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District launches new teacher academy and outlines shift to state’s redesigned accountability system
Summary
Colonial Heights instructional leaders described a new teacher academy for early‑career teachers and briefed the board on Virginia’s redesigned school accountability framework, which prioritizes growth and readiness and will change how schools are judged under categories such as mastery and subgroup progress.
Colonial Heights instructional staff told the School Board on Nov. 19 that the district has launched a new teacher academy aimed at supporting early‑career teachers and described how the state’s redesigned accountability system will change school evaluations in coming years.
Assistant instructional staff member Miss Strickler (presenter) said the New Teacher Academy grew from the district’s strategic goals to attract and retain qualified, diverse staff and to support teaching that improves student outcomes. The program pairs new teachers with mentors, includes monthly non‑evaluative classroom visits by instructional leaders, and provides separate elementary and secondary after‑school workshops on topics such as classroom routines, special populations, behavior strategies and teacher evaluation. The first cohort included 20 teachers with mentors; district staff reported positive early feedback and survey results (about 92% positive ratings for presenter effectiveness and topic relevance in initial workshops).
Strickler said the academy provides an “extra layer” of support above existing school‑level mentors and district instructional coaches. She described monthly follow‑up surveys and examples of early classroom application: one participant implemented an attendance routine the next day after the workshop. The program is supported by modest community donations and in‑kind partner support, and the district plans to continue monthly workshops, targeted topics and one‑on‑one coaching as the program scales.
On accountability, district instructional leaders briefed the board on Virginia’s new system, which aggregates mastery, growth and readiness into an index and classifies schools in categories such as Distinguished, On Track, Off Track or Needs Intensive Support. The state’s new system puts additional weight on English learner (EL/ESL) progress and on moving students across achievement bands rather than relying solely on pass rates for individual tests. The district modeled the new framework using last year’s data but cautioned that some components and calculations are still being finalized by the state; administrators said the technical rules have been adjusted repeatedly during rollout and that statewide percentages of schools falling into lower categories have changed as the state fine‑tuned the system.
Instructional leaders said the new approach emphasizes moving every student forward — improving low performers, advancing students near proficiency above the pass threshold, and increasing high achievement — and that this shift will inform professional development and budget priorities. The staff asked principals to focus on scaffolded instructional moves that produce measurable growth and to prepare teachers for the new emphasis on growth and readiness.
