RCPS Home | Visit the Highlights Archive
All RCPS Schools Fully Accredited
RCPS One of 97 Divisions in the State in which all Schools are Fully Accredited for 2011-12
(The following news release is from the Virginia Department of Education dated 9/29/2011)
Ninety-six percent of Virginia’s 1,838 public schools are fully accredited and meeting all state standards for achievement in English, mathematics, history and science — and graduation, in the case of high schools — the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) announced today.
Ninety-eight percent of Virginia’s elementary schools and 97 percent of middle schools are fully accredited for the 2011-2012 school year, based on the performance of students on Standards of Learning (SOL) and other state assessments during 2010-2011.
The percentage of fully accredited high schools dropped to 86 percent, compared with 99 percent last year, as the Board of Education introduced a “graduation and completion index” as a new accountability factor for high schools, in addition to student achievement on state tests.
“Whenever standards are raised, there are schools that require time to meet the new expectations,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said. “The fact that 86 percent of high schools already meet or exceed the standard for graduation and completion speaks to the efforts of educators and administrators to raise graduation rates,”
The index system awards full credit for students who earn a board-recognized diploma and partial credit for students who earn GEDs and local credentials, as well as for students who are still enrolled and expected to return for a fifth year of high school. High schools must have a graduation and completion index of at least 85 for full accreditation.
“Holding high schools accountable for outcomes encourages early interventions before students are at risk of dropping out,” Board of Education President Eleanor B. Saslaw said. “It is a critical component of the board’s effort to ensure that Virginia graduates are college-and-career ready.”
Grade Span |
Fully Accredited |
Accredited with Warning |
Provisionally Accredited |
Conditional (New Schools) |
Accreditation Denied |
To Be Determined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elementary |
1,157 |
11 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
Middle |
298 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
High |
266 |
11 |
30 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Combined |
47 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
1,768 (96%) |
30 (2%) |
30 (2%) |
5 (<1%) |
2 (<1%) |
3 (<1%) |
In 30 provisionally accredited high schools, achievement in English, mathematics, history and science met state standards, and graduation was within five points of the 85-point benchmark. Ten of the 11 high schools accredited with warning for 2011-2012 are warned solely because of graduation and completion indices below this year’s 80-point benchmark for provisional accreditation. Provisional accreditation will not be available after 2015-2016.
In addition to high school-exit data, the accreditation ratings announced today are based on the achievement of students on SOL assessments and approved substitute tests in English, mathematics, history and science administered during the summer and fall of 2010 and the spring of 2011, or on overall achievement during the three most recent academic years. The results of tests administered in each subject area are combined to produce overall school passing percentages in English, mathematics, history and science.
In middle schools and high schools, a pass rate of at least 70 percent in all four subject areas is required for full accreditation. In elementary schools, a combined pass rate of at least 75 percent on English tests in grades 3-5 is required for full accreditation. Elementary schools also must achieve pass rates of at least 70 percent in mathematics, grade-5 science and grade-5 history, and pass rates of at least 50 percent in grade-3 science and grade-3 history.
Accreditation ratings also may reflect adjustments made for schools that successfully remediate students who failed reading or mathematics tests during the previous year. Adjustments also may be made for students with limited-English proficiency and for students who have recently transferred into a Virginia public school.
The percentage of schools earning full accreditation for 2011-2012 is two points lower than the percentage that earned the highest rating for 2010-2011. The state superintendent expects further declines in accreditation as schools implement more rigorous standards and tests in English and mathematics, starting with mathematics this year and followed by English during 2012-2013.
“Our schools will begin a new trend line as these more rigorous standards and assessments become effective,” Wright said. “But raising standards is the right thing to do and I am confident that our teachers and schools will rise to the challenge and Virginia students will be better prepared as a result.”
The number of schools accredited with warning rose to 30, compared with 15 last year. Two schools were denied accreditation this year because of chronically low student achievement:
Peabody Middle in Petersburg for a sixth consecutive year; and
Ellen W. Chambliss Elementary in Sussex County for a third consecutive year.
One school — J.E.B. Stuart Elementary in Petersburg — earned full accreditation for 2011-2012 after being denied accreditation for three consecutive years. Five newly opened schools are automatically rated as conditionally accredited for 2011-2012.
Under Virginia’s SOL accountability program, a school that has been on academic warning for three consecutive years and fails to meet state standards for a fourth consecutive year can apply to the Board of Education for conditional accreditation — if the local school board agrees to reconstitute the school’s leadership, staff, governance or student population. A reconstituted school can retain conditional accreditation for up to three years if it is making acceptable progress toward meeting state standards.
In 97 of the commonwealth’s 132 school divisions, all schools are fully accredited, compared with 119 last year. Divisions with all schools fully accredited (other than new schools that automatically receive conditional accreditation) are:
Albemarle County
Alleghany County
Amelia County
Amherst County
Appomattox County
Augusta County
Bath County
Bedford County
Bland County
Botetourt County
Bristol
Buchanan County
Buckingham County
Buena Vista
Campbell County
Caroline County
Carroll County
Charles City County
Charlotte County
Charlottesville
Chesapeake
Clarke County
Colonial Beach
Colonial Heights
Craig County
Culpeper County
Cumberland County
Danville
Essex County
Falls Church
Fauquier County
Floyd County
Fluvanna County
Franklin
Franklin County
Frederick County
Fredericksburg
Galax
Gloucester County
Goochland County
Grayson County
Greene County
Greensville County
Halifax County
Hanover County
Henry County
Highland County
Isle of Wight County
King George County
King William County
Lancaster County
Lee County
Lexington
Loudoun County
Louisa County
Madison County
Manassas Park
Martinsville
Mathews County
Mecklenburg County
Middlesex County
Montgomery County
Nelson County
New Kent County
Norton
Nottoway County
Orange County
Patrick County
Pittsylvania County
Poquoson
Powhatan County
Prince George County
Pulaski County
Radford
Rappahannock County
Richmond County
Roanoke County
Rockbridge County
Rockingham County
Russell County
Salem
Scott County
Shenandoah County
Smyth County
Southampton County
Spotsylvania County
Stafford County
Surry County
Warren County
Washington County
Waynesboro
West Point
Williamsburg-James City County
Winchester
Wise County
Wythe County
York County
Updated school report cards and accreditation ratings for 2011-2012 for all schools are available on the VDOE website.