STATE OF THE STATE a s presented to VATE October 17, 2015

1. STATE OF THE STATE as presented to VATE October 17, 2015 Tracy Fair Robertson English Coordinator Virginia Department of Education Tracy.Robertsoon@doe.virginia.gov

2. Fast Track Legislation While the BOE conducts a comprehensive review of SOA, this separate fast track regulatory action is for the sole purpose of addressing legislation that was approved by the General Assembly during the 2012- 2015 sessions.

3. Fast Track Legislation

4. Accreditation • New Accreditation rankings are expected to be released on October 27, 2015.

5. Proposed Accreditation Levels Effective October 8, 2015

6. Proposed Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited Schools

7. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited SchoolsApproaching Benchmark-GCI 85 % GCI points needed for full accreditation “To achieve a rating of Partially Accredited: Approaching Benchmark-Graduation and Completion Index, the eligible students in the school must have met the pass rates required for full accreditation in all four content areas (English, mathematics, science and history/social science) and the school must achieve 84* percentage points on the Board of Education's graduation and completion index.”

8. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited SchoolsApproaching Benchmark-GCI A school may remain in this category for no more than 3 consecutive years unless an extension is granted by BOE.

9. Partially Accredited:Approaching Benchmark Narrow Margin = 2 points

10. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited SchoolsApproaching Benchmark-Pass Rates 2 points = narrow margin

11. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited SchoolsApproaching Benchmark-Pass Rates

12. Partially Accredited:Improving School

13. Accreditation LevelsImproving School - GCI

14. Accreditation LevelsImproving School- GCI “A school will be rated as Improving School-Graduation and Completion Index, if it fails to meet the requirements for the Approaching Benchmark-Graduation and Completion Index rating but 1) the eligible students in the school have met the pass rates required for full accreditation in all four content areas (English, mathematics, science and history/social science) and 2) the school’s Graduation and Completion Index has improved by at least one point from the previous year.”

15. Accreditation LevelsImproving School- Pass Rates “A school will be rated as Partially Accredited: Improving School-Pass Rate if the school does not meet the requirements for full accreditation or for Partially Accredited: Approaching Benchmark-Pass Rate but the school’s pass rate in each of the four content areas (English, mathematics, science, and history/social science) either: 1) meets the benchmark required for full accreditation, or 2) meets the narrow margin criteria, or 3) has shown sufficient improvement as compared to the pass rate for the previous year.”

16. Accreditation LevelsImproving School – Pass Rates Mathematics, history and science are all meeting the accreditation benchmarks; however, in English this school is improving because the pass rate meets the requirements for sufficient pass rate improvement (in this case, 2 points) as indicated in Table C of the guidance document. The school’s overall accreditation rating is determined by the lowest content area designation.

17. Accreditation LevelsImproving School – Pass Rates

18. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited: Warned School – GCI “A school will be designated as Partially Accredited: Warned School-Graduation and Completion Index if it has failed to achieve Fully Accredited, Partially Accredited: Approaching Benchmark-GCI, or Partially Accredited: Improving School-GCI status.”

19. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited: Warned School – GCI This school’s overall rating is Partially Accredited: Warned School-GCI. All content areas meet the accreditation benchmarks. GCI is warned because the graduation and completion index did not meet the minimum of 85 or improve at least one point from the previous year. The school’s overall accreditation rating is determined by the GCI designation.

20. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited: Warned School – Pass Rate “A school will be designated as Partially Accredited: Warned School-Pass Rate if it has failed to achieve Fully Accredited, Partially Accredited: Approaching Benchmark-Pass Rate, or Partially Accredited: Improving School-Pass Rate status.”

21. Accreditation LevelsPartially Accredited: Warned School – Pass Rate This school’s overall rating is Partially Accredited: Warned School-Pass Rate. English meets the accreditation benchmark. History is approaching because the pass rate is within the narrow margin (2 points). Mathematics and science are warned because they do not meet the benchmark for approaching or improving. The GCI meets the accreditation benchmark. The school’s overall accreditation rating is determined by the lowest content area designation.

22. HB 1675 & SB 982 Proposed Guidelines for Graduation Requirements; Local Alternative Paths to Standard Units of Credit Developed in Response to House Bill 1675 and Senate Bill 982 of the 2015 General Assembly

23. Alternative Schedules Individual schools may propose, and local school boards may approve, pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education, alternative school schedule plans providing for the operation of schools on a four-day weekly calendar, so long as a minimum of 990 hours of instructional time is provided for grades one through twelve and 540 hours for kindergarten.

24. Student Achievement &Graduation Requirements Permit local school divisions to waive the requirement for students to receive 140 clock hours of instruction to earn a standard unit of credit upon providing the Board with satisfactory proof that the students have learned the content and skills included in the relevant Standards of Learning.

