School Quality
VDOE helps low-performing schools and school divisions implement effective instructional strategies and best practices to increase student achievement. In partnering with school divisions, VDOE ensures that each school’s unique needs are addressed through differentiated assistance and interventions.
VDOE assists schools in which students are achieving at levels below federal and state accountability standards.
State Accountability
Virginia Board of Education's Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia are designed to ensure that an effective educational program is established and maintained in Virginia's public schools. The Board of Education’s 2017 Standards of Accreditation (SOA) support continuous improvement for all schools, and college, career and civic readiness for all students.
The Virginia Board of Education’s revised accreditation system measures performance on multiple school quality indicators and encourages continuous improvement for all schools. School accreditation ratings for the 2018-2019 school year are the first to reflect this new approach to accountability.
Federal Accountability
VDOE also supports schools identified for support and improvement under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Under Virginia’s ESSA plan, schools are identified for federal improvement based on multiple performance indicators, including academic indicators and indicators of school quality or student success. To identify schools for support and improvement, each indicator must be weighted, with significantly more weight given to the academic indicators than to the indicators of school quality or student success. Refer to Federal Accountability for a summary of Virginia’s performance indicators and multi-step identification process or Virginia’s ESSA state plan for more detailed information.
Schools may be identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement, or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement.