (HJR 196), was specifically charged to develop a vision for public education consistent with the General Assembly's constitutional mission and a strategic plan for accomplishing the vision. The following recommendations are proposed in four major sections to implement the Commission's vision and mission.

I. Rigorous Instruction for Collegiate and Workforce Preparedness

Application of Knowledge

1. The Standards of Learning in all subject areas shall be subject to regular review and revision to (1) maintain rigor in all subject areas and (2) reflect a balance between content knowledge and the application of knowledge in preparation for eventual employment and lifelong learning.

2. The Board of Education shall establish Standards of Learning for an articulated technological studies program in grades K-12.

3. Assessments of student performance shall evaluate critical thinking and the application of knowledge and skills, and the Department of Education, with the assistance of independent nationally-recognized testing experts, shall be responsible for conducting an on-going analysis and validation process for these assessments. The first report of this analysis shall be made to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance by December 1998.

4. New Standards of Learning for vocational education shall require the full integration of English, mathematics, science and social studies SOLs and incorporate a process for assessments, reporting, and consequences. All occupational vocational programs shall be aligned with industry and professional standard certification by the year 2002.

5. The requirements for a standard high school diploma shall include a concentration of courses selected from a variety of options. This concentration shall be planned to ensure the completion of a "focused career preparation" sequence in career, technical, or arts education developed by the respective school divisions consistent with Board of Education guidelines and approved by the local school board and the Board of Education.

6. The requirements for a high school diploma shall include one credit in fine or performing arts.

7. The Department of Education shall study the feasibility of various methods and tools designed to focus students' attention on future education and career plans and shall report to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance by December 1998.

8. The General Assembly should consider legislation which permits, as a local option, the formation of a limited number of carefully monitored charter schools within the state's public school system. These schools must admit eligible student applicants based on a lottery system to ensure fairness in attendance policies, and they must comply with all federal and state anti-discrimination laws, regulations, and court orders. They will not be exempt from the Standards of Quality, Standards of Accreditation, or Standards of Learning. Teachers in charter schools must be licensed to teach.

II. Increasing Capacity

Professional Development

9. Effective after June 2001, graduates of Virginia institutions of higher education will be licensed as teachers only if the endorsement areas offered at such institutions have been assessed by a national accrediting agency or by an enhanced state approval process with final accreditation by the Board of Education.

10. To encourage talented students, particularly minorities and men, into teaching in shortage areas, the Teaching Scholarship Loan program shall be expanded by providing 200 scholarships per year to eligible candidates.

11. Clinical faculty and mentor teacher programs shall receive increased state support.

12. The Department of Education shall provide and teachers shall participate in intensive training to prepare those teachers who teach the revised English, mathematics, science, and social studies Standards of Learning in instructional methods that recognize different learning styles and teach children how to apply knowledge.

This training shall include a one-time intensive three-week training program of professional development over a four-year period that focuses not only on the four core SOLs, but also on (1) teaching strategies and methodologies that emphasize application of knowledge, linking assessment with instruction, (2) the use of educational technology for instruction, (3) working with parents, and (4) technological studies.

13. A program of lead teachers in mathematics, science, technological studies, English, and social studies shall be established and maintained to provide support for elementary and secondary school teachers. The program shall be phased in over a ten-year period, beginning in 1999-2003 with mathematics and science lead teachers in elementary and middle schools and phasing in English, social studies, and technological studies lead teachers in 2004-2008 in elementary, middle, and high schools.

14. The Board of Education shall establish leadership standards for superintendents and administrators and shall provide leadership training programs that superintendents and administrators are required to successfully complete as a condition of licensure.

15. The Department of Education in collaboration with professional organizations involved in teacher education shall undertake a study of the feasibility of a one-year internship as the first year of teaching following completion of a teacher education program and shall report to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance by December 1998.

Early Childhood Education

16. Each school division should implement a full-day kindergarten program for all children.

17. The General Assembly shall expand the four-year-old at-risk preschool programs to cover all eligible students in all schools. Additional funds are required to serve 100 percent of eligible four-year-old students, including those currently served in Virginia public schools through local or Title I funds.

18. The General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds to expand the K-3 class size initiative to bring schools with 50 to 69 percent Free Lunch participation from the current 18 students per teacher to 15 students per teacher in the 1998-2000 biennium, effective the first year to reflect the primary goal of K-3 programs of striving to ensure that 95 percent of all student groups are reading at grade level by the end of grade 3.

19. An incentive grant program to assist low-performing schools shall provide funds for implementing successful reading programs such as Reading Recovery and Success for All.

Remediation

20. School boards shall provide remediation programs held outside of normal school hours and students who fail to achieve a passing score on the Standards of Learning exam in grades 3, 5, and 8 shall be required to attend them.

21. School boards shall provide summer school remediation for all elementary and middle school grades and for all high school academic courses.

