CHAPTER 99
An Act to require the Board of Education, in conjunction with the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to convene a group of stakeholders to evaluate certain current and proposed policies and performance standards for public elementary and secondary schools and students and report recommendations for revising these policies and standards to promote excellence and higher student achievement.
[H 938]
Approved April 6, 2022
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. The Board of Education (the Board) shall collaborate with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary of Education to convene a group of stakeholders to include parents, public school principals, public school superintendents, public school board members, public school teachers, institutions of higher education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, industry partners and employers, and other concerned stakeholders to evaluate, to implement where possible, and to otherwise make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the following goals:
1. Promoting excellence in instruction and student achievement in mathematics;
2. Expanding the Advanced Studies Diploma as an option for students in public high schools in the Commonwealth;
3. Increasing the transparency of performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth;
4. Ensuring that performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools prioritize the attainment of grade-level proficiency and growth during the course of a school year and from school year to school year in reading and mathematics for all students, especially in grades kindergarten through five;
5. Ensuring that the Commonwealth's proficiency standards on Standards of Learning assessments in reading and mathematics are maintained; and
6. Ensuring a strong accreditation system that promotes meaningful accountability year-over-year.
§ 2. No later than November 30, 2022, the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health the results of the evaluation conducted pursuant to § 1 of this act and recommendations to achieve the goals set forth in § 1 of this act.