Residents can give feedback on Virginia Board of Education’s newly approved school-ranking system

The Virginia Board of Education last week approved a new way to rank schools.

The system will place schools in a “performance category” based on multiple indicators; schools’ scores might be presented as a letter grade, a star rating, or something else. Mastery — or student proficiency -— and readiness will be factors at all grade levels. Readiness refers to whether a student is prepared for the next academic level or postsecondary pursuit, such as college. Chronic absenteeism rates will also factor into readiness scores. Growth — year-to-year improvement — will be an indicator at elementary and middle school levels. Graduation rates will also count among high schools.

The VDOE is holding sessions to obtain feedback on the system. In Hampton Roads, a session will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Torggler Fine Arts Center at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. Visit the VDOE website to register to attend. Public comments can also be submitted online through May 27.

The board approved the new framework in a 7-1 vote with Anne Holton voting no. Board member Alan Seibert was absent. Holton said she feared the board was “making a grave mistake,” with the framework and in approving it before receiving public comments.

“We need to be clear that what the administration is proposing here is an A-F grading system,” she said. Holton said using a different grading system, like stars, would still amount to the same thing and would just be a way to “soften the blow.”

Holton said research shows that accountability systems that label schools — such as assigning an “F” — exacerbate school segregation as economically advantaged families and teachers move to “better” districts. She said this generally leaves “Black and brown” students behind.

Other board members rejected this take and said research shows that holding schools accountable through a summative system raises student proficiency and growth. Board member Andy Rotherham said the new system will also create transparency.

“Telling the truth is not a blow, it is an obligation,” Rotherham said.

He also added that if opponents of the system are worried about school segregation, then a conversation can be had around school choice, eliminating attendance zones and exploring other options that he said have been shown to solve that problem.

Board member Dale Sturdifen supports the ranking system and believes it holds students to higher standards. Claiming the new system harms “Black and brown” students is a trigger to get people fired up, he said.

“Lowering the standards, it’s a handout,” he said. “All kids need to be uplifted.”

Proponents of the new system also said it is not about sanctioning schools but identifying schools that need more support.

In 7-1 votes — the board voted separately for the three grade levels — the board also approved weights for each indicator. At the elementary level, a school’s performance would be determined by 65% on mastery, 25% on growth and 10% on readiness. The weights at the middle school level are 65% mastery, 20% growth and 15% readiness. For high school, the weights will be 50% mastery, 35% readiness and 15% graduation.

Holton also voted against the weights, saying that she wanted to see growth weighted at least equally to mastery.

The regulations are flexible for the board to change indicators or weights in the future.

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The board began revising the accreditation system last summer. A June report from the secretary of education and the superintendent of public instruction recommended that Virginia divide its existing program into two systems — one for accountability and one for accreditation — similar to most other states. Critics of the old system said it masked changes in achievement, such as not reflecting lower scores after the pandemic. They also said growth was prioritized over proficiency.

Data collection for the new system will begin in the 2024-2025 school year with the first new reports issued in summer 2025.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com