Academic Reviews
School-Level Academic Review
The school-level academic review is designed to help schools identify and analyze instructional and organizational factors affecting student achievement. The focus of the review process is on the systems, processes, and practices that are being implemented at the school and division levels.
- Requirements and Technical Assistance Provided for Schools That are Rated Accredited with Warning or Provisionally Accredited-Graduation Rate for the 2012-2013 School Year – Superintendent’s Memo #285-12, October 19, 2012
- Overview Of The Academic Review Process For All Schools That Are Not Fully Accredited (Word) – updated October 2012
- On-site Academic Review Handbook (Word) – updated October 2012
Training Resources
Academic Review Process
Video | Presentation (PPT) – Webinar: Overview of the Academic Review Process
DTAT Service Delivery Process
Indistar Training for Schools Rated Accredited with Warning and Provisionally Accredited-Graduation Rate
Indistar Technical Assistance
- Presentation (PPT) – Session 1
- Presentation (PPT) – Session 2
- Presentation (PPT) – Session 3
- Presentation (PPT) – Session 4
- Presentation (PPT) – Session 5
Academic Review Resources
All files are Word documents unless otherwise noted.
- Alignment of Essential Actions with Indistar Indicators
- Academic Review Indicators
- Academic Review Summary Report Template
- Data Analysis Quarterly Report
- Data System Approval Form
- DTAT Technical Assistance Request Form
- Essential Actions
- Follow-up Reporting Form
- Indistar Indicators
- Instructional Leadership Self-study
- Interview Protocol
- Mathematics Curriculum Summary
- Mathematics Observation Form (Enhanced)
- Observation Forms
- Research-based Interventions Form
- School Culture Self-study
- School Improvement Planning Rubric
- School Level Transitional Change Map Self-study Needs Sensing Interview Protocol
- School Level Transitional Change Map Self-study Summary
- School Level Transitional Change Map
Division-Level Academic Review
Division-level academic reviews provide information to determine whether a local school board is meeting its responsibilities under the Standards of Quality (SOQ); provide the local school board with essential actions necessary to correct any areas of SOQ noncompliance and for improving educational performance as part of a required corrective action plan; and to monitor, enforce and report on the local school board’s development and implementation of the required corrective action plan.
- Monitoring School Division Compliance with Certain Standards of Quality Related to Increasing Educational Performance (PDF) – Description of the process
- Local School Board Statutory Responsibilities Under the SOQ and Schools’ Regulatory Responsibilities Under the Board of Education SOA (PDF) – Chart showing the correlations of responsibilities under the SOQ & SOA
School Support Teams
For those schools that were warned in the previous year and received an onsite academic review, the School Support Team (SST) reviews the current plan and provides technical assistance to the school to update the school improvement plan based on new accountability data. The team consists of VDOE staff and/or independent contractors trained in developing, implementing and monitoring the school improvement plan, as well as members of the division level leadership team. The team provides focused technical assistance and monitors the school improvement plan throughout the year as prescribed by the level of assistance assigned.
The school support team monitors and provides technical assistance to the school during the time it is rated accredited with warning. For more information on the on the School Support Team, see: October 7, 2005 – Superintendent's Memo: Modifications to the School-Level Academic Review Process Approved by the Board of Education.
Conditional Accreditation
Schools that are rated Accredited with Warning for three consecutive years and may be assigned the rating of Accreditation Denied in the fourth year of warning will be eligible to apply for Conditional Accreditation from the Board of Education in lieu of a rating of Accreditation Denied.
- 8 VAC 20-131-300.C. states that a school shall be rated Accreditation Denied based on its academic performance and/or achievement of the minimum threshold for the graduation and completion index if it fails to meet the requirements to be rated Fully Accredited or Provisionally Accredited-Graduation Rate, for the preceding three consecutive years or for three consecutive years anytime thereafter.
- As outlined in 8 VAC 20-131-315, as an alternative to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) required of schools rated Accreditation Denied, a local school board may choose to reconstitute the school and apply to the Board of Education for a rating of Conditionally Accredited. The application shall outline specific responses that address all areas of deficiency that resulted in the Accreditation Denied status.
As defined by the Standards of Accreditation, "reconstitution" is a process that may be used to initiate a range of accountability actions to improve pupil performance, curriculum, and instruction to address deficiencies that caused a school to be rated Accreditation Denied. Actions may include, but not be limited to, restructuring a school’s governance, instructional program, staff or student population. Reconstitution is necessary in order to apply for and receive a Conditional Accreditation rating from the Board of Education.
Please contact Dr. Lynn Sodat at 804-786-7018 or Lynn.sodat@doe.virginia.gov regarding questions about the Conditional Accreditation process.
Process for Obtaining a Rating of Conditionally Accredited
The process for obtaining a rating of Conditionally Accredited is three-fold. First, the local school board applies for an accreditation rating of Conditionally Accredited. The rating may be granted for a period not to exceed three years, and only if the school is making progress toward a rating of Fully Accredited. Next, the superintendent for the division or a designee must appear before the Board of Education to make the request for Conditional Accreditation and present evidence that such reconstitution is designed to improve student achievement. Components of the request include:
- Primary reconstitution request;
- Additional reconstitution request;
- Alternative Governance Committee members and overview;
- Standards of Learning (SOL) Assessment Pass Rates for two years;
- Recommendations for implementation;
- Due dates for Monitoring Reports; and
- Name of assigned Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) contracted auditor.
Finally, the Board of Education either accepts or denies the request. Division superintendents are informed of the decision by letter. If the request is approved, the school will use the School Improvement Plan (SIP) to develop a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which will serve as the school’s operating plan for improvement. Parents are encouraged to participate in this process. Therefore, the school principal will send a letter to parents regarding the school’s rating of Conditionally Accredited and requesting their input in the development of the CAP. In addition, a parent meeting will be held to provide parents with the opportunity to give direct input regarding the CAP. After the CAP is developed, the school principal will seek approval of the plan from the local school board. Additionally, all stakeholders should be made aware of the CAP.
The Conditionally Accredited rating may be granted for a period not to exceed three years, and only if the school is making progress toward a rating of Fully Accredited. The school reverts to a status of Accreditation Denied if it fails to meet the requirements to be rated Fully Accredited by the end of the three-year term, or if it fails to have its annual application for Conditionally Accredited rating renewed.
Alternative Accreditation Plans
- Request For Waiver Of Certain Accrediting Standards And/Or Approval Of An Innovative Or Experimental Program (Word)
- Request For Approval Of An Alternative Accreditation Plan – Graduation Cohort Of Fifty Or Fewer Students (Word) – updated August 2012
- Request For Approval Of An Alternative Accreditation Plan (Word)
- Evaluation Criteria – Alternative Accreditation Plan For Special Purpose Schools (Word)
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