City, County schools respond to new Virginia Department of Education scores

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All five of the area's high schools received ratings of either distinguished or on track.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The Virginia Department of Education released its first report under new criteria from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, giving high marks to the high schools in Albemarle County and Charlottesville, but offering varied grades for the area’s middle and elementary schools.

“This is a new measuring system, so these numbers offer a baseline where we can identify what’s working, what needs improving, and how we can continue to meet student needs,” ACPS spokesperson Jason Grant told Cville Right Now in an email. “Certainly, based on the data released by VDOE, Albemarle County Public Schools is well-positioned as a leader in public education.”

Based on the new criteria from the Youngkin administration, the School Performance and Support Framework report gives schools both a score, grading them in three areas – mastery, growth and readiness – and a ranking.

Mastery aims to measure student achievement based on SOL test scores. Growth measures improvement in mathematics and reading. Readiness varies more by age. At the elementary and middle school levels, absenteeism is a major data point. At the high school level, how many students go on to college, military service or employment.

Some schools were also labeled lower than their earned score because they had received separate federal designations indicating they needed support, Grant said.

The scores are translated into rankings – distinguished, on track, off track, and needs intensive support.

In the county, two of its high schools – Western Albemarle and Community Lab – received the top designation of “distinguished,” while Albemarle and Monticello were labeled “on track.”

Among county middle schools, Henley attained a “distinguished” designation, while Journey, Lakeside and Walton all checked in as “on track.” Burley was labeled off track by a slim margin. 80 points was the cutoff for on track. Burley’s score was a 79.9.

The county’s elementary schools had the most varied results, with five earning a “distinguished” rating, three registering as “on track,” five coming in “off track,” and Agnor and Greer, receiving a designation of “needs intensive support.”

“This is a trend across the state, which makes sense considering students enter the school system with different levels of learning and experience,” Grant said. “What is promising about the data is that our middle schools and high schools are consistently strong across all feeder patterns, which shows that once students enter the school system, we have a record of supporting their development.”

In the city, Charlottesville High School achieved a rating of “on track,” but the division’s two middle schools scored lower. Charlottesville Middle checked in as “off track” and Walker Upper Elementary received a “needs intensive support” rating.

Sunrise Elementary earned a “distinguished” rating, but four other elementary schools were listed as “off track,” and Tall Oaks was labeled “needs intensive support.”

“All Charlottesville City Schools are fully accredited, and all (city) schools exceed or are approaching the state’s new accountability benchmark of 80 points,” CCPS spokesperson Beth Cheuk told Cville Right Now in an email. “Sunrise Elementary (formerly Burnley-Moran) earned the distinguished designation for earning more than 90 points. A related highlight: Virtually all student groups, including our Black students, saw modest gains on SOL rates despite harder content.”

Cheuk said the division has identified English language learners, Black students and economically disadvantaged students as needing groups where city schools should be focusing their support.

“Our goal is to help all students reach proficiency and life-readiness,” Cheuk said.

Grant said, overall, the report showed the division is doing well.

“Based on the School Performance and Support Framework (SPSF) data released, ACPS is among the highest rated school divisions in Virginia,” Grant said. “All high schools met or exceeded state standards. All but one middle school met or exceeded standards (Burley narrowly missed the standard with a score of 79.9, with 80.0 being the standard for “on track.”). Brownsville Elementary School had the highest elementary school score in the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Grant noted that 33.3% of the division’s schools received a designation of distinguished, something achieved by just 23% of schools statewide.