Dear Friend,

This week’s newsletter provides information on recently-adopted changes to Virginia’s accreditation and accountability systems for public schools, shares upcoming events hosted by my office, highlights a new civic education website from the Senate of Virginia, and reflects on select community engagements from this past week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and for staying informed. 

Changes to Virginia’s Accreditation and Accountability Systems for K-12 Public Schools

This past week, the Virginia Board of Education approved new Standards of Accreditation regulations. These regulations change how schools are rated and separate accountability from accreditation. 

The Board defines accreditation as the process used by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to evaluate public schools' compliance with the accountability system, based on 1) student outcome and growth measures, 2) the philosophy, goals, and objectives of public education in Virginia, and 3) the standards for student achievement, instructional programs, school and instructional leadership, school facilities and safety, and school and community communications.

Accountability is defined as the system within the accreditation process used by VDOE to differentiate the performance of public schools and to identify schools for improvement. These metrics are based on student achievement, growth, and other school quality indicators. The accountability system includes Virginia’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, readiness indicators and weighting.

According to 2022-2023 data, the Board’s new accountability system would identify over 60% of Virginia’s schools as not meeting the state’s expectations for growth, achievement, and readiness. This result is significantly at odds with CNBC's recent designation of Virginia as the top state in the country “to do business.” CNBC’s key metric was the Commonwealth’s public education system: “With the nation’s best education system and policies that give companies room — both literally and figuratively — to grow, Virginia is America’s Top State for Business in 2024.”

One of the primary reasons many of Virginia’s schools will fail to meet expectations under the new model is the early inclusion of English language (EL) students. These are students for whom English is a second language and who are currently in the process of gaining language proficiency. VDOE and the Board inaccurately cite federal ESSA regulations as requiring that EL populations be included in accountability metrics after 1.5 years of the start of language skills development.

In fact, ESSA provides more options for students enrolled in public schools for fewer than 12 months, or 1.5 academic years: 

• Option 1: States may exclude from one administration of the English Language Assessment (ELA) any student who has been enrolled fewer than 12 months. However, that student must be tested in math. The state may exclude from the accountability system any or all of the ELA and math assessment results for that same student for 12 months, or 1.5 academic years.
• Option 2: For the first 1.5 academic years  that a student is enrolled, states may assess and report on ELA and math, but not include the scores in the accountability system. At the end of the second full year of the student’s enrollment, states would compare first- and second-year scores to establish a measure of growth to include in the accountability system. At the end of the third academic year, English learners would be included in the accountability system like all students. Option 2 doubles the timeframe that the Virginia Board is now proposing.
• Option 3: States may use a mix of Options 1 and 2 for specific, previously defined groups of recently arrived students. For instance, a state may choose to use Option 1 for recently arrived English learners with interrupted formal education and Option 2 for the rest of the recently arrived group.

No one option works best for all states. EL students are not a homogeneous group of learners. Some students enter Virginia’s school system with complex traumas, having fled homes because of war, famine, loss of close family. Others arrive with oral English skills and may need initial support in reading and writing. Some EL students are older, making language acquisition more challenging. 

This past session, the Virginia General Assembly invested more funding support for schools with large populations of EL students. We also identified English language proficiency levels within the funding model so that the least proficient students receive the greater support.

EL students are part of several concerns raised by the new accountability system that need further development. More importantly, the school districts that are stretched thin by various pressures need further and consistent support. These considerations will be important factors for the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

Upcoming Community Conversation

Next Wednesday, September 4, 6:00 - 7:30 pm, I will host a community conversation at the Meadowdale Public Library (4301 Meadowdale Blvd). I will provide some updates from the General Assembly, discuss the upcoming 2025 Session, and ask participants to share their thoughts and ask questions. This event is open to constituents of the 15th Senatorial District, and the registration link is now open. We hope you will join us. 

General Assembly and Richmond School Board Joint Meeting

Next Thursday, September 5, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, I have invited members of the General Assembly’s Richmond City Delegation to a joint meeting with Richmond City School Board members and the Richmond City Superintendent. The meeting will be held at Reynolds Community College - Downtown Campus. Our focus is to initiate conversations between state and local officials representing Richmond City Schools in preparation for the 2025 legislative session. These discussions are designed to help us collaborate on delivering effective policy and budget measures to support Richmond’s students and their families. This joint meeting is open to the public. Registration is required. 

Civics with the Senate of Virginia

This week, the Senate of Virginia released a new interactive digital resource that houses activities, games, and videos related to the Senate of Virginia, the General Assembly, the Commonwealth, and Virginia's legislative process: the Civics with the Senate of Virginia. This resource has informative materials for both students and adults.

Select Community Engagements

On Tuesday, my staff joined General Assembly legislators to tour the AES Spotsylvania Solar Energy Center, the largest existing solar project east of the Rockies. This facility has an output of nearly 500 megawatts of energy supporting companies such as Apple, Microsoft, cloud computing entities, the University of Richmond, and more. AES lowers its operational carbon footprint and costs through an on-site sheep-grazing operation that minimizes mowing needs and contributes to soil regeneration and local animal husbandry.  

On Friday, I traveled to Arlington to meet with Marymount University President Dr. Irma Beccera and her team to discuss opportunities to increase access for our minority student populations. Following this discussion, the Marymount Center for Optimal Aging’s Director Dr. Patricia C. Heyn and team provided a series of presentations that highlighted the Center’s work in areas inclusive of oral health, use of AI in Alzheimer health screening, fall prevention, and mental health disparities. 

On Friday evening, I attended the Federation of Bangladeshi Associations of North America Convention that was being held in Arlington. This international gathering brought together thousands of Bangladeshi Association members from throughout the United States and Canada; some participants also traveled from overseas to join the convention. The evening was a lovely celebration of the contributions and culture of the Bangladeshi diaspora. My colleague, Senator Saddam Salim, is the first Bangladeshi American in Virginia’s General Assembly, and we were able to highlight his important addition to the history of the Commonwealth.

Celebrating Labor Day

On Monday’s commemoration of Labor Day, we honor the work and achievements of the American labor movement and celebrate the contributions to our nation by generations of workers. All state offices will be closed on Monday in observance of the holiday. 

Connecting With My Office

My office can be reached at the following:

Email:  [email protected] 

Phone:  804.698.7515

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive my office’s weekly newsletter here. 

— Ghazala

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