COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 204
October 8, 2004
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Transmittal
of the 2004 Standards of Quality |
This memorandum provides information regarding the changes to the Code of Virginias Standards of Quality (SOQ),
22.1-253.13:1 through 22.1-253.13:8, passed by the 2004 General Assembly. The revisions became effective July 1, 2004, unless otherwise noted. Attached is a copy of the SOQ, as amended.
The 2004
General Assembly revised the SOQ through the following legislation:
House
Bill 1014 and Senate Bill 479 reorganized the Standards of Quality and made
substantive amendments in the areas of elementary principals, assistant
principals, elementary resource positions for art, music, and physical
education, pupil-teacher ratios, speech language pathologist caseloads, reading
specialists, technology support positions, and the current funding mechanism
for remediation. However, the bills
included a second enactment clause providing that any new Standard of Quality
incorporated into the bills shall not become effective unless an appropriation
for the standard is included in the 2004-2006 Appropriation Act. The provisions regarding principals,
assistant principals, reading specialists and speech language pathologists were
not funded. The following changes regarding staffing were funded in the
Appropriation Act:
Five elementary resource positions per 1,000 students in
kindergarten through grade 5 for art, music, and physical education;
One planning period per day or the equivalent, unencumbered
of any teaching or supervisory duties for all middle and high school teachers;
Two technology support positions per 1,000 students in
kindergarten through grade 12 division wide.
HB 1014 and SB 479 also amended the Standards
of Quality to replace the SOQ
remediation program. The new language
provides that in addition to the positions supported by basic aid, state
funding, pursuant to the appropriation act, shall be provided to fund certain
full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students in grades
K through 12 who are identified as needing prevention, intervention, and
remediation services. This state funding may be used to support programs for
educationally at-risk students as identified by the local school boards. See
22.1-253.13:2 of the Code.
House
Bill 769 requires that local school boards include, within the currently
required career and technical education program, curricula that promote
knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business ownership. The bill also requires school divisions to
include dual enrollment in their plans to notify students and their parents of
the availability of advanced placement classes, the International Baccalaureate
program, and Academic Year Governors School Programs. See 22.1-253.13:1 of the Code.
House Bill 1254 requires the Board of
Education to post disaggregated Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment scores
and averages for each year on the website for the School Performance Report
Card. The scores must be disaggregated
for each school by gender and by race or ethnicity, reported to the public
within three months of receipt, and provided in a format that allows
year-to-year comparisons. The
information on the School Performance Report Card may include the results from
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). See 22.1-253.13:3 of the Code.
HB 1294 gives the Board of Education the authority
to require a school division with chronically low-performing schools, as a
result of failure of the school division to implement the Standards of Quality,
to undergo a division-level academic review. At the completion of the review, each school board must submit a corrective action plan
to raise student achievement and to achieve full accreditation status to the
Board of Education for approval and also include it in the school divisions
six-year improvement plan. The Board of
Education may petition the circuit court having jurisdiction in the school
division to mandate compliance with the relevant standard and the development
or implementation of the required corrective plan when it determines that a
school division has failed or refused, and continues to fail or refuse, to
comply with the Standards of Quality and the development or implementation in a
timely manner of the corrective plan. See S 22.1-253.13:3, 22.1-253.13:6 and
22.1-253.13:8 of the Code.
Senate Bill
416 requires the Board of Education, in consultation with the chairpersons of
the eight regional superintendents study groups, to provide for timely review
of test scores by school divisions for coding and other errors and prompt
reporting to the divisions by the Department of Education of the Standards of
Learning test scores that will be used to determine each schools status
pursuant to the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L.
107-110). See 22.1-253.13:1 of the Code.
Senate Bill
438 requires local school boards to notify parents of rising eleventh
and twelfth graders regarding graduation requirements, the remaining credits
the students need to graduate, and the number of years students may attend
school. See 22.1-253.13:4 of the
Code.
I hope that you will find this information
helpful. You can find a final
legislative report for the 2004 General Assembly session on the departments
website at http://www.doe.virginia.gov under Legislation on the Policy and Communications Web page.
For additional information, please see
Superintendents Memo No. 3, Regulatory, May 17, 2004, regarding the 2004-2006
Biennial Budget Passed by the 2004 Special Session of the General Assembly and
Superintendents Memo No. 5, Regulatory, June 18, 2004, regarding Staffing
Requirements Prescribed by the Standards of Quality.
Please contact Michelle Vucci, director of policy,
at (804) 371-0558 or by electronic mail at MichelleVucci@doe.virginia.gov
if you need additional information.
Attachment
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2004/inf204a.pdf