Updates from the Virginia Department of Education

Regions 6 and 7 Drive-InSalem, VirginiaNovember 6, 2007

Dr. Linda M. WallingerAssistant Superintendent for Instruction

(804) 225-2034Linda.Wallinger@doe.virginia.gov

Topics for Discussion

Governor’s Education Goals

Virginia Preschool Initiative

Focus on Literacy

No Child Left Behind

English Language Proficiency Testing

School Accreditation

Governor’s Career and Technical Academies

P-16 Education Council

Graduation Rate

Technical and Advanced Technical Diplomas

Virginia Index of Performance

Education Week and NAEP Reports

Governor Kaine’s Education GoalsThe Department of Education’s Objectives:

Increase the proportion of at-risk four-year-olds who are being served by the Virginia Preschool Initiative

Increase the number of children reading proficiently by the third grade

Increase the percent of students who are enrolled in Algebra I by the eighth grade

Increase the career readiness of high school students enrolled in Career and Technical Education programs

Governor Kaine’s Education GoalsThe Department of Education’s Objectives:

Increase the high school graduation rate

Increase the proportion of high school students earning an Advanced Studies Diploma

Increase the percent of students enrolled in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual enrollment courses

Increase the percent of schools that are Fully Accredited

Virginia Preschool Initiative Pilots Extension of Virginia Preschool Initiative for at-risk 4-year-

olds

Expanded access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for Virginia’s four-year-olds

Related to focus on reading on grade level by Grade 3

Based in research that shows that 90% of brain development occurs before a child turns 5

Findings that children who attend high-quality preschool are more likely to finish school, find good jobs, less likely to commit a crime

Virginia Preschool Initiative Pilots Pilots in 10 school divisions that had existing partnerships

with private and/or non-profit providers as of the 2006-2007 school year Albemarle County Fairfax County Alexandria City Hampton City Alleghany County Highland County Bath County Richmond County Chesapeake City Virginia Beach City

Expand availability of preschool education programs for at-risk students not served in those school divisions

Testing strategies to increase access to and quality of preschool Blended funding streams: state funds, Head Start, Title I, Special Ed,

parent tuition Partnerships with private providers to expand opportunity and access Piloting a quality rating system

Focus on Literacy

Two focus areas Reading on grade level by Grade 3 Adolescent literacy

2006-2007 statewide achievement in reading Overall – 85% of Virginia students passed reading tests (up 1

point) Grade 3 – 80% (down 4 points) Gr. 5 : Reading – 87% (no change); Writing – 89% (no change) Gr. 8: Reading – 80% (up 2 points); Writing – 86% (down 5

points End-of-course: Reading – 94% (up 4 points); Writing – 92%

(up 4 points)

Focus on Literacy

Board of Education’s Literacy Committee Adolescent Literacy Policy Summit

Difference between “reading” and “literacy” Literacy specific to each content area Meaning of “literacy” in today’s digital society

Instructional focus on literacy Title I summer institutes Middle school pilot Strategic Instruction Model pilot

Focus on Literacy

Governor Kaine’s role in adolescent literacy Chair of an SREB Committee to improve

reading and writing in middle and high schools

Will develop proposed policies for SREB states to help students develop higher-level reading and writing skills in the middle grades and high school

No Child Left Behind

72% of Virginia’s schools made AYP 1,316 of 1,823 schools

44% of Virginia’s school divisions made AYP 58 of 132 school divisions

As a state, Virginia did not make AYP Did not meet the AYP target in reading performance

for limited English proficient (LEP) students. The state did make AYP in 2004-2005 and 2005-

2006.

No Child Left Behind Targets

Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) in Reading 2006-2007 – 73% 2007-2008 - 77%

Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) in Mathematics 2006-2007 – 71% 2007-2008 – 75%

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Testing

Virginia no longer able to use the Stanford English Language Proficiency (SELP) test for dual purpose for Level I and II LEP students

LEP students must take both English Language Proficiency Test SOL Reading Test (Regular or VGLA)

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Testing

Board of Education adopted a state-approved ELP assessment for 2008-2009 at its September 2007 meeting Access for English Language Learners (Access) Assessment

developed by World-class Instructional Design and Assessments (WIDA) Consortium

http://www.vdoe.vi.virginia.gov/VDOE/VA_Board/Meetings/2007/sep-itemL.pdf

For 2007-2008,school divisions may: Choose an ELP assessment that has been previously approved by the

Board of Education or Submit a locally developed or selected assessment aligned to

Virginia’s ELP Standards of Learning (SOL) Access will be added to the list of board-approved assessments for

2007-2008 http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/inf218.html

2007-2008 Accreditation Ratings

Accreditation Rating Number of Schools Percent of All Schools

Fully Accredited 1,686 91%

Accredited with Warning

102 6%

Accreditation Denied 5 <1%

Conditionally Accredited

(New Schools)

20 1%

Conditionally Accredited

28 2%

To be Determined 2 <1%

Total Schools 1,843 100%

School Accreditation

Schools Elementary schools – 96% accredited Middle schools – 69% accredited High schools – 97% accredited

Divisions 69 of 132 divisions have all schools

accredited

Mathematics

Notable gains in statewide mathematics achievement Increased to 80% in 2006-2007

compared to 76% in 2005-2006 Increase in mathematics performance

in 275 of state’s 314 middle schools

Middle School Mathematics

19 middle schools are now fully accredited that last year were warned only in mathematics

