Bill > HB1873

This bill directs the Virginia Board of Education to create new rules, known as regulations, for how public schools are rated. Currently, schools are given accreditation ratings based on whether they meet certain benchmarks, which are like performance goals. This bill proposes adding new accreditation ratings to acknowledge schools that, while not quite meeting all the benchmarks, have shown significant improvement. This improvement could be in their students' pass rates on tests, or if they are close to meeting the benchmarks, or if most of their students are showing substantial academic growth. These new ratings are intended to recognize progress even if a school hasn't fully achieved all the established goals, and the Board of Education must put these new regulations into effect by the 2016-2017 school year.