2009.10.30
Virginia's education standards
We talked a bit this morning during the editorial board meeting about a U.S. Department of Education study that found a third of states, including Virginia, lowered education standards, which helps them meet requirements of No Child Left Behind.
We're going to look into the report some more and discuss again next week.
- The report (2+ meg pdf)
- A news story summarizing the findings
On Virginia, specifically, the researchers found that Virginia's Grade 4 and Grade 8 reading standards are well below what the federal government considers basic proficiency. In Mathematics, the commonwealth meets the Grade 4 basic proficiency but not the Grade 8. (Note: There are some margin of error issues one these, so maybe Virginia barely meets some of the basic proficiency levels.) On none of these is the commonwealth even close to what the feds consider "Proficient."
Part of the discussion is whether states should voluntarily subscribe to national standards. That conversation is underway, but details on that must be worked out.
On a sort-of-related topic, the Virginia State Board of Education is accepting comments on proposed revisions to the English and Science Standards of Learning.
Good news: Evolution and the Big Bang survive in the revisions as required learning for Virginia's young people.
If you want to comment on the revisions in person to the State Board of Education, there will be five public hearings in the next couple of months. The two for Southwest Virginia will take place in Max Meadows and Lynchburg both on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. See here for details.






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