Meeting Summary
Virginia Board of Education
June 25, 2009
Proposal regarding the Grade 3 History and Social Science Assessment and a Timeline for Revising Grade 3 Reading Assessment
The Board received testimony from representatives of statewide organizations regarding the recent decision by the Board of Education to drop last month’s proposal to eliminate the Grade 3 History and Social Science Assessments. Dr. Patricia Wright strongly urged members to continue to look for ways to improve the testing system, but stressed that this particular topic is now off the table. As far as revising the tests, the Board will look into ways to incorporate content-based reading passages into SOL reading tests and it was strongly urged that much thought be given to the impact of testing 8 and 9 year old students.
Economics and Personal Finance Standards of Learning
The Board accepted proposed economics and personal finance Standards of Learning for first review. Public hearings will be held in September to receive feedback, with final review and adoption scheduled for January 2010. The proposed Standards will become a graduation requirement beginning with the ninth grade class of 2010-2011.
Alternative Accreditation Plans for Henrico County Public Schools
The Board approved a request to extend approval of alternative accreditation plans for three years for two Henrico County middle schools.
Guidelines for the Neighborhood Assistance Program for Education
The Board approved the proposed guidelines, which became effective July 1. The Act allocated $4.9 million for education proposals for approval by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Board of Education was authorized by the Act to adopt guidelines for the approval or disapproval of proposals by neighborhood organizations.
Template for School Divisions to Display Annual Report of Expenditures (HB 2269)
The Board approved a template to display expenditures to fulfill the mandate of HB 2269, passed during the 2009 General Assembly Session. This bill was originally proposed in 2008 with the request that a template for all school divisions to use for reporting expenditure information be provided. The Department has developed such a template and it will be disseminated to local school divisions so that they can make annual expenditure reports available to the public.
Revisions to Criteria for the Virginia Index of Performance, Virginia’s Incentive Program to Encourage and Recognize School Accountability Performance and Competence to Excellence
The Board accepted proposed revisions to the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) on first review, stressing that this needs to be a constantly changing document. The VIP Program was designed as an incentive program that encourages schools to support more students moving from competence to excellence in all of the core academic content areas. The primary objectives for the proposed revisions to the VIP award program were the following:
1. The minimum eligibility criteria for VIP awards would remain the same as current requirements. To be eligible for VIP, schools would have to be fully accredited and make AYP for two consecutive years.
2. Retain incentives for schools to; have more students increase their proficiency levels over time and achieve as many of the “additional indicators” as possible for their school level.
3. Enhance the incentives for students to earn high achievement levels in each academic content area.
4. Incorporate new cohort report data into VIP criteria.
Pupil Transportation Specifications for School Buses
The Board accepted proposed Pupil Transportation specifications for first review. The major technical change in this review is the elimination of hydraulic disk brakes for all new bus purchases, limiting all buses to air brakes. The change would only pertain to new purchases, and would not affect current fleets. Public comment on the proposed changes will be accepted for 30 days, and final review is expected at either the July or September Board meetings, depending on the number of comments received.