The Virginia Board of Education (VBOE ) is interested in hearing recommendations from the education stakeholder groups regarding closing the achievement gap. VASSP received an invitation to meet and present information to the VBOE Board’s Accountability Committee on May 22, 2013. VASSP along with 10 other stakeholders that are members of the Virginia Education Coalition (VEC) met on May 9 to discuss this request.
The VBOE is soliciting this information from VASSP and other VEC groups about changes/recommendations for the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) and in particular recommendations about closing the achievement gap among Virginia students. Among the questions they are asking are:
What changes are needed to close the achievement gap ?
How can student growth indicators be incorporated into accreditation ?
What best practices from Virginia school divisions, other states, or other countries could be incorporated ?
Are other changes needed in the accreditation requirements ?
Which provisions in the SOA are outdated or no longer relevant ?
Which provisions could be simplified or streamlined ?
What new provisions are needed to address changes in technology ?
What technical or editorial changes are needed ?
The discussion at the VEC meeting was lively and several comments and scenarios were developed by the organization representatives. Among these were:
- The current measure for student growth (SOL) is not functioning as expected
- Crafting a new accountability system will take time
The committee members agreed that the VBOE needs directions from the stakeholders rather than having a system generated for the state’s education program without educators input. Whatever growth measures are put in place for an accountability system need to be applicable and effective.
A follow up blog from the May 22nd meeting will be posted as action is taken by the VBOE.
