RICHMOND, VA — Governor Glenn Youngkin on Sep 30th, announced that the Virginia Department of Education has released the 2024 accreditation results which classify 85.4% of Virginia schools as fully accredited. On Sep 30th’s accreditation certifications are a testament to the failure of Virginia’s current accreditation system to provide parents, educators, and communities timely, accurate and actionable insights into how well their students are actually performing academically. The issue couldn’t be clearer: no schools are denied accreditation, and 85% of Virginia’s schools continue to receive the state’s highest ranking while 60.7% and 64.8% of Virginia’s students 3-8 grades failed or are barely proficient in reading and math.  

This sharp disconnect in accreditation ranking versus academic performance is why the Virginia Board of Education is moving schools to the new School Performance & Support Framework for the 2024-25 school year. This new accountability framework will better identify the public schools performing at the highest levels that can serve as distinguished models for others, as well as those schools in need of additional supports to help them strengthen their students’ academic performance. Schools in Virginia will have a preview of their new school performance and support data this fall so they can more accurately pinpoint areas of improvement and make evidence-based changes as quickly as possible so that teachers and students have what they need to improve.  

"I am grateful for the board’s leadership to move forward with our new school performance and support framework,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “As soon as I came into office, I committed to reverse the systematic lowering of standards and lack of transparency in Virginia’s education system. As students struggle to recover from pandemic learning loss, it’s more important than ever to prioritize high expectations, transparency and accountability. We must be honest with ourselves that too many students and schools are not on track for success.”  

Through the new school performance and support framework, the VDOE will better be able to direct intensive support and provide aid to struggling schools, parents will have a better understanding of school performance, and we will raise academic standards for all Virginia’s students so they can reach their full academic potential. The new School Performance and Support Framework will classify schools as: Distinguished, On Track, Off Track, or Needs Intensive Support which will give parents a clearer understanding of school performance and help them make informed decisions about their child’s education. Off Track and Needs Intensive Support schools will receive attendance, staffing and mentorship support, resources and training to meet the needs identified in their School Performance and Support Framework. 

Unlike Virginia’s traditional accreditation model, the new School Performance and Support Framework expects more from our public schools and will provide timely and transparent school and student performance data for parents, educators, and communities. It empowers parents, provides an honest assessment of how well every school is serving every student, and encourages school communities to work together to implement changes that will improve student and school performance.  

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT VIRGINIA’S NEW SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AND SUPPORT FRAMEWORK 

“Ignorance is not bliss. Lying to parents about how their children are doing academically is definitely the easier path, but it is always the wrong path. Across the country, there is a massive disconnect between student performance and parents’ perceptions. Who does that benefit,” said The Honorable Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education for President Barack Obama.  

“We’re long overdue to level with Virginians about what is happening. It’s a core civil rights issue for Virginia students. And only with an accurate system will Virginians see the improvements educators are making to help justify new investments and also see clearly where we’re falling short so we can make changes. A good accountability system means the true story of student performance isn’t privileged information for a cloistered few but instead is public information so Virginians can make informed decisions about their own children and at the ballot box,” said Virginia Board of Education Member Andrew Rotherham. 

“Grade inflation is already a massive problem in our schools; kids are bringing home As and Bs on their report cards, even if they are one or two grade levels behind in reading and math. No doubt this is why so few parents in Virginia and elsewhere are aware of the post-COVID emergency in student achievement,” said President of the national non-profit Thomas B. Fordham Institute Michael Petrilli. “Let’s not make the problem worse by extending grade inflation to our school ratings. Let’s follow Gov. Youngkin’s lead and tell parents the truth. Our kids are off track. Our schools are off track. Let’s stop saying otherwise and start figuring out how to fix it,” 

“The Commonwealth of Virginia is taking a major step toward revitalizing its public schools in the wake of sweeping student performance declines. It’s a move that bets on the willingness of parents to know the truth about school performance,” said Executive Director of the Collaborative for Student Success Jim Cowen.  

“With the new Accountability framework, families, teachers and communities benefit from greater transparency and struggling schools benefit from better targeted support from their communities, all increasing support for the public school system in general,” said Arlington County parent Todd Truitt. “It is a win-win for Virginia Democrats, and for Virginia students, parents, and communities.”  

“We applaud the board for undertaking this important work and for continuing to engage with a wide array of stakeholders — educators, families, business and community leaders and policymakers. With a new accountability framework, it is imperative that the commonwealth identify areas for improvement and allocate strategic resources to support such,” said President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Barry Duval.

“I’m actually looking forward to this new system, I’m not fearful of it,” said Henry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Amy Blake-Lewis. “I think that what we’re going to get from it is better data. Using that VVAAS (Virginia’s Visualization and Analytics Solutions) data is going to help us to determine which students are growing, which ones might be stagnant, which ones may be falling behind, so that personalization aspect of the new data reports is really going to be something that can help us do better for our students.” 

“The Virginia accountability system has the potential to drive systemic change if leveraged effectively. We must approach this accountability system with a forward-thinking mindset. We must approach this accountability system with a forward-thinking mindset. It should drive leaders to invest in proven interventions, competitive teacher pay, and increased support for schools in line with recommendations from the state’s,” said Executive Director of the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education William Robinson. 

“Although the State Board of Community Colleges has not taken an official position on the?Virginia School Performance and Support Framework, we are in support?of the Board of Education’s commitment to having high expectations for all students and providing the necessary resources for students to reach their potential,” said Virginia Community College System Chancellor David Doré. “Moreover, we are committed to the alignment of opportunities in high school to a workforce credential or an associate’s degree that is available and attainable through one of our 23 community colleges and communicating those opportunities early on to students before they reach high school.?We look forward to continued collaboration with Virginia’s school superintendents and school divisions as together we continue our mutually important work.” 

“I…support the work of the Board to elevate the standard of success, to promote high expectations and to ensure fair and transparent outcomes for ALL of our students,” said Director of the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia Scott Fleming. “The picture is worsening; the trend is not positive, and many of our Virginia students are arriving at college without the necessary academic preparation to succeed. We can, and should, do better for our students. Ensuring that all Virginia students are prepared for postsecondary education, or any other activity they decide to pursue after high school, is a fundamental obligation of the state’s commitment to our public education system…Transparency, support, and high expectations will help all of Virginia’s students succeed.” 

 “The Virginia Board of Education recently approved the revamp of the accountability system, including its separation from accreditation (similar to?most?states). More transparent and granular academic performance data under the federal accountability standards will be reported via the new accountability framework, better enabling a?core purpose of reporting?under ESSA, which is to better?target support to schools?that are most in need,” said Arlington Parents for Education. 

“Virginia is in the process of separating its federal accountability system from its state accreditation system. This separation is vital for transparency, particularly in light of the significant learning loss students experienced during Virginia’s prolonged school closures (which Holton still vocally defends with inaccuracies). Unfortunately, Virginia’s current accreditation and accountability system, designed under Holton’s watch, uses lower state standards to paint a rosier picture of school performance than the data mandated under the federal 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). On Virginia School Quality Profiles, the lower state accreditation metrics are front and center, while the more stringent ESSA-required information is buried in confusing and hard-to-navigate tabs,” said Fairfax County resident Saundra Davis.