Establishing Guidelines Governing Certain Provisions of the Action Requirements for Schools That Are Accredited with Warning from the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia (8 VAC 20-131-10 et. seq.)
Resolution Number 2001-8
February 15, 2001
WHEREAS, the Board of Education adopted revised Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia on July 28, 2000 that became effective September 28, 2000; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Education, in those standards, enacted provisions that require the Board to develop guidelines or procedures for schools to comply with the regulations; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Education has already adopted guidelines to govern the majority of the key provisions of the regulations; and
WHEREAS, a necessity exists that requires the Board of Education to prescribe additional guidelines for implementing the requirements of the regulations;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education adopts the attached guidelines document (Attachment A) to assist local school officials in complying with the requirements of the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia that certain schools submit school improvement plans and annual progress reports, effective immediately; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that some guidelines have been adopted by the Board of Education and that these guidelines will be incorporated into the final document published by the Department of Education for dissemination to local school divisions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution and the guidelines be transmitted to local school division superintendents for distribution to affected schools in the various divisions as soon as practicable following adoption by the Board.
Adopted in Richmond, Virginia, This Fifteenth Day of February in the Year 2001.
Attachment A:
Guidelines for Certain Provisions of Action Requirements for
Schools That Are Accredited With Warning from the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia
School Improvement Plans
Standard: 8 VAC 20-131-310.F
A three-year school improvement plan must be developed and implemented, based on the results of an academic review of each school that is rated Accredited with Warning upon receipt of notification of the awarding of this rating and receipt of the results of the academic review. The plan:
1. shall be developed with the assistance of parents and teachers and made available to the public;
2. must include the components outlined in subsection G of this section; and
3. must be approved by the division superintendent and the local school board and be designed to assist the school in meeting the student achievement standard to be Fully Accredited as outlined in 8 VAC 20-131-300.
Standard: 8 VAC 20-131-310.G
The improvement plan shall include the following:
1. A description of how the school will meet the provisional accreditation benchmarks, or the requirements to be Fully Accredited, for each of the years covered by the plan,
2. Specific measures for achieving and documenting student academic improvement,
3. The amount of time in the school day devoted to instruction in the core academic areas,
4. Instructional practices designed to remediate students who have not been successful on SOL tests,
5. Instructional practices designed to prevent further declines in student performance,
6. Staff development needed,
7. Strategies to involve and \assist parents in raising their child’s academic performance,
8. The need for flexibility or waivers to state or local regulations to meet the objectives of the plan, and
9. A description of the manner in which local, state, and federal funds are used to support the implementation of the components of this plan.
As part of its approval of the school improvement plan, the Board may grant a local school board a waiver from the requirements of any regulations promulgated by the Board when such a waiver is available.
Guidelines:
The three-year school improvement plan is to be based upon the results of the academic review and is to be designed to help the school reach full accreditation status within the timeframes established in the standards. The suggested format of the plan is found in Attachment A of these guidelines. Schools already using a school improvement plan format adopted by their school divisions will not be required to use the suggested format. However, they will be required to verify that their plans meet the criteria outlined in the above two sections of the standards.
Plans are due into the Division of Accountability by the end of the first semester or within 60 business days of the completion of the academic review. The Division of Accountability will grant extensions on a case-by-case basis, when requested in advance by the division superintendent.
Division of Accountability staff will report to the Board in January of each year on the status of school improvement plans.
Annual Reports
Standard 8 VAC 20-131-310.H:
The school improvement plan and related annual reports submitted to the Board shall provide documentation of the continuous efforts of the school to achieve the requirements to become rated Fully Accredited. The Board shall adopt and approve all policies and formats for the submission of annual reports under this section. The reports shall be due no later than October 1 of the school year.
Guidelines:
The Division of Accountability will notify schools no later than August 31 of each year that annual status reports are due on October 1, as required in the standards.
The Division of Accountability will report to the Board in January of each year on the status of the annual reports.
Signature:
Kirk T. Schroder, President
Board of Education
Adopted in the Minutes of the Virginia Board of Education
February 15, 2001
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