Virginia

		REPORT CARD
		NAEP exams		% Scoring proficient
		1996 8th grade math		21%
		1996 4th grade math		19%
		1996 8th grade science		27%
		1994 4th grade reading		26%
		QUALITY COUNTS 1999 grades
		Standards and assessments		A-
		Efforts to raise teacher quality		B
		School climate		D+
		Resources (funding):
			Adequacy	C
			Equity	C
			Allocation	D+

A ccountability became real for Virginia's students last year, as the state administered new tests aligned with its Standards of Learning. Later this year, the state will release a list of low-performing schools based on how students performed on the exams. But high stakes won't kick in for a number of years. High school students won't have to pass end-of-course tests to graduate until 2004. And it will be 2007 before the state threatens to pull accreditation from low-performing schools. Meanwhile, the state will begin issuing report cards on individual schools this month. And starting next year, new teachers will have to have a stronger preparation in their subject.

* NOTE: The equity grade is based on 1994-95 data, the most recent available.

© 1999 Editorial Projects in Education

Vol. 18, number 17, page 181