McAuliffe Administration Announces SOL Innovation Committee Members

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McAuliffe Administration announced the members and first meeting date for Virginia’s Standards of Learning Innovation Committee.

Building on the work that began with legislation passed during the 2014 General Assembly Session, the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee will take a comprehensive look at Virginia’s Standards of Learning system. After an exhaustive review of stakeholder recommendations and applications, the Committee members were selected by Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton.  They will be charged with making recommendations to the Board of Education and the General Assembly on ways to further reform SOL assessments, student growth measures, and encourage innovative teaching in the classroom. 

“Virginia’s education system is one of the best in the world, and continues to grow stronger every day. I am proud that during the 2014 legislative session, my administration and the General Assembly worked together in a bipartisan way to make significant progress on one of my top priorities-reforming the Standards of Learning.  This is the first step in ensuring that our education system works for Virginia's students, teachers and families," said Governor McAuliffe.  “While we have already reduced the amount of SOL tests, the real work begins with enacting reforms to our educational system that will prepare our students for jobs of the 21st Century. I look forward to working with this group to make Virginia a leader in creativity and innovation in the classroom.”

“This Committee has the opportunity to truly shape the next generation of Virginia’s Standards of Learning,” said Holton. “The membership represents diverse perspectives from around the Commonwealth. I am confident that the Committee will develop both short-term and long-term recommendations to better align our education system with the needs of the 21^st century economy.”

The first meeting of the Committee will be held in Richmond on Tuesday, July 15, 2014.

Members of the Committee are as follows:

Dr. Shawnrell Blackwell of Chester, Director of School Improvement, Petersburg City Public Schools

Kelly Booz of Alexandria, Member, City of Alexandria School Board

Jeffrey Bourne of Richmond, Member, Richmond City School Board

Terri Breeden of Fairfax, Assistant Superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools

Dabney Carr of Richmond, Partner at Troutman Sanders Law Firm

Dr. Jared Cotton of Henry County, Superintendent, Henry County Public Schools

Karen Cross of Washington County, Teacher, Bristol Public Schools

Veronica Donahue of Essex, Teacher, Essex County Public Schools

Dr. Jenny Sue Flannagan of Virginia Beach, President-elect, Virginia Association of Science Teachers

Deborah Frazier of Spotsylvania, Principal, Spotsylvania County Public Schools

Sarah Gross of Richmond, Parent, Richmond City Public Schools

Meg Gruber of Prince William, Teacher, Prince William County Public Schools

Dr. Roger Hathaway of Norfolk, Head of Education, NASA Langley Research Center

Lillie Jessie of Woodbridge, Member, Prince William County School Board

Dr. Tarannum Lateef of Manassas, Parent, Prince William County Public Schools

Dr. Susan Magliaro of Blacksburg, Director of VT-STEM, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Dr. Brian Matney of Virginia Beach, Principal, Virginia Beach City Public Schools

Laurie McCullough of Charlottesville, Director, Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Dr. Stewart Roberson of Mechanicsville, Chairman, Moseley Architects

Dr. Alan Seibert of Salem, Superintendent, Salem Public Schools

Karen Thomsen of Bridgewater, Principal, Rockingham County Public Schools

Dr. Christine Walther-Thomas of Midlothian, Professor and Dean, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education

Jeion Ward of Hampton, retired teacher, Hampton City Public Schools

Dr. William White of Williamsburg, Vice President, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Wade Whitehead of Roanoke, Teacher, Roanoke City Public Schools

Benjamin Williams of Roanoke, Director of Testing, Roanoke County Public Schools

Sanford Williams of Manassas, Member, Manassas City School Board

Renee Zando of Henrico, Guidance Counselor, Henrico County Public Schools

Additionally, the Committee will have representation from the General Assembly. Four members of the House of Delegates will be appointed by the Speaker of the House and two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate.

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates are as follows:

Delegate Thomas A. Greason

Delegate Roxann Robinson

Delegate Jim LeMunyon

Delegate Rob Krupicka

Members of the Senate of Virginia are as follows:

Senator Creigh Deeds

Senator John Miller

Dr. Steven Staples, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction; Christian Braunlich, President of the Board of Education; and the Secretary of Education will serve as exofficio members.

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Governor McAuliffe Statement on Ruling in Opportunity Educational Institution Ruling

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Governor Terry McAuliffe released the following statement following a Norfolk Circuit Court Judge’s ruling in the lawsuit regarding the Virginia Opportunity Educational Institution:

“My team and I are evaluating today’s ruling and will make a decision about next steps soon. Regardless of today’s ruling, Secretary Anne Holton, Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Staples and my entire administration are committed to working in a collaborative way with local school divisions and the Board of Education to improve outcomes in all communities, and particularly in our struggling schools. We absolutely have to do better by the children in these schools.

