Virginia SAT Scores Rise as Nation’s Fall

Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Achievement of Virginia Students Increases On All Three Components of Leading College-Entrance Exam

RICHMOND – Virginia’s 2013 public school graduates achieved significant gains and outperformed their peers nationwide on the SAT college-admissions test, according to results released today by the College Board. Average scores for Virginia public school graduates rose four points in critical reading, one point in mathematics and two points in writing. Among public school students nationwide, achievement was flat in reading, and dropped two points in mathematics and one point in writing.

                  

            Speaking about Virginia students’ performance on the SAT college-admissions test, Governor Bob McDonnell commented, “Most Virginia high schools are doing a great job preparing our students for the college entrance exams.  While nationwide test scores showed no growth, this year we saw in Virginia impressively high marks on every section of the SAT.  This is due to the rigorous standards we hold our students too, and the high-quality classroom instruction by our teachers.”

Graduating seniors in Virginia achieved at significantly higher levels than public school students nationwide on all three SAT subsections:

·         The average Virginia public school reading score of 512 is 21 points higher.

·         The average Virginia public school mathematics score of 511 is eight points higher.

·         The average Virginia public school writing score of 494 is 14 points higher.

2013 SAT Virginia Public School Mean Scores
Group	Critical Reading		Mathematics		Writing
	Virginia	Nation	Virginia	Nation	Virginia	Nation
All Public School Students	512	491	511	503	494	480
American Indian	502	477	492	481	477	456
Asian	546	523	584	574	538	520
Black	439	426	431	425	422	412
Hispanic	491	445	490	457	474	437
White	537	522	533	531	517	508

“Virginia teachers at all grade levels should take pride in the improving performance of our graduating seniors on the SAT,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said. “The long-term trend on the SAT is up as students are challenged by more rigorous standards as they advance through elementary and middle grades to high school, and ultimately graduate better prepared for their first year of college or the work force.”

“The message in the 2013 SAT results is clear: Virginia students continue to make progress under the Standards of Learning program and the college- and career-ready expectations introduced during the past five years,” Board of Education President David M. Foster said. “I am particularly gratified by the progress in narrowing achievement gaps, as Virginia’s public school students outperformed their counterparts nationally in every demographic subgroup.”

Twenty-nine percent of the Virginia public school SAT takers were members of student subgroups — black, Hispanic and American Indian — historically underrepresented in higher education. Hispanic participation increased by seven percent compared with 2012.

Black 2013 Virginia public school graduates narrowed the achievement gap in all three SAT subject areas by achieving larger gains than public school students overall.  The average black score in critical reading increased seven points to 439.  The average black score in mathematics increased four points to 431.  The average black score in writing increased five points to 422.

Hispanic Virginia public school graduates achieved an average of 491 in critical reading, a five-point increase compared with 2012. Their average score of 490 in mathematics represented a one-point improvement, and their 474 average in writing marked no change from 2012.

A total of 53,072 public school seniors in the state took the SAT — a slight decrease in participation over the previous year’s 53,806 public school participants. In all, 67 percent of the state’s public school graduates and 71 percent of graduating seniors overall took the SAT in 2013.

Forty-five percent of Virginia’s 2013 public school SAT takers and 46 percent of all SAT takers in the commonwealth achieved the College Board’s College- and Career-Readiness Benchmark. The benchmark score of 1550 (critical reading, mathematics and writing sections combined) indicates a 65-percent likelihood of achieving a B-minus grade-point average or higher during the first year of college. Nationwide, 43 percent of SAT takers met the readiness standard.

Average achievement of all Virginia high school seniors — including private and home-schooled students — increased six points in reading, two points in mathematics and three points in writing.  Virginia’s all-student average of 516 in reading is 20 points higher than the national all-student average of 496.  The commonwealth’s all-student average of 514 in mathematics is equal to the national all-student average.  Virginia’s all-student average writing score of 498 is ten points higher than the national average.

