1. Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals
VASSP Summer Conference
Portsmouth Renaissance
June 26, 2017

2. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
-Warren G. Bennis

3. The Changing Face of Student Enrollment in Virginia
Education Briefing: Diversity in Ed Pipeline
2016
The Changing Face of Student Enrollment in Virginia
Source: VDOE Fall Membership Data
Virginia Department of Education

4. Student Demographics
English Language Learner (ELL) students represent twelve percent (12%) of the statewide student enrollment or 154,020 students.
Economically Disadvantaged students represent thirty-eight percent (38%) of the statewide student enrollment or 487,834 students.
More than half of Virginia students (50.22%) identify as non-white.

5. Two Priority Reforms Underway
High School Redesign: Profile of a Virginia Graduate
Accreditation Matrix/ESSA State Plan

6. High School Redesign includes several initiatives…
The Profile of a Virginia Graduate

8. Stronger Connections to Work
Increase Career Exposure, Exploration, and Planning
Elementary Grades
Identification of personal interests and abilities
Provision of information about career cluster areas
Middle Grades
Career Investigation Course or equivalent for students in middle school to aid academic and
Career planning in accordance with the Profile of a Virginia Graduate
Course information and planning for education/training after high school
High School Grades
Emphasis on workplace skills for ALL students
Opportunities for internships and work-based learning
Increase Opportunities for Internships and Work-based Learning Experiences
Scheduling alternatives that offer opportunities for internships, externships, work-based experiences, and credentialing
Adding work-based learning experiences and earned credentials into measures of college and career readiness

9. Less Testing: Reduced Verified Credit Requirements
Standard Diploma: reduced from 6 to 4 verified credits
Advanced Diploma: reduced from 9 to 4 verified credits
One Verified Credit Each in:
Mathematics
SOL Test
Science
English
Social Studies
Authentic Performance Assessment*
*Hewlett Grant funding of $1.2 million in partnership with Jobs for the Future:
Provides professional development for teachers
State developed rubric/template insures continuity
Begins transition to verify credits in different ways, not just through an SOL Test.

10. Accreditation and Accountability Reform ESSA State Plan

11. Unintended Outcomes of Current Accountability System
List of “failing” schools paralleled poverty %
Sanctions “demoralized” community & staff
Test Prep dominated school day & year
Teachers reverted to “drill & kill” methodology – not best practice approaches
High quality staff refused to work in “failing” schools
Non-tested subjects pushed out of school day
Parent/community backlash – “anti-testing”
Key Point here is “new” system is working to fix some of these – the intent of Accountability Reform is to “do this better” and “fairer”

12. State Board Reform Philosophy of Accountability
Four Main Principles:
Provide comprehensive picture of school quality
Drive continuous improvement for all schools
Build on strengths and address gaps and unintended outcomes in current system
Inform areas of VDOE technical assistance and use of school improvement resources
Although not a Core Principle, the State Board also sought tighter alignment of the state/federal accountability systems (Accreditation and ESSA)
In previous discussions, we’ve heard consensus from you about some key principles for state accountability and I’ve listed them here on the slide.
For Virginia, our accountability system should provide:
a comprehensive picture of school quality (includes multiple measures),
drives continuous improvement (focus on achievement for ALL students),
builds on strengths and addresses gaps in current system (recognizes that we’ve learned some things from our experience with current and previous accountability systems)
and importantly, provides a system that informs technical assistance and drives school improvement resources (targeted interventions vice a one size fits all approach).

