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2014 SESSION

14101599D
HOUSE BILL NO. 618
Offered January 8, 2014
Prefiled January 7, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact § 2 of Chapter 672 and § 2 of Chapter 692 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013, relating to a grading system for individual school performance.
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Patrons-- Mason and Simon
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Referred to Committee on Education
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 2 of Chapter 672 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2. The Board of Education shall report individual school performance using a grading system that includes takes into account the following factors in assigning grades: the standards of accreditation,; state and federal accountability requirements, and; all state mandated assessments; any assessment developed by the relevant local school board; any international benchmarking assessments; student growth indicators; student mobility; the experience and qualifications of staff; cost and funding per pupil; remediation programs offered; extracurricular activities; parental engagement and satisfaction levels; any external awards or recognitions; and school safety in assigning grades. The grading system shall be based on an A-to-F grading scale. The Board, by October 1, 2014 2017, shall (i) assign a grade an overall grade and a grade for each individual factor considered from A to F to each public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) make both the system and the grade assigned to each school in the Commonwealth available to the public; and (iii) in a format which allows for a comparison of similarly situated schools in terms of percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, percentage of English language learners, local funding beyond what is required by the composite index, student mobility, and any other category the Board deems appropriate; and (iii) report to the General Assembly a summary of the system and the assigned grades.

2. That § 2 of Chapter 692 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2. The Board of Education shall report individual school performance using a grading system that includes takes into account the following factors in assigning grades: the standards of accreditation,; state and federal accountability requirements, and; all state mandated assessments; any assessment developed by the relevant local school board; any international benchmarking assessments; student growth indicators; student mobility; the experience and qualifications of staff; cost and funding per pupil; remediation programs offered; extracurricular activities; parental engagement and satisfaction levels; any external awards or recognitions; and school safety in assigning grades. The grading system shall be based on an A-to-F grading scale. The Board, by October 1, 2014 2017, shall (i) assign a grade an overall grade and a grade for each individual factor considered from A to F to each public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) make both the system and the grade assigned to each school in the Commonwealth available to the public; and (iii) in a format which allows for a comparison of similarly situated schools in terms of percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, percentage of English language learners, local funding beyond what is required by the composite index, student mobility, and any other category the Board deems appropriate; and (iii) report to the General Assembly a summary of the system and the assigned grades.