WJCC staff outline Virginia’s new school accountability framework; two elementary schools receive federal identification

Williamsburg-James City County Schools staff briefed the board on Virginia’s new Unified Accountability, also called the School Performance and Support Framework, and described local implications after the state released designation results in mid-December.

Sean Walker explained the framework’s three components — mastery, growth and readiness — and how weighted index values produce a 100-point school score with thresholds for distinguished (90+), on track (80–89), off track (65–79) and needs intensive support (<65). Walker illustrated the calculations with an example elementary school and described how federal identification can reduce a school’s designation by one level when one or more student reporting groups fall below the state cut score.

The division reported that 13 schools are on track, Jamestown High School earned a distinguished designation, and two elementary schools — James River and Matthew Whaley — received federal identifications. Walkers and Dr. Keever explained the cut-score process used by the Virginia Department of Education: the state identifies the lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools, selects the top-performing school within that set, and uses its score as a threshold to evaluate student reporting groups across the state. Because that threshold changes year to year, staff described it as a moving target.

Walker referenced a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report that found the new framework weights proficiency more heavily than growth and that summative ratings can reflect student demographics more strongly than year-to-year progress. Board members asked how the division is responding; staff said schools have completed data reviews and drafted annual school improvement plans, the division has embedded daily 30-minute literacy and math differentiation blocks in elementary schedules, and the division has added targeted supports including three early-intervention behavior specialists and four temporary behavior-support positions funded from projected attrition savings.

Presenters emphasized ongoing progress monitoring, a schedule of quarterly follow-ups with schools, and that additional state guidance on support-designation specifics is expected. Board members discussed the differences between accreditation and the new accountability model, the need for clarity about growth measures, and possible legislative tweaks informed by the JLARC report.

The division said it will continue to monitor second-quarter data and work with school teams on improvement plans while awaiting further guidance from the state.