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2000 SESSION

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SB 623 School accreditation and pupil performance; multiple criteria.

Introduced by: John S. Edwards | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

School accreditation and pupil performance; multiple criteria. Provides that the results of any Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments cannot be the sole or primary basis for the promotion or retention of students or for the awarding of diplomas. In addition, the Board of Education is to provide, in the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) for the use of multiple criteria in determining school accreditation status. Included among these criteria for school accreditation are consideration of access to high quality curricula and instruction designed to meet diverse needs, abilities, and interests; attendance, dropout, and graduation rates; student reading levels; school safety audits; postsecondary education and employment rates; school and divisionwide demographic factors; school and community resources; and parental involvement levels. In establishing accreditation standards and determining requirements for graduation and student achievement, the Board shall seek the assistance and input of teacher education faculty at the Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education, professional educators, parents, and community members. The current Standards of Accreditation (SOA) provide that, for grades in which the SOL tests are given, achievement of a passing score on the SOL tests "shall be considered in promotion/retention policies adopted by the local school board" (8 VAC 20-131-30). The proposed revisions to the SOA delete this statement. The proposed revisions provide instead that results of SOL assessments in grades K-8 are to be "part of a set of multiple criteria for determining the promotion or retention of students." The proposed regulations are silent as to promotion/retention policies for grades 9-12, grades in which verified units of credit (earned by passing SOL assessments and successfully completing courses) are required for a diploma. However, the proposed SOA direct division superintendents to "certify to the Department of Education that the division’s promotion/retention policy does not exclude students from membership in a grade or participation in a course in which SOL tests are to be administered." Currently, the SOA provide that "[n]o promotion/retention policy shall be written in a manner as to systematically exclude students from membership in a grade or participation in a course in which SOL tests are to be administered" (8 VAC 20-131-30). The SOA do not specifically make the awarding of diplomas contingent upon the passage of SOL tests; however, beginning with the ninth grade class of 2000, students must earn six verified units of credit and nine verified units of credit for the standard and advanced studies diplomas, respectively. Verified units are earned upon passage of the relevant SOL test; the proposed SOA revisions add that the student must pass the course as well.


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