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Area schools shine

Fredericksburg-area schools do well in latest round of state Standards of Learning tests.

By KELLY HANNON and BILL FREEHLING

Date published: 10/29/2004

By KELLY HANNON

An annual rite of fall occurred yesterday for Virginia's public schools--the release of state testing results. And most Fredericksburg-area schools are performing at high levels.

Seventy-five of 88 local schools earned the state's top rating--fully accredited.

That means a significant percentage of students passed the state's Standards of Learning tests in English, math, science and social studies. Students are tested in grades 3, 5 and 8, and in high school.

Statewide, 84 percent of Virginia's 1,807 schools are fully accredited this year. In 2003, only 78 percent of schools met that benchmark.

This is the first time all 24 Stafford County schools are fully accredited. All Orange County schools accomplished the feat for the second straight year.

"We're delighted," said Alexis Smith, Orange County's director of instruction.

The Virginia Board of Education adopted the Standards of Learning in 1995. Annual tests began in the 1997-98 school year.

Requirements for full accreditation have evolved over the years.

On most tests, and in most grades, schools have to get at least a 70 percent pass rate on every exam to earn full accreditation.

Last year, third-grade scores in science and social studies were counted only if they helped a school. To be fully accredited this year, at least 50 percent of third-graders had to pass science and social-studies exams.

The combined pass rate for third- and fifth-graders on the English test had to be at least 75 percent this year--compared with 70 percent last year.

There are now just two categories--fully accredited and accredited with warning. Schools accredited with warning missed anywhere from a single point to dozens.

There used to be four categories.

The change made it harder to be fully accredited, said Julie Grimes, a Virginia Department of Education spokeswoman. Despite that, more schools qualified.

"It continues to show that the Standards of Learning are doing what they're supposed to do," Grimes said.

Jo Lynne DeMary, the state's superintendent of public instruction, said she had hoped more schools accredited with warning would meet all the standards.

"There's some disappointment there," she said. "But that does not overshadow my excitement for the 84 percent that are fully accredited."

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Date published: 10/29/2004