22. The General Assembly should fund an Innovative Grant program recommended by the Joint Subcommittee Studying Remedial Summer School.

23. The Board of Education shall set minimum standards for remediation courses.

Safe Environment

24. School boards shall biennially review the model student conduct code to incorporate a continuum of discipline options and alternatives to preserve a safe, non-disruptive environment for effective teaching and learning.

25. The Board of Education shall develop guidelines in the recommended number of alternative settings per 1,000 middle and high school students and the average incremental cost thereof and shall report the guidelines and the fiscal resources necessary to implement them to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance by December 1998.

Technical Assistance

26. A research unit for the collection and dissemination of information regarding "best practices" shall be established within the Department of Education to serve as a resource for school divisions. Priority shall be placed on serving school divisions with less than a 70 percent pass rate on the Literacy Passport Tests and the Standards of Learning tests.

27. The Department of Education shall include in the Outcome Accountability Project report, made annually to the public on the progress of Virginia's schools in improving or failing to improve student learning performance, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of public education programs in the various school divisions in Virginia and shall make recommendations to the General Assembly for further enhancing student learning uniformly across the Commonwealth.

28. The Department of Education shall conduct technical assistance visits to low-performing school divisions on an established cycle. Schools accredited with a warning must be given priority for technical assistance that begins with analysis of relevant school data and continues through the development and implementation of an improvement plan.

Educational Technology

29. The Department of Education in collaboration with the Center for Innovative Technology and other high technology companies in Virginia shall assess the technology needs of local school divisions and establish guidelines for connectivity, including school local area networks; architectural models, definitions for local versus shared services such as video bridges), and leveraged volume purchase agreements. The ultimate result should be that the Commonwealth is connected through a network infrastructure to support K-12 school initiatives for the 21st century, provide access for voice, data, and video telecommunications, and enhance the educational equality and experience for all Virginians, regardless of location in the Commonwealth. The Department shall report the results of the needs assessment and the guidelines to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance by December 1998.

30. Proficiency in educational technology shall be a condition of licensure for all teachers in Virginia's public schools, and the General Assembly shall provide grants for implementing the recommended technology infrastructure, hardware and software for teacher education programs in public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth.

31. Staffing levels outlined in the Standards of Quality shall require the employment of at least one full-time educational technology expert per school division.

III. Engaging Constituencies

Family and Community Involvement

32. Each school division shall establish a voice mail communication system after regular school hours for parents, families, and teachers by the year 2000.

33. The General Assembly shall provide two competitive grants per superintendents' region to schools and school divisions to plan, develop, promote, and expand meaningful family/community involvement programs designed to facilitate parents' creation of supportive learning environments at home and involvement in their children's learning at school and in school activities.

34. The Commonwealth shall require pre-service programs and fund the establishment of in-service programs for teachers, principals and administrators designed to strengthen educators' ability to communicate and work with families and help families become involved in their children's learning at home and at school.

35. The Department of Education shall gather and disseminate information and provide resources for implementing family/community programs, including information on potential private funding, support sources, and existing exemplary programs.

Business and Professional Involvement

36. To enhance on-going partnership efforts between schools and businesses, the Board of Education shall establish a new program of 16 pilot grants to provide incentives for partnerships between school divisions and local business and industry that focus on teaching higher level skills and the application of new knowledge.

37. Local school boards shall be required to establish local business advisory councils.

38. A state business advisory council shall be established to advise the Governor and the Board of Education regarding workforce and education issues.

IV. Responsibilities, Accountability, and Consequences

39. The Commonwealth's accountability initiative shall include a system of state and local incentives or rewards for students.

40. Effective for the 2004-2005 school year, promotion of any student failing the 5th or 8th grade English or mathematics SOL examination shall be contingent upon the school's provision of and the student's participation in a structured remedial program. A second promotion after failing to pass one or both exams should be granted only in specific situations, such as for certain ESL students and students with disabilities, and the school shall advise the public and the Board of Education of the number of such exceptions granted.

41. A system of state and local recognition, including both incentives and consequences, shall be established for teachers and administrators.

42. Any school which experiences three or more years of provisional accreditation may be subject to being reconstituted by a directive of the division superintendent. The principal, teachers, or entire staff may be reassigned to other positions in the system.

43. A system of state and local incentives or rewards shall be created for schools demonstrating excellence or showing significant improvement toward clearly stated goals, including academic performance and family involvement.

44. School divisions with schools demonstrating a passing rate of less than 70 percent on all three Spring 1998 Literacy Passport Tests by students taking these tests for the first time shall develop a comprehensive corrective action plan with and for each school during 1998-99 for implementation no later than 1999-2000, including specific goals for improvement, and shall receive technical assistance from the Department of Education in implementing the plans. The affected schools shall be rewarded for achievement of their goals.

Other

45. The Virginia Code Commission shall undertake a recodification of Title 22.1 5 to ensure clarity, uniformity, and consistency in Virginia's public education statutes.