As an art educator, I am passionate about the profound impact that arts education has on students' lives. Introducing a Fine Arts diploma seal to Virginia's accreditation standards would provide a powerful recognition of the dedication and exceptional work of advanced Fine Arts students. This seal would not only honor their achievements but also inspire them to engage more deeply with the arts, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and emotional expression.

By pursuing higher-level Fine Arts courses, students develop skills that are invaluable in both their personal and professional lives. The Fine Arts diploma seal would serve as a tangible testament to their hard work and talent, offering a distinct advantage as they apply to colleges and seek employment. It would communicate to post-secondary institutions and employers that these students possess the discipline, creativity, and innovative thinking essential for success in any field.

Moreover, this initiative would elevate the status of Fine Arts education, highlighting its essential role in a well-rounded curriculum. Recognizing and rewarding students' accomplishments in the arts not only validates their efforts but also underscores the importance of fostering a vibrant and dynamic educational environment.

Thank you for considering and supporting this vital request, which champions the growth and recognition of Fine Arts education and its significant benefits to our students' futures.

Why are you trying to add more state testing? I don't think you all understand the INSANE amount of pressure our kids are put under with the SOL testings alone!

Why not start with a test for the students asking different questions on how they feel about the SOL'S? Asking how they are/have been feeling or effected, mentally/emotionally, from the school, the teachers, ect. 

Pick one or the other. There's no reason to stress these kids out more than they already are.

Maybe focus on things that should actually be taught in schools, like ACTUAL things needed in adulthood, and mental health, and stop pushing the fact that college is the best/only way to succeed in their future. 

Do better for the kids!

Please DO NOT approve proposed testing for 5th and 8th grade students. Besides the questionable nature of these particular standardized tests, a standardized test really only assesses a person’s executive functioning skills for taking a test. They are not proven to accurate represent a person’s knowledge. Students need LESS TESTING and MORE LEARNING during school time. Please do not take away more of that limited time for more testing. Thank you!

Kristi Chamberlain M.A. CCC-SLP

Speech Language Pathologist

Please vote NO on the proposed “Performance Task” testing of Virginia 5th and 8th grade students. Standardized testing has not been proven to be an effective method to assess learning, and Virginia students already sacrifice too much valuable educational time on these tests. The last thing our students need is more time taken away from learning opportunities. Please focus on growth assessment and chronic absenteeism. Thank you!

To VBOE,

Instead of more testing, just equally weight Mastery (SOL scores) and Growth (improvement from Spring to Spring), and set chronic absenteeism at the lowest allowable federal minimum. I do not approve of the addition of a new 5th grade and 8th grade performance task test.

Please consider the amount of time, resources and money this will take. There is no need for more tests, if the SOLs don't already meet your need then there is a need to re-think the test we already have to improve that.

This proposed system is too complicated and difficult to understand. There is no need for new labels, beyond what the federal government requires. All of the percentages and calculations make it difficult for parents and families to understand. Just present the information simply without manipulating it. Weighting attendance more than federally required punishes schools for something that they can’t control. Adding additional tasks or assessments takes away from instructional time in the classroom and adds extra burdens to our overworked teachers. Instead of spending all your time on this, why don’t you focus on how to improve instruction and retain teachers 

Reading the information on adding testing for 5th and 8th grade to determine if they are ‘ready’ to move on , not based on any standard of learning or curriculum seems out of date and more harmful to our students than helpful.   Already we have iready which kids speed through, as well as the fact that implementing it for this academic year is irresponsible considering parents have no real information on something that could severely impact our students and schools.   While my preference would be to not implement this at all, there at least needs to be a longer time for parents to ask questions and understand more about it.  

Respectfully,

Lauren Thorne 

Public schools need more instructional hours. Also, the classrooms are also too large for one teacher to get through the materials adequately AND assist students who need additional help. More instructional hours will help with the learning loss and the fact that private schools are academically ahead of public schools. 

The standard school year of 990 instructional hours sells our students short, especially in this post-Covid environment where we are still addressing learning loss. We must raise that number to at least 1,080 hours and require that school divisions meet both the 180 day and 1,080 instructional hour standards to be accredited.