State focused on providing professional development in middle school mathematics Algebra Readiness Initiative -

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Math/ARI/index.shtml

ARI Curriculum Companion - http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Math/ARI/ari-curr-companion.shtml

Middle math video modules -http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/middle-math-strategies/

Virginia’s Two Grants from the National Governors Association

Grant to “Redesign America’s High Schools” In Virginia, focused on

9th-grade retention postsecondary readiness college access policy implications

Virginia’s Two Grants from the National Governors Association

Worked with 30 high schools that developed strategies to: Ease transition from middle to high school Decrease 9th-grade retention rate Increase graduation rate Decrease dropout rate

Policy forum Results of two studies

Community College study on academic weaknesses of recent high school graduates

International Center for Leadership in Education study on effective practices of effective high schools

Virginia’s Two Grants from the National Governors Association

Grant to develop Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Centers

Grant competition to award funds to partnerships of school divisions, business and industry, and postsecondary education to jumpstart Governor’s Career and Technical Academies Model programs in career and technical education (CTE) that

will expand options for the general population of students to acquire STEM literacy and other critical knowledge, skills and credentials to prepare them for high-demand, high-skill and high-wage careers in Virginia

Board of Education criteria for Governor’s Career and Technical Academies

Virginia’s P-16 Education Council

Serves in an advisory capacity to integrate reform efforts across the entire spectrum of education in Virginia, from preschool to graduate school

Work to Develop definition of “postsecondary readiness” and Align content and skills required for college and work

readiness American Diploma Project

Develop a common standard for college and workforce readiness, and make recommendations for aligning state standards accordingly

Virginia’s P-16 Education Council

Postsecondary readiness studies authorized by the Board of Education to: Establish association between student scale scores on

high school SOL assessments and the successful completion of first-semester college courses, to determine whether there is a scale score that represents readiness for credit-bearing college-level work; and

Determine the alignment of state English and mathematics standards with The College Board and ACT College Readiness Standards

Virginia’s P-16 Education Council

State Scholars Initiative (Commonwealth Scholars) Increase from 4 school divisions in 2006-2007

to 11 school divisions in 2007-2008

Requirements offer the opportunity for Standard Diploma students to “stretch” to earn credits in foreign languages and physics, in particular 4 years of English 3 years of mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II) 3 years of basic laboratory science (biology, chemistry, physics) 3.5 years of social studies (chosen from U.S. and world history,

geography, economics, personal finance, and government 2 years of the same language other than English

Graduation Rate

Membership and Graduation Data for School Years 2002-2003 to 2006-2007

School Year

Standard Diploma

Advanced

Studies Diploma

Diplomas for Students

with Disabilities

General Achieve-

ment Diploma

Total Diploma

Graduates

Graduates as % of 12th

Grade Membership

Graduates as % of Ninth Grade Membership 4 Years Earlier

2002-2003 35,551

34,525

2,302

72,378 95.4% 76.4%

2003-2004

33,707 34,238

4,055 1

72,001 94.2% 73.4%

2004-2005

32,988 36,370

4,290 15

73,664 94.5% 73.5%

2005-2006

32,440 37,998

4,406 34

74,878 94.9% 73.8%

2006-2007 33,754 40,200 4,499 4 78,457 94.6% 73.5%

Technical and Advanced Technical Diplomas

2007 General Assembly required the Board of Education to establish the requirements for a Technical Diploma Shall meet or exceed the requirements of a Standard Diploma Will include a concentration in career and technical education,

as established in Board regulations.

As well as an Advanced Career and Technical Diploma Meets the requirement for the Advanced Studies Diploma and Also fulfills a concentration in career and technical education

shall receive an advanced technical diploma.

Standard 4 of the Standards of QualityCode of Virginia, § 22.1-253.13:4

Virginia Index of Performance (VIP)

Incentive program to reward and recognize fully accredited schools and school divisions making significant progress toward academic excellence

Awards points to schools and divisions based on the percentage of students achieving at the advanced level on Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments and progress made toward educational goals advocated by Governor Kaine

Further details: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/inf145.html

Education Week: 2007 “Quality Counts” Students in Virginia enjoy “higher

achievement and [are] more likely to finish high school and continue on to college than in other states.”

January 4, 2007 - http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2007/01/04/index.html

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

In 2005, Virginia students led the nation in science achievement, exceeding the national average by: 12 points in 4th grade science 8 points in 8th grade science

In 2007, Virginia’s students scored higher than students nationwide in reading and mathematics Reading – Grade 4: 7 points higher

Grade 8: 6 points higher

Mathematics – Grade 4: 5 points higherGrade 8: 8 points higher

DOE Presentation to Senate Finance Committee – Oct. 16, 2007

Role of At-Risk Funding in Improving Achievement and Opportunity for All Virginia Students http://sfc.virginia.gov/committeemeetings.shtml

Rising Expectations in the 21st Century More rigorous standards and assessments School accreditation system with consequences Increase in graduation requirements Increased accountability through No Child Left Behind (NCLB) More rigorous licensure requirements for instructional

personnel

Rising Expectations in the 21st Century

Knowledge economy will require students to have: A solid foundation in important content areas The skills to learn quickly, apply knowledge, and create new

and innovative processes and products.

Our state has been named for the second year the most business friendly state in the union. Must ensure that if we attract the businesses and job

opportunities, our young people will be adequately educated to work in them.

Must prepare Virginia students for the 21st century, in a world about which we can only speculate