APS to be Fully Accredited for Fifth Consecutive Year
Today, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released 2019 SOL results for all public school divisions and schools. Students in Arlington Public Schools (APS) continue to pass the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests at high rates and their performance aligns with trends across the state.
Some key highlights include the following:
- Based on preliminary estimates, all APS schools will be fully accredited for the fifth year in a row.*
- Each of the five subject areas (Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, and History/Social Science) is reported by eight student groups. In 2019, APS schools met or exceeded the state pass rates on 30 of 40 of those student groups, across all tested grade levels. APS also exceeded the state pass rates by more than five percentage points on 17 of 40 student groups. (Table 1)
- Students with Disabilities met or exceeded the state pass rates in all five subject areas. (Table 1)
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy said, “These results reflect the dedication of our teachers and staff who focus on ensuring that the individual needs of all students and families are being met. As a school division, we celebrate the academic growth our students and schools worked so hard to achieve during the 2018-19 school year, and we are focused on continuous improvement to ensure the success of all of our students in the future.”
In response to the Virginia Board of Education’s vision of continuous improvement for all schools and to ensure that student outcomes are aligned with the expectations of higher education and employers, VDOE has updated the Standards of Accreditation. The standards are focused on:
- Progress toward proficiency
- Narrowing achievement gaps
- Reducing absenteeism and dropout rates
Preliminary accreditation results for all APS schools indicate strong academic achievement in all APS schools and align with the APS Strategic Plan goal to continue our focus to eliminate achievement gaps for all student groups.
State SOL assessments were given to all students in Grades 3 through 8 in English Language Arts (Reading/Writing), Math, Science and Social Studies, and in high school core subjects assessed by end-of-course exams. Revisions to the Standards of Accreditation that became effective last year reduced the number of SOL tests high school students must pass in order to graduate.
A few years ago, the Virginia Board of Education adopted more rigorous standards to meet national and international benchmarks for college-and-career readiness and better prepare Virginia students to compete in a global economy.
*Finalized state accreditation reports, including performance levels on school quality indicators both overall and by student group, will be issued by VDOE on September 26, 2019, along with updated School Quality Profiles.
