Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
chapter
Virginia Standards of Accreditation [8 VAC 20 ‑ 132]
Action Revisions to the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia
Stage Final
Comment Period Ended on 9/25/2024
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9/25/24  2:34 pm
Commenter: Todd Truitt

I Strongly Support New Accountability System, Including Mastery Weighting and MS Acceleration
 

I strongly support the Revisions to the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia for the proposed Accountability Framework. 

With this new Accountability Framework, Virginia will finally live up to its disclosure responsibilities under the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act to Virginia students, parents and communities. As is well documented, Virginia’s current combined accreditation and accountability system failed to reflect the dramatic swings in academic achievement from COVID-era learning loss.

Support Mastery vs Growth Weighting

I also strongly endorse the Accountability Framework’s greater weighting of achievement vs. growth similar to Massachusetts. First, parents’ goal for their kids is to reach proficiency or mastery, not to endlessly grow towards it. Second, Maryland’s accountability system weighs mastery and growth almost equally, and Maryland’s accountability system also failed to reflect COVID-era academic achievement swings. As a result, Maryland is revamping its system.

Support Middle School Advanced Coursework Readiness Factor

Lastly, I strongly endorse the Middle School accelerated coursework readiness factor. Civil Rights leader Bob Moses referred to the ability to take Algebra by 8th grade as a Civil Rights issue. It has been a longstanding goal of the US Department of Education and many organizations. 

With Algebra in 8th grade, kids can take without doubling up: Geometry in 9th grade; Algebra II in 10th grade; Precalculus in 11th grade; and Calculus in 12th grade. That math sequence is crucial for kids who are not only interested in STEM, but any quantitative field, such as economics or business.

As noted at the VBOE meetings, Florida has a similar readiness factor they’ve had place for over 10 years that’s working very well there. And Virginia’s readiness factor should take place immediately, considering Virginia schools should have been accelerating 8th graders into Algebra who are ready for decades now. 

Just 3 years ago, numerous Virginia math school leaders fervently supported the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative’s (VMPI) initial proposal that no kids should take Algebra until 9th grade, which copied San Francisco’s inequitable Algebra for None program.  Virginia school districts should not be rewarded for doing or having done their own local district versions of San Francisco’s Algebra for None or decelerating 8th graders who are ready for Algebra in 8th grade into Pre-Algebra instead.

But just offering Algebra in 8th grade is not enough – school districts need to start as early as possible to prepare kids to successfully take Algebra by 8th grade. The Board of Education adding this readiness factor will provide that incentive. Notably, kids with money are already being prepared – in private schools and via tutors and private math supplement companies, like Kumon and Russian Math.

 

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