The 990 hour standard places Virginia in the bottom 10 states in the nation for instructional time. School divisions in northern Virginia have been using the tiny 990 hour requirement to short-change our kids, creating calendars that are less than 180 days and creating shortened school days for elementary students rather than paying teachers for the additional hours they need to plan. The state government needs to step in and make sure our kids get the time in school that they deserve.

The standard school year of 990 instructional hours sells our students short. We must raise that number to at least 1,080 hours and require that school divisions meet both the 180 day and 1,080 instructional hour standards to be accredited.

The 990 hour standard places Virginia in the bottom 10 states in the nation for instructional time. School divisions in northern Virginia have been using the tiny 990 hour requirement to short-change our kids, creating calendars that are less than 180 days and creating shortened school days for elementary students rather than paying teachers for the additional hours they need to plan. The state government needs to step in and make sure our kids get the time in school that they deserve.

My 5th grade son can barely write while his friend who moved to Catholic school last year is able to write right on grade level.  The difference in the standards, and the results, of FCPS vs private schools is staggering.

The standard school year of 990 instructional hours sells our students short. We must raise that number to at least 1,080 hours and require that school divisions meet both the 180 day and 1,080 instructional hour standards to be accredited.

The 990 hour standard places Virginia in the bottom 10 states in the nation for instructional time. School divisions in northern Virginia have been using the tiny 990 hour requirement to short-change our kids, creating calendars that are less than 180 days and creating shortened school days for elementary students rather than paying teachers for the additional hours they need to plan. The state government needs to step in and make sure our kids get the time in school that they deserve.

The state needs to take a look at raising the number of actual instructional hours. Many states have more instructional hours than Virginia. Also private schools have more instructional hours than public schools. If public schools want to stay relevant the VDOE needs to increase actual instructional

hours. 

Public students are getting much less instructional time than private school students in the state of VA and it is unacceptable! As an hard-working tax payer I expect the Governor to enforce the accreditation standards for all public schools.

The current standard school year of 990 instructional hours sells our students short. We must raise that number to at least 1,080 hours and require that school divisions meet both the 180 day and 1,080 instructional hour standards to be accredited.

The 990 hour standard places Virginia in the bottom 10 states in the nation for instructional time. School divisions in northern Virginia have been using the tiny 990 hour requirement to short-change our kids, creating calendars that are less than 180 days and creating shortened school days for elementary students rather than paying teachers for the additional hours they need to plan. The state government needs to step in and make sure our kids get the time in school that they deserve.  I sick of the state grabbing my tax dollars and not delivering value for all that money.  Do your job VA!

https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/comments.cfm?stageid=10286

The proposal as presented at the June board meeting focuses on 'advanced coursework' for middle school.  It confuses 'advanced' for acceleration.  Taking high school credit courses in middle school is not an indicator of high school readiness--it IS high school.

It repeatedly references 'eligible' students several times without defining the term.  And it provides no formula for how this would be calculated.

For an A student who is taking grade-level courses that are focused on content and student skills, and is fully prepared for HS as a 9th grader, will schools be penalized for this?  Is it preferable for a student to be enrolled in HS-credit courses before they are ready?  This risks lowering expectations in these courses--the opposite of 'advanced' or creating students who are ready for HS.

It is wholly unclear how schools would staff these courses.  There is already a teacher shortage.

Additionally, if this is to take effect in the 24-25 school year, schedules are already set.  This would be changing the game after the players take the field.

Far too much of the proposal is vague.  Many more details are needed in order for the proposal to be understood.  The details matter.

Please provide more details as to how this portion of the proposal will be measured.

To define a middle school student as ready for high school only if they have successfully completed a high school course does not make sense to me. Additionally, creating a situation where middle schools need to hire teachers licensed to teach high school across three content areas creates inequities in a school's ability to meet this standard. Please reconsider how you are defining the middle school readiness indicator.

I do no agree with adding an additional test (citizenship) for high school when we already have numerous tests in history and social sciences which are not included anywhere in the accountability framework. Additionally, awarding bonus points for the citizenship test has the potential of masking the results of the other contributors to this indicator. 

I am somewhat confused by/ concerned with the mastery index calculation. I am not understanding how giving credit for failing a test (up to .75) or extra credit for passing with an advanced score creates a more transparent system. Isn't the most transparent system a true pass rate? I don't see where just an overall pass rate will be available to the public. It seems like rather than making it transparent, it is just made less clear in a different manner than the current system (with growth included).