Results from Virginia’s 2023-24 Standards of Learning tests show “shifts in learning recovery” for students in the commonwealth.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration announced students in grades 3 through 8 scored above last year’s results. And the Virginia Department of Education said 93 of the state’s 132 school divisions saw improvements in reading scores, while 99 divisions improved in math.
“A ship that was off course has been turned around,” Youngkin said during a Tuesday press conference at the Patrick Henry Building in downtown Richmond. “We are seeing progress, but we will also say today that we have a long way to go.”
Test scores declined in some areas: Nearly 20% of all divisions saw lower scores in math and reading in grades 3 through 8. High school students recorded a 1% decrease in the passing rate for reading, compared to the previous school year.
The governor blamed some of the results on a delayed return to in-person instruction after pandemic-related lockdowns. He said Virginia was the 46th state in the nation to reopen schools.
In 2023, after disappointing SOL test scores, the Virginia General Assembly earmarked $418 million over three years for academic recovery programs. Youngkin said that’s part of a 40% increase in K-12 spending since 2021.
The Youngkin administration credits its ALL in VA plan for improvements in the state’s annual standardized tests. The plan — which launched in September 2022 after post-pandemic testing showed declines — aimed to improve student achievement through increasing in-person and digital tutoring for students, providing teachers with higher pay and addressing chronic absenteeism.
Nationally, Virginia students in 2022 recorded some of the most significant declines in test scores for math and reading.
“We went to work with bold action last year,” Youngkin said Tuesday. “Sixty percent of our third through eighth graders were either failing or at risk of failing their reading SOLs. And two-thirds of our third through eighth graders were failing or at risk of failing their math SOLs.”
ALL in VA required each of the state’s school divisions to provide a spending plan by the end of 2023 to improve test scores. Administrators were then expected to implement those plans at the beginning of 2024.
“The reality is we had some school divisions that didn’t have increases, and a lot of them didn’t get up and running very quickly,” Youngkin said.
The governor cited chronic absenteeism — when a student misses 18 or more school days in a year — as a major hurdle to improving test scores. He said one in five students were chronically absent.
“Think about that,” he said. “Kindergartners, first graders, second graders, third graders, chronically absent.”
Lisa Coons, Virginia superintendent of public instruction, said the state’s K-12 schools this past year saw a 16% reduction in chronic absenteeism.
The administration created a statewide chronic absenteeism task force that considered issues like a lack of access to transportation or food, instability at home and financial constraints that could prevent children from attending classes.
Coons said VDOE also launched an attendance campaign to “make sure we were spreading the word that it is so important for our children to come to school.”
Brunswick County Public Schools Superintendent Kristy Somerville-Midgette said the funding for her district, in which most students are considered economically disadvantaged, has been “very important.”
She said school administrators helped provide accommodations for some students who might have missed classes because of working to help financially support their families.
“We recognize we do have some students that fall into that situation because of family and economic issues that they do have to work,” the superintendent said while discussing ALL in VA on Tuesday. “So, we’ve been creative with the scheduling for select students that needed it.”
She went on to explain the division’s proactive, personal approach to connecting with students who regularly miss class.
“Once you miss that day, we’re reaching out to say, ‘We need you here. What’s going on?’” Somerville-Midgette said. “[W]e get you into one of those after school [or] Saturday opportunities right away to make up that time.”
Youngkin said he hopes to see additional improvements in the 2024-2025 school year as administrators have a full academic calendar to execute changes.
