RD371 - 2009 Annual Report on the Condition and Needs of Public Schools in Virginia


Executive Summary:
Academic Progress of Virginia’s Students

Virginia’s public schools and our students continue to show overall academic gains and receive national recognition for achievement and innovation. Performance indicators illustrate the progress Virginia’s public schools are making in an era when all students must be challenged to reach their highest potential. Highlights of the performance measures contained in this report include the following:

• Ninety-eight percent of Virginia’s public schools are fully accredited and meeting state standards for achievement in English, mathematics, history and science based on 2008-2009 assessment results. This is the highest percentage of schools reaching full accreditation since the Commonwealth began accrediting schools based on student achievement ten years ago.

• Virginia fourth-grade and eighth-grade students outperformed their peers nationwide and in the South in mathematics on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Students in only five states performed at what the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) considers a statistically higher level on the grade-4 test, and students in only eight states achieved at a higher level on the eighth-grade assessment.

• NAEP results for 2009 also show that African-American fourth graders in only two states—Massachusetts and Texas—achieved statistically higher average scores than those in Virginia. No other states were statistically higher than Virginia in grade 8. In Virginia, the percentage of African-American students in grade 4 meeting or exceeding the NAEP standard is significantly larger today than in 2000.

• Virginia’s statewide assessment results also show that Virginia’s African-American and Hispanic students continue to narrow achievement gaps with white students in reading and mathematics.

• Virginia ranks third in the nation in the percentage of high school seniors earning a grade of three or better on Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Students who earn scores of three or above are generally considered to be qualified to receive college credit and/or placement into advanced courses. Among all states, Virginia is tied (with Florida) at third place in the number of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs in local schools.

• Accurate graduation rates for the state, school divisions, and high schools were calculated for the first time in 2008 using the longitudinal student-data system funded by the General Assembly. Eighty-two percent of the students in the class of 2008 graduated on time with a diploma.

• In 2009, Virginia high school students continued to fare better than their national counterparts on the ACT college admissions exam, and our graduates increased their achievement in reading and mathematics on the SAT. African-American and Hispanic Virginia public school graduates again achieved at a higher level on all three SAT subsections than their counterparts nationwide.

• In 2008, 162 Virginia public schools earned the 2009 Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence. The award is the highest honor under the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) incentive program created by the Board of Education to encourage advanced learning and achievement. Last year, 89 schools received the award.

• The percentage of schools making AYP fell as federal benchmarks rose to 81 percent in reading and 79 percent in mathematics. Nonetheless, the percentage of school divisions making AYP increased by six points to 60 percent. Virginia and 71 percent of the public schools met or exceeded all No Child Left Behind (NCLB) objectives based on statewide testing during the 2008-2009 school year as student achievement increased in reading, mathematics and other subjects.

• Industry certifications earned through CTE programs have nearly doubled since 2007. During 2008-2009, 40 percent of CTE completers graduated with an Advanced Studies Diploma.

• Education Week, a prominent education journal, ranks Virginia as a national leader in online learning and the use of technology to expand opportunities for students.

• The 2009 graduation rate is one point higher than the four-year rate of 82.2 percent for the class of 2008.

Critical Needs of the Public Schools in Virginia

The Board’s priorities for action—and the performance measures used to gauge our progress in meeting those priorities—focus on the most critical needs of the public schools. These needs include the following:

• Funding the Standards of Quality (SOQ) in the current fiscal and economic climate.

• Addressing student needs in light of a persistent poverty rate that exists for children and their families, which makes these children more likely to be sick as toddlers, unprepared for kindergarten, fall behind in grade school or drop out of high school, and are less likely to be economically successful as adults.

• Providing programs that address the increase in immigrant students—a large proportion of whom are also poor—who are more likely than others to drop out or leave school without the skills needed in a global marketplace.

• Eliminating gaps in graduation rates and student achievement, although improving, persist among Virginia’s African-American and Hispanic students and their white and Asian counterparts.

