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If Virginia’s school system were a person, we’d say it was born on third base and thought it hit a triple. Indeed, the commonwealth’s education officials have spent so many years patting themselves on the back that their arms must hurt.
It’s true that some national magazines have ranked Virginia’s schools highly in the past. But that’s not surprising, given that it’s also one of the wealthiest states in the nation. Proximity to Washington, D.C., military installations and a booming tech sector mean that talented, well-educated individuals flock to Virginia from all over the world, and their advantaged children tend to do quite well in school.
The real question is whether Virginia is capable of helping all of its children meet high academic standards. Here the news is much more sobering.
That’s certainly the case in the aftermath of the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to lengthy school closures that led Virginia’s students to experience more learning loss than almost anywhere else. Among Virginia’s fourth graders, reading scores dropped by 10 points, the biggest decline in the nation, while math scores fell by 11 points.
But even before the pandemic, Virginia’s performance was lackluster. Consider the core skill of reading, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, aka, “the Nation’s Report Card.”
In 2015, fourth graders living in the commonwealth did relatively well on the reading test, ranking fifth in the country after adjusting for demographics. But when that same group of students was tested four years later, as eighth graders in 2019, they came in at No. 35. That’s an enormous drop and means that Virginia students made relatively little progress in reading between the fourth and eighth grades. Indeed, compared to other states, they went backward.
Yet when was the last time you heard Virginia superintendents brag, “We’re No. 35!”
And it’s not just at the state level where Virginia has an inflated sense of itself. The commonwealth’s archaic “accreditation” system for elementary and secondary schools regularly paints a rosy picture of almost every school division and school building in the state. That’s because the system evaluates them based on how many students reach a very low bar of proficiency and meet a fake measure of student progress each year. It’s no surprise, then, that almost 9 in 10 Virginia schools are “fully accredited.”
Decades ago, leading states moved away from these sorts of low expectations and built serious performance-management systems that aimed for real student success and made distinctions between strong and weak schools. Neighboring Maryland, for example, has a robust five-star system that celebrates schools, including high-poverty ones, which are helping their students make progress every year and reach the state’s high standards. That system also flags schools that need more support.
Though it doesn’t matter exactly how a state designates the schools that need the most help — star ratings, points, even color codes — Virginia going forward should be making those distinctions with honesty, care and rigor.
Virginia finally has a chance to do so, thanks to the work of its State Board of Education. This summer, the board will vote on a proposal to adopt a new performance and support system that would embrace higher standards and pave the way for rigorous assessments, while also giving schools credit for helping students who show growth over time and who are prepared for the next grade levels.
Some worry that identifying schools that need extra support will make the adults feel bad. But that’s like saying that we should avoid going to the doctor because we might hear bad news. Virginia’s new system will identify the students in schools that need the most help and ensure that they get it — schools where kids are scoring at low levels, failing to make much progress over the school year, and are unprepared to move ahead.
A stronger accountability system won’t fix all the problems facing Virginia’s schools, from racial segregation to the youth mental health crisis to teacher shortages in high-demand areas. But it will be much more transparent and sensible, and drive resources to where they are most needed. Policymakers: keep your eye on the ball and hit this one out of the park!
Who are Richmond public schools named for?
Barack Obama Elementary
Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary
Gurney Holland Reid Elementary
George Washington Carver Elementary
Henry L. Marsh III Elementary School
John Bowler Fisher Elementary
J. L. Francis Elementary
J.H. Blackwell Elementary
John B. Cary Elementary
Linwood Holton Elementary
Miles J. Jones Elementary
Mary Munford Elementary
Overby-Sheppard Elementary
Overby-Sheppard Elementary
William Fox Elementary
Albert Hill Middle
Binford Middle
Boushall Middle
Lucille Murray Brown Middle
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle
Thomas H. Henderson Middle
Armstrong High
George Wythe High
John Marshall High
Thomas Jefferson High
Maggie L. Walker Governor's School
Patrick Henry School of Science & Arts
Virgie Binford Educational Center
Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. Contact Petrilli at mpetrilli@fordhaminstitute.org.
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In 2015, fourth graders living in the commonwealth did relatively well on the reading test, ranking fifth in the country after adjusting for demographics. But when that same group of students was tested four years later, as eighth graders in 2019, they came in at No. 35.