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2022 SESSION

22104194D
HOUSE BILL NO. 938
House Amendments in [ ] -- February 10, 2022
A BILL to require the Board of Education, in conjunction with the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, [ to convene a group of stakeholders ] to evaluate certain current and proposed policies and performance standards for public elementary and secondary schools and students and report recommendations for revising these policies and standards to promote excellence and higher student achievement.
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Patron Prior to Engrossment--Delegate Robinson
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Referred to Committee on Education
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Board of Education (the Board) shall collaborate with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary of Education [ to convene a group of stakeholders to include parents, public school principals, public school superintendents, public school board members, institutions of higher education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, industry partners and employers, and other concerned stakeholders ] to evaluate, to implement where possible, and to otherwise make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the following goals:

1. Promoting excellence in instruction and student achievement in mathematics, including elimination of the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative and an evaluation any other proposed changes to the Mathematics Standards of Learning, in advance of the next revision of such standards by the Board, to maintain and increase the rigor of mathematics instruction in public elementary and secondary schools and permit students demonstrating aptitude and high achievement in mathematics to accelerate their progress through core mathematics classes and concepts and take advanced mathematics courses before the eleventh grade;

2. Increasing the number of academic year Governor's Schools in the Commonwealth and maintaining standards of excellence for students in all such schools;

3. Preserving the Advanced Studies Diploma as an option for students in public high schools in the Commonwealth [ while maintaining or increasing course and credit requirements for such diploma ] ;

4. Increasing the transparency and honesty of performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth and ensuring that such measures do not obscure or conceal disparities in performance among student groups [ and reduce or eliminate disparities among student groups ] ;

5. Ensuring that performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools prioritize the attainment of grade-level proficiency [ and growth during the course of a school year and from school year to school year ] in reading and mathematics for all students, especially in grades kindergarten through five;

6. Ensuring that the Commonwealth's proficiency standards on Standards of Learning assessments in reading and mathematics are rigorous in comparison with assessments administered by other states and national assessments in reading and mathematics; and

7. Restoring a strong accreditation system that promotes meaningful accountability year-over-year.

§ 2. No later than November 30, 2022, the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report to the chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health the results of the evaluation conducted pursuant to § 1 of this act and recommendations to achieve the goals set forth in § 1 of this act.