• Seeking new and efficient ways to use technology to reduce the testing burden on teachers and students, but to do so in a way that will not reduce accountability standards and that can be accomplished with available funding.

• Dealing effectively with the realities of schooling for some children who face difficult personal circumstances such as high poverty, high crime in their neighborhoods, high rates of unhealthy behaviors, poor nutrition, and other circumstances that obstruct their learning at school.

• Continuing the aggressive interventions by the Virginia Department of Education to assist divisions previously identified as low-performing.

• Finding new and effective ways to help colleges and universities and school divisions in the preparation, recruitment, and retention of teachers and other educational personnel.

• Making a concerted effort to develop and promote policies to help divisions recruit and maintain minority teachers and educational personnel.

• Maintaining emphasis on quality programs for at-risk four-year-olds across the state in an era of reduced resources.

• Finding and promoting new and effective ways to involve parents in their child’s education, a critical need that must be addressed if Virginia is to promote safe and healthy school environments, and eliminate achievement gaps.

• Helping teachers and administrators at all levels to gather, analyze, and use data to continuously improve teaching and learning—the data analysis work that can lead their schools to understand what needs to change to get better results. A further challenge is to create new resources for professional development that put usable information into the hands of those directly responsible for students’ learning.

Objectives of the Board of Education

The Board of Education’s Comprehensive Plan: 2007-2012 established priorities for action. Contained in this report are highlights of the Board of Education’s recent actions to meet the priorities. The Board of Education’s priorities are stated as objectives for our schools and the objectives directly address the imperative to improve student achievement. The objectives include the following:

• Reaching high quality standards for all schools;

• Eliminating achievement gaps;

• Maintaining public accountability;

• Cooperating with partners to help put preschool programs in place;

• Supporting attainment of literacy skills for all students;

• Ensuring students' access to expert, highly-qualified teachers;

• Implementing provisions of state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to our public schools; and

• Helping schools create and maintain safe and orderly environments for children and their teachers.

Compliance with the Standards of Quality

Eighty-two divisions reported full compliance with the provisions of the Standards of Quality (SOQ) in the 2008-2009 school year (Appendix C). Appendix D contains a list of school divisions that reported noncompliance with certain provisions of the SOQ.

Compliance with the Standards of Accreditation

Ninety-eight percent of Virginia’s public schools are fully accredited and meeting state standards for achievement in English, mathematics, history and science based on 2008-2009 assessment results. Schools failing to meet the accreditation requirements are listed in Appendix E.

Review of the Standards of Quality

Between the spring and fall of 2009, the Board reviewed the Standards of Quality and solicited public comment. The Board began this important work through its Committee on the Standards of Quality. The committee held several forums with statewide professional organizations to hear comments and suggestions from key constituencies in the field. Additionally, the Department of Education, through the Request for Proposal process, commissioned a study of SOQ funding, which was completed by an outside vendor.

Through this statewide, interactive process, the Board of Education adopted policy directives and recommendations that will be submitted for consideration by the 2010 General Assembly. The details of the Board’s policy directives and recommendations are contained in the body of this report and are shown in Appendix F.

Statutory Requirement for the Annual Report

The Code of Virginia, § 22.1-18, states:
By November 15 of each year, the Board of Education shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly a report on the condition and needs of public education in the Commonwealth and shall identify any school divisions and the specific schools therein which have failed to establish and maintain schools meeting the existing prescribed standards of quality. Such standards of quality shall be subject to revision only by the General Assembly, pursuant to Article VIII, Section 2 of the Constitution of Virginia. Such report shall include a complete listing of the current standards of quality for the Commonwealth's public schools, together with a justification for each particular standard, how long each such standard has been in its current form, and whether the Board recommends any change or addition to the standards of quality.

For Additional Copies

Additional copies of the report are available by contacting Dr. Margaret Roberts, executive assistant to the Board of Education, P.O. Box 2120, Richmond, VA 23218; phone: 804/ 225-2924; or e-mail Margaret.Roberts@doe.virginia.gov. The report may be viewed online at: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/reports/index.shtml.