13. Potential Areas of Accountability for Schools
School Quality Profiles
Accreditation
(State)
Every Student Succeeds Act
(Federal)
Standards of Quality
Accountability
(Reporting to Public & Driving Continuous Improvement)
Public reporting function
Features important indicators of school quality
Educational effectiveness function
Measures reflect highest priorities
Directs levels of support/intervention
(school improvement)
Essential elements of schools function
Ensures necessary resources are in place
So, finally, we move into the mechanisms of accountability which reflect the ways in which our expectations for accountability are communicated.
You ‘ve discussed at length the redesign of the school quality profiles, which is the primary way in which our stakeholders typically access information about schools.
We’ve also begun the discussion about state accreditation (which will continue in the next few slides) and in the next several months conversations about the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, will also occur. These two systems, ideally aligned, represent the educational effectiveness function and reflect your highest priorities for schools.
Finally, the standards of quality, which you discussed this morning, reflect the essential elements of schools and are designed to ensure the necessary resources are in place.
For the remainder of the brief, we’ll focus on the orange bubble – state accreditation – but I’ll also reference how state accreditation aligns with the other mechanisms, particularly ESSA.

14. Matrix Accreditation Approach
Level 1
(At Standard)
Level 2
(Near Standard)
Level 3
(Below Standard)
DRAFT
Criteria
Number of schools
DRAFT/PROPOSED

15. Criteria for Selecting Quality Accreditation Metrics
Research indicates metric is related to academic performance
Standardized data collection procedures exist across schools and divisions
Data for metric are reliable and valid
Metric is modifiable through school-level policies and practices
Metric meaningfully differentiates among schools based on progress of all students and student subgroups
Metric does not unfairly impact one type/group of schools or students
School-level metric is moderately to strongly correlated with school-level pass rates on state assessments
Priority Point
The Board’s review of possible indicators is framed by these considerations – so not ALL indicators fit this list

16. Proposed Accreditation Indicators
Performance Levels
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Combined Rate for English Reading and Writing*
75% or higher
(state benchmark)
Between 66% and 74%
65% or lower
Combined Rate for Math*
70% or higher
Between 66% and 69%
Pass Rate for Science*
Achievement Gaps: English Reading and Writing*
Less than 10 points below state benchmark
10 or more points below state benchmark
Achievement Gaps: Math*
Less than 5 points below state benchmark
5 or more points below state benchmark
*Schools can improve the performance level on the indicator by decreasing the assessment failure rate by 10% or more

17. Proposed Accreditation Indicators
Performance Levels
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Graduation Completion Index†
88 or higher
Between 81 and 87
80 or lower
Dropout Rate‡
6% or lower
Between 7% and 8%
9% or higher
Chronic Absenteeism‡
15% or lower
Between 16% and 24%
25% or higher
College and Career Readiness Index
85% or higher
Between 71% and 84%
70% or lower
†Schools can improve the performance level on the indicator by increasing the index value by 10% or more
‡Schools can improve the performance level on the indicator by decreasing the rate by 10% or more

18. Role of ESSA Under ESSA, State Accountability Systems must address:
Academic achievement;
Academic progress;
Graduation rates;
Progress in English Learners gaining proficiency; and
One or more other indicators of school quality.

19. Proposed Accreditation Indicators
Category
Indicator
Required by ESSA?
Achievement
English Academic Indicator (includes passing state assessments, student growth and English Learner progress)
Math Academic Indicator (includes passing state assessments and student growth)
Science Academic Indicator (includes passing state assessments)
English Academic Achievement Gap (examines all reporting groups)
Math Academic Achievement Gap (examines all reporting groups)

20. Proposed Accreditation Indicators
Category
Indicator
Required by ESSA?
Graduation/ School Progress
Graduation and Completion Index
Dropout Rate (high schools)
Student Engagement
Chronic Absenteeism (elementary and middle schools)
College and Career Readiness
College and Career Readiness Index (includes advanced coursework, CTE credentials, and work-based learning)

21. Application of Indicator Performance to Actions
Actions and responses to be taken by school divisions and schools, according to performance level on a school quality indicator
Action required of schools NOT tied to accreditation status
Schools act to focus on improvement of indicator outcomes

22. Application of Indicator Performance to Actions
Accredited
When each school quality indicator is in the Level One (Green) range or Level Two (Yellow) range.
Accredited with Conditions
When a school has any school quality indicator in the Level III (Red) range.
Accreditation Denied
When a school or school division fails to implement school division or school corrective action plans according to planned timelines, or has taken no action on identified strategies and interventions, the school is reviewed for potential designation by the board as “Accreditation Denied.”
The Board shall deny accreditation for any school that continues to demonstrate Level Three (Red) performance levels in any school quality indicator due to a failure to implement actions prescribed in a corrective action plan.

