Federal Accountability
Federal Accountability
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – known since 2001 as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – requires states to set annual measurable objectives (AMOs) for increasing student achievement. The Board of Education, under its June 29, 2012, NCLB flexibility waiver, established AMOs for reducing proficiency gaps between students in the commonwealth’s lowest-performing and highest-performing schools. The AMOs represent the minimum percentage of students within each subgroup in the lowest-performing schools that must pass Standards of Learning (SOL) tests in reading and mathematics in order to reduce sufficiently proficiency gaps in reading and mathematics within six years. These objectives in reading and mathematics replace the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets schools were previously required to meet.
Schools receive one of the following designations
- Met All Requirements – Schools that met all objectives for overall and subgroup performance in reading and mathematics. Within that category are two designations:
- Reward Schools – High-performing or improving schools recognized through the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) incentive program or as Title I Distinguished Schools or federal Blue Ribbon Schools.
- Other Schools – Schools meeting all AMOs – but are not classified as a Reward School
- Priority Schools – Priority schools must engage a state-approved turnaround partner to help implement a school-improvement model meeting state and federal requirements.
- Focus Schools – Focus schools must employ a state-approved coach to help the division develop, implement and monitor intervention strategies to improve the performance of students at risk of not meeting achievement standards or dropping out of school.
- Improvement Plan Required – Schools with student subgroups not meeting AMOs – but are not Priority or Focus Schools – must develop and implement state-approved improvement plans to raise the achievement of these students.
The table below displays the number of schools meeting all AMOs based on performance during 2011-2012 – including the number of schools designated as Reward Schools for high achievement – as well as the number of low-performing schools designated as either Priority Schools or Focus Schools and the number of schools required to develop and implement improvement plans.
| Status | Met All Requirements* | Priority Schools* | Focus Schools | Improvement Plan Required | New Schools | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Schools | 1,241 | 36 | 72 | 485 | 8 | 1,836 |
*Six Priority schools also met all requirements and are included in both columns.
Detailed AMO reports
The files below are in Excel format
2012-2013 (Based on 2011-2012 Assessments)
School-Level Reports
- Schools meeting all requirements (AMOs)
- Reward Schools (To be announced)
- Priority Schools
- Focus Schools
- Schools with Improvement Plans
- All schools
Division-Level Reports
More Information
- Accountability & Virginia Public Schools – More about Virginia’s implementation of ESEA
- ESEA Flexibility – Information and resources for schools about Virginia’s ESEA flexibility waiver
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