25. Standard Credit • If schools decide to waive 140 clock hours then: • Must provide BOE with proof that the SOL skills & content have been learned • Course content must be comparable to 140 clock hours • Student must meet aims & objectives of the course

26. Standard & Verified Credit • Core academic SOL content has been integrated into another course & student passes SOL (Humanities) • Waiver of 140 clock hours, student will be permitted to sit for SOL test without having to meet 140 clock hours

27. 2015 Legislation Report http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/legislation/2015/bills.shtml

28. SOL Innovation CommitteeAssessment 2.0 Subcommittee What Do We Want To Measure? • • Literacy and numeracy at the elementary and middle school level • • Reading for different purposes • • Oral and written communication skills • • Civic responsibility • • Scientific literacy and an understanding of the scientific process • • Collaborative/social skills • Self-awareness/agency (goal-setting) • • Critical thinking/problem solving • • Financial literacy • • Ability to solve real-world problems • • De-emphasis on “Google-able” content with a focus on application • • Ability to create new ideas/solutions rather than simply locating information • • Life-ready skills (college, career, and citizenship skills) • • Ability to identify accuracy and bias • • Ability to “curate” available information http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/committees_standing/accountability/2015/agenda_accountability_09_09_15.pdf

29. SOL Innovation CommitteeAssessment 2.0 Subcommittee • Assessments should: • “drive” instruction • be closely “linked together” • measure students on a “lean” curriculum only focusing on the most important standards • (reading & mathematics) vertically aligned to measure student growth over time • “engage” students in active, meaningful learning • not be tests that students can “cram” for and still be successful • include clear learning targets • include diagnostic and pre-assessments as part of the system • provide student choice where appropriate • assess only the most valuable content and skills

30. SOL Innovation CommitteeAssessment 2.0 Subcommittee

31. SOL Innovation CommitteeAssessment 2.0 Subcommittee • Recommendations: • Computer Adaptive Tests • Vertical Scale for Reading & Math • Teachers must be involved in development, scoring, and reporting assessments • Must measure student growth • High School flexibility- redesign of high schools • Virginia Placement Test as an option • Shorten tests • TEI should have partial credit • Student Choice- writing- choose the prompts

32. 2014-2015 Reading SOL Results

33. SOL Reading Pass Rates2014-2015 • 79 percent of students passed the test for their grade level, (+ 5 over 2013-2014) • Grade 3 +6 over 2013-2014 • Grade 5 +6 over 2013-2014 • Grade 4 +7 over 2013-2014 • Grade 7 pass rates of 81% • EOC pass rate 89% • Students improved on six of the seven reading tests

34. SOL Reading Pass Rates2014-2015 • 79 percent of students passed the test for their grade level, (+ 5 over 2013-2014) • Grade 3 +6 over 2013-2014 • Grade 5 +6 over 2013-2014 • Grade 4 +7 over 2013-2014 • Grade 7 pass rates of 81% • EOC pass rate 89% • Students improved on six of the seven reading tests

35. 2015 Reading SOL Results

36. 2015 Grade 3Reading SOL Results http://vpap.org/vamaps/allthingsva/?vector=3rd_reading

37. 2015 Writing SOL Results

38. On-Time Graduation Rate Rises

39. On-Time Graduation Rate Rises 51.5% earn Advanced Studies Diploma 35.2% earn Standard Diploma 1.6% earn Modified Standard 2.1% earn Special Diploma 1.3% earn GED 5.2% dropout

40. VDOE Updates • Grades 4 & 5 SOL Reading tests may be administered over two days • Pre K grant • English and Science SOL & CF coming in 2017. *Work begins 2016* (one may be delayed) • Move to TestNav 8 in spring 2017 for Grades 3, 4, 5 Reading • Sample Practice Items will be released in TestNav 8 during this academic year

41. VDOE Updates Teacher Licensure Every person seeking renewal of a license shall complete all renewal requirements, including professional development in a manner prescribed by the Board, except that no person seeking renewal of a license shall be required to satisfy any such requirement by completing coursework and earning credit at an institution of higher education. As of July 1, 2015, no one is required to take a college level class for license renewal. 180 recertification points are still required.

42. JLARC Report

43. JLARC Report • Divisions spend less to educate each student than a decade ago • Nearly all divisions reduced instructional spending, but also report being less effective • Some divisions can improve facilities and transportation efficiency • Virtual learning is a small but growing aspect of K-12 education

44. ELA Updates • Quill Theatre • Shakespeare Initiative • Letters About Literature • Read Aloud to a Child Week • October 18-24

45. ELA Updates • On November 12 @ UVA, Dr. Daniel T. Willingham will speak on Can Children Be Taught to Love to Read? Registration fee includes parking, lunch, & panel discussion. • The 2016 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History writing contest honors African-Americans High school students maysubmit a 400-word essay by November 13. • Virginia Municipal League "If I Were Mayor" Essay contest is open to all grade 7 students. See VML for details on to submit your essay by December 1.

46. ELA Updates NCTE National Day on Writing ReadWorks.org Paired Passages

47. Contact Information • Virginia Department of Education Tracy Fair Robertson • English Coordinator • Tracy.Robertson@doe.virginia.gov • 804-371-7585 • Assessment Office • Student_assessment@doe.virginia.gov • 804-225-2102