“Reducing the achievement gap is a top priority for me and my entire team. It will require working together with the Virginia Department of Education, local school divisions, other state and local agencies and communities to ensure our youngsters have the best chance for success. Part of our effort will include continuing the bipartisan effort to reform our existing Standards of Learning system to better serve all of our students. Our Standards of Learning Innovation Committee will begin its work this summer.

“Secretary of Education Anne Holton and Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Staples will be working with other state and local partners to get all of our priority schools on the right track.”

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Governor McAuliffe Applauds House Passage of SOL Reform Legislation

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Governor Terry McAuliffe and Secretary of Education Anne Holton released the following statement today applauding the unanimous passage of House Bill 930, which would reform the Standards of Learning (SOLs) by reducing the number of tests to focus students and teachers on key areas in each grade level and establishing a process to review remaining SOL assessments in order to maximize their effectiveness:

“I am pleased that the House of Delegates has acted in a bipartisan fashion to pass this bill, which represents a meaningful step toward reforming the Standards of Learning to continue to evaluate students and teachers, without stifling innovation and creativity in the classroom.

“This legislation was the product of the leadership of Delegates Tag Greason and Rob Krupicka, who worked alongside Secretary of Education Anne Holton and my policy team to craft a bill that will allow the Commonwealth to track student performance while better freeing teachers to teach and students to learn. As the legislation moves to the Senate, my team and I will continue to engage actively with the process to bring legislation to my desk to reform the SOLs and strengthen Virginia’s ability to prepare our students to lead in the 21^st Century economy.”  

Secretary Holton added:

“I want to thank Delegates Greason and Krupicka and their colleagues in the House for working so closely with Governor McAuliffe’s team to get this important legislation passed. This bill will improve the quality of the instruction Virginia students receive in the classroom, and should serve as an example of what we can achieve when we work together in a bipartisan way.”

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State Board of Education Approves A-F School Grading System

English: The state seal of Virginia.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First School Grades will Accompany 2014-2015 Accreditation Ratings

RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the Virginia Board of Education today unanimously approved an A-F grading system that will assign letter grades to schools based on the percentages of students demonstrating proficiency, academic growth and college and career readiness. Initial letter grades will be announced at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year and will accompany school accreditation ratings.

Governor Bob McDonnell proposed an A-F school grading system as part of his ALL STUDENTS 2013 education agenda. The 2013 General Assembly subsequently approved House Bill 1999 and Senate Bill 1207 — sponsored by Del. Thomas A. Greason, R-Loudoun County, and Sen. William M. Stanley Jr., R-Franklin County, respectively — directing the state Board of Education to create an A-F scale based on performance, state and federal accountability standards and student growth indicators.  

“I want to thank Secretary of Education Javaid Siddiqi, former Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, the Department of Education and the Board of Education for the thoughtful approach that they have taken in implementing this legislation to provide parents with a better understanding of school performance,” Governor McDonnell said. “I also want to commend the General Assembly for supporting this commonsense reform to bring accountability and transparency to Virginia public schools.  The A-F grading system relies on criteria that will capture a school’s overall performance and growth, college and career readiness, and the success of schools in raising achievement of their lowest-performing students.  The new grading system will better enable us to track school performance and improve education for all Virginia students by utilizing an easy to understand and familiar format.”

“In implementing the legislation, the state board struck what I believe is an appropriate balance between maintaining high expectations for all children and recognizing the successes of schools that serve students who face significant challenges,” Secretary of Education Javaid Siddiqi said.

Under the system adopted by the board, 50 percent of the grade of an elementary or middle school will be based on overall proficiency in English, mathematics, science and history/social science; 25 percent on overall growth in English and mathematics; and 25 percent on growth in English and mathematics among the school’s lowest-performing students. Elementary and middle schools also can earn a capped number of bonus points based on the percentage of students earning advanced scores on Standards of Learning (SOL) tests in the four core content areas and for meeting all federal accountability benchmarks.  The A-F grading system was developed after months of thoughtful consideration and research as well as significant input from stakeholders, including parents, educators, school and community leaders.

For high schools, 33 percent of the grade will be based on overall proficiency in English, mathematics, science and history/social science; 25 percent will be based on indicators of college and career readiness, such as graduation rates, college credits earned and completion of advanced career and technical education (CTE) programs; eight percent will be based on participation in dual-credit courses and board-approved CTE assessments; 17 percent will be based on growth toward college and career readiness; and 17 percent will be based on growth toward college and career readiness among students at risk of not graduating. High schools also can earn a capped number of bonus points based on advanced performance on SOL assessments and for meeting all federal accountability goals.

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