I strongly support the School Performance and Support Framework. Virginia needs an honest accounting of how all students are faring. Sadly, the prior Accreditation system did not do this; it signaled that all was well even as students suffered significant learning losses post 2020.  

The Framework makes many positive changes: bifurcating Accountability and Accreditation, separating mastery and growth while incentivizing both, encouraging advanced coursework for students, and emphasizing the critical role that school attendance plays in student achievement.

It is significant that the new Framework will incorporate growth for all students, in contrast to the prior system which only included growth for students who failed proficiency tests. It also emphasizes mastery, rather than straight proficiency, providing graduated incentives to bring students to passing and advanced pass levels.

The Framework is also more inclusive. Virginia’s prior Accreditation system excluded recently arrived English Learners (RA EL) for eleven semesters; this greatly exceeded the exclusion period allowed in state ESSA plans, making Virginia an outlier amongst states. As a result of the lengthy exemption, 35,000 RA EL were excluded from Virginia’s old Accreditation system and were not provided targeted support. The new Framework uses the three-semester exemption from its state ESSA plan, bringing Virginia in line with other states and ensuring that schools will be held more accountable for this vulnerable subgroup.

The Framework also lowers the “n” size for disaggregation of data for subgroups, in line with calls from numerous civil rights groups. This means that 448 schools will now be held accountable for the performance of students with disabilities, an additional 312 schools will be held accountable for black students and an additional 266 schools will be held accountable for English learners. This is a tremendous achievement.

Thank you for the deliberative and thorough work that has gone into the Framework’s development. Beginning with a series of BOE work sessions in Fall 2022, significant effort has been made to involve all parties and consider feedback. The strength of the final product is a testament to those efforts.