2013 SAT Virginia All-Student Mean Scores
Group	Critical Reading		Mathematics		Writing
	Virginia	Nation	Virginia	Nation	Virginia	Nation
All Students	516	496	514	514	498	488
American Indian	505	480	492	486	480	461
Asian	540	521	587	597	535	527
Black	440	431	432	429	424	418
Hispanic	496	450	492	461	479	443
White	540	527	534	534	521	515

While the number of Virginia students taking the rival ACT is increasing, the SAT remains the dominant college-entrance examination in Virginia.

The College Board also reported that the number of Virginia public school students who took at least one Advanced Placement (AP) examination during their high school career increased by 1.1 percent this year, and the number of tests taken increased by 2.6 percent.

The number of AP examinations taken by 2013 public school graduates that qualified for college credit increased by 2.8 percent. Of the 136,662 AP tests taken by Virginia public school students, 82,420, or 60.3 percent, earned a grade of 3 or higher.

The College Board’s February 2013 Advanced Placement Report to the Nation ranked Virginia fifth in the nation in achievement on AP examinations. The College Board will use the AP data released today to update its state rankings early next year.

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Governor McDonnell Announces Blueprint for Administration’s Final 100 Days

 Governor of Virginia  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Sprint to the Finish” Focuses on Securing Additional Positive Results for Virginians Over Last 3 Months

Governor Will Introduce Next Biennial Budget; Implement Education Reforms; Continue to Prioritize Restoration of Rights Efforts; Streamline State Government

NEW YORK CITY- With exactly 100 days remaining in the gubernatorial administration of Governor Bob McDonnell, the governor today announced a “Sprint to the Finish” final 100 days plan that aims to continue the administration’s successes in improving the quality of life of all Virginians and building a “Commonwealth of Opportunity.” Over the course of the last four years the Administration has worked with the General Assembly to successfully achieve Virginia’s first major transportation funding plan in over a generation, add 14,000 new slots for in-state undergraduate students at Virginia’s colleges and universities, put more education dollars into the classroom and initiated significant k-12 education reforms, strengthen Virginia’s pension system, and work with the private sector to help put in place policies that have helped drop Virginia’s unemployment rate from 7.4% in January 2010 to 5.8% today, the lowest unemployment rate in the Southeast. Now, the governor is laying out a number of initiatives and goals for the administration to focus on in the final months of his time in office. The governor made the announcement while on his annual visit to bond rating firms in New York City where he, along with legislators and administration officials, will discuss Virginia’s fiscal standing and financial outlook moving forward.

Speaking about the “Sprint to the Finish” blueprint for the final 100 days, the governor remarked, “This has been an administration focused on getting results for the people. Through bipartisan cooperation and policy innovation, that is what we’ve done. Virginia now has the transportation funding plan that we were lacking for over 20 years. Since we took office, the state unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8%, lowest in the Southeast, and 158,000 net new private sector jobs have been created in the Commonwealth. Our education reforms have introduced increased compensation and accountability for our teachers, expanded educational choices for our students, and put more money in the classroom, not in bureaucracy. Our colleges and universities are more affordable and accessible. Agricultural exports, tourism revenue, and wine sales are all at record highs. This is a record of results that is a bipartisan achievement. Now, as we reach the final 100 days of our time in office, our focus will remain the same: getting results for the people of Virginia.”

The governor continued, “Over these final 100 days Virginians will continue to see results in Richmond. We will introduce the Commonwealth’s next biennial budget, laying out the state’s fiscal framework for the next two years and continuing our tradition of budgeting conservatively and investing wisely in the core functions of government most essential to job creation and economic growth. We will implement the major education reforms we passed last session, with Virginia schools converting to an ‘A-F’ grading scale, the board and head of the Opportunity Educational Institution being selected, pay raises and strategic compensation for teachers moving forward, and recommendations received from our newly-created Governor’s Teachers Cabinet.