23. These schools display visual outcomes using the new system
Fictional Examples
These schools display visual outcomes using the new system

24. West Elementary School
Achievement
Combined Rate: English
Reading and Writing
Combined Rate: Math
Pass Rate: Science
Achievement Gaps: English
Achievement Gaps: Math
Student Participation/ Engagement
Chronic Absenteeism
OVERALL
ACCREDITED
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2

25. South Middle School Achievement Combined Rate: English
Reading and Writing
Combined Rate: Math
Pass Rate: Science
Achievement Gaps: English
Achievement Gaps: Math
Student Participation/ Engagement
Chronic Absenteeism
OVERALL
ACCREDITED
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1

26. North High School Achievement Combined Rate: English
Reading and Writing
Combined Rate: Math
Pass Rate: Science
Achievement Gaps: English
Achievement Gaps: Math
Graduation/ School Progress
Graduation Completion Index
Dropout Rate
College and Career Readiness
College and Career Readiness Index
OVERALL
ACCREDITED WITH CONDITIONS
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3

27. Accreditation Designation for Virginia’s Public Schools (if criteria applied to current data)
Accredited with conditions – one or more indicators at Level 3
Based on data from , , and

28. Accreditation Designation by Division
Legend
All schools accredited
80%-99% of schools accredited
60%-79% of schools accredited
40%-59% of schools accredited
20%-39% of schools accredited
0%-19% of schools accredited
Number of divisions by color
Grey 24
Orange 34
Blue 34
Green 21
Pink 15
Purple 4
For 65 divisions, the number of schools that were not accredited increased. For 42 divisions, there was no change in the number of schools. For 25 schools, the number of schools accredited increased.
Richmond, Petersburg and Norfolk benefit from new system.

29. Standards of Accreditation Implementation Timeline
Jan 2018
VDOE runs accreditation outcomes for the school year (based on 2017 testing data).
*Informational Only
Dec 2017
Legislative Deadline for approval of the “Profile”.
FINAL Regulations submitted to Governor for signature.
Summer 2017
60 Day Public Comment Period Begins
BOE Conducts Public Hearings
Fall 2018
New Graduation Requirements EFFECTIVE for the freshman class of (Graduating Class of 2022).
Transition year for New Accreditation Matrix.
For this year only, a school may achieve full accreditation by meeting the criteria and rules of either the year or those effective , whichever benefits it the most.
June 2017
BOE Adopts PROPOSED Regulations
APA Process Begins.
June 2017
Board of Education adoption of proposed regulations on agenda for final approval
With Board approval, initiation of Administrative Review Process
Summer 2017
Scheduled BOE public hearings and roundtables
Fairfax, Harrisonburg, Wytheville, Va. Beach, South Hill
Fall 2017
Board of Education final approval of regulations
December 2017
Legislatively mandated deadline for final stage of Profile of a Graduate
Governor’s signature to implement Final Regulations
Jan 2018
VDOE runs accreditation outcomes for the school year (based on 2017 testing data) for each school division, for informational purposes only
Fall 2018
Graduation requirements effective with the entering ninth-grade class of (Graduating Class of 2022)
Serves as a Transition year for new Accreditation Matrix
For this year only, a school may achieve full accreditation by meeting the criteria and rules of either the year or those effective , whichever benefits it the most.
Fall 2019
All schools will be accredited on the reformed accountability system.
Fall 2017
BOE FINAL APPROVAL of REGULATIONS
Jan 2019
ALL schools will be accredited
on the reformed
accountability system.

30. Thank you for the opportunity!
Q & A
Thank you for the opportunity!