Virginia Board accepts first review of school accreditation report, outlines phased rollout of new accountability framework

The Virginia Board of Education on first review accepted a new Virginia School Accreditation Report and directed the department to publish guidance, exemplars and rubrics to document how schools and divisions will show compliance with the Standards of Accreditation.

Board staff said the change is part of a broader move to separate “accreditation” — an inputs/compliance review of staffing, graduation requirements, safety and school planning — from the state’s academic accountability system, the Virginia School Performance and Support Framework. Department officials said that separation is intended to make public-facing academic ratings clearer while preserving a compliance process to ensure minimum resources, staffing and safety measures are in place.

The department’s presentation identified 11 compliance areas that principals and superintendents will document annually and said only one new regulatory requirement was added since the 2017 rules: schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) must document that elements of their school improvement plans are…