He concluded, “We will continue our commitment to restoring, automatically, the rights of Virginians who have paid their dues and deserve to regain the fundamental and basic right to vote and participate fully in our democracy. We will host our fourth ‘Governor’s Energy Conference’ and continue to look for all means by which we can further establish Virginia as ‘The Energy Capital of the East Coast.’ Virginians will continue to see new road projects getting underway all across the Commonwealth as our historic transportation funding bill brings long overdue resources to our transportation system, saving Virginia motorists time and money. And, finally, we will work in partnership with the incoming gubernatorial administration to ensure a seamless and smooth transition of power in keeping with the very best of the Virginia tradition. This is a ‘Sprint to the Finish’, and I look forward to it. Washington D.C. may not work, but Richmond does, and this administration will continue to work hard until the clock strikes noon on Saturday, January 11th.”

“Sprint to the Finish”:  Major Objectives for the Final 100 Days of the McDonnell Administration

1. Reform State Government

            A. Successfully combine DMBE and DBA into a single, efficient agency

B. Eliminate additional pages of unnecessary, burdensome regulations through the Governor’s regulatory reform initiative

C.  Further streamline state government by consolidating Virginia’s Intergovernmental Affairs office

2. Improve Virginia’s Schools

            A.  Bring A – F school grading system to all Virginia localities

            B.  Establish Strategic Compensation for teachers

            C.  Announce Board and Executive Director of Opportunity Educational Institution

            D.  Receive recommendations of the Governor’s Teacher Cabinet

3. Protect and Help All Virginians

            A. Continue goal of finding adoptive homes for 1000 of Virginia’s longest waiting children

            B. Sign Executive Directive to step up Virginia’s ongoing fight against human trafficking

4. Strengthen Democracy

A. Continue to restore rights of more Virginians in keeping with Governor’s announcement of an automatic restoration of rights, on an individualized basis, process for non-violent offenders

B. Provide an orderly, efficient experience at the ballot box for the 2013 General Election by ensuring a vastly shorter wait at polling places

5.  Make Higher Education More Affordable and Accessible

A. Receive input from the Higher Education Advisory Committee and issue a new higher education funding formula to incentivize the goals of the governor’s higher education policies

B. Increase the state’s commitment to higher education funding through the biennial budget development process.

C. Cement the pathway to creation of 100,000 new degree holdersin Virginia

6. Bring More New Jobs to Virginia

A. Secure landmark deals in areas like film, tourism, and agriculture to grow those sectors and bring more jobs to Virginia in the last 100 days of the governor’s term

B. Attract new investment in modeling and simulation, cyber security, and other technology sectors in the Commonwealth

C. Receive and publish the Commonwealth’s long term cyber security plan

7.  Further Establish Virginia as “The Energy Capital of the East Coast”

A. Recognize Dominion’s execution of the first wind energy lease off the coast of Virginia; second nationally

B.  Host the 4th Governor’s Energy Conference during Governor McDonnell’s term

C. Increase the number of alternative fuel vehicles in the state fleetvia the public-private partnership put in place by the administration

D. Continue to fight overreaching EPA regulations that deter job growing policies and energy development in Virginia

E. Preserve more acres of open space through conservation easements and acceptance of donation of significant parcels

8. Reduce Congestion and Improve Virginia’s Transportation System

A. Finalize major agreements and announce construction of new projects of statewide significance

            B. Establish regional planning groups contemplated in the 2013 transportation package

9. Develop Strategic, Balanced Biennial Budget for the Commonwealth

A. Introduce in December a biennial budget that continues to invest wisely in the core functions of Virginia’s state government

B. Continue historic investments in the Rainy Day Fund, the Virginia Retirement System, Virginia’s K-12 system, higher education, and Medicaid reforms

10.  Partner with the Incoming Administration for a Seamless Transition of Power

A. Facilitate a seamless transition to the next gubernatorial administration

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Edgar Allen Poe - The Purloined Letter

Cover of Edgar Allan Poe

A short story by Edgar Allen Poe.  The Purloined Letter.  One of the rare pieces not often seen of Poe's works.  The story though a short one, is to long to post in it's entirety on this site so we enclosed it into a Slideshare container.  You are free to download a PDF version of this story for your own use from our Slideshare site.  To read the story in full screen view, just left click the icon at the far bottom right hand side of the container.  To exit full screen mode, just hit the escape key on your keyboard.

Edgar Allen Poe, The Purloined Letter from Chuck Thompson

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