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Area schools saw a mix of trends when the Standards of Learning test results from 2022-23 were released earlier this month, with Lexington school numbers trending upward, Rockbridge downward, and Buena Vista seeing both gains and losses.
The Virginia Department of Education, when it released the Virginia Assessment Results, also included updated accreditation information. Currently all Lexington schools are fully accredited, as are all Rockbridge County schools. Buena Vista’s elementary and middle schools are also fully accredited, while Parry McCluer High School is accredited with conditions.
In Lexington
For the second year in a row, the Lexington school system was ranked second by Virginia’s Comprehensive Instructional Program, a consortium of 132 public schools in the state.
Overall, Lexington schools’ scores are higher than the averages for Virginia public schools. At the district level, Lexington had an 88 pass rate for reading, compared to the statewide average of 73, last year this was 91 to 73; an 83 pass rate for writing to the state average of 65, 83 to 65 last year, and an 87 pass rate in math compared to the state average of 69, 88 to 66 last year.
Science scores were also higher in Lexington than in the state as a whole: 89 percent of Lexington students passed in this category compared to a 67 average for Virginia, last year, 84 to 65. In history, this difference was even more marked, with Lexington achieving a passing rate of 90 compared to the state’s average of 65, 90 to 66 last year.
For Lexington, this year’s SOL scores were mostly similar to last year’s.
For Waddell students, the passing rate in reading was 91, compared to 93 last year; for math the passing rate was 90 to last year’s 91; and for history 92 to last year’s 93. Elementary students showed a slight improvement in science, scoring a 92 to last year’s 91 (writing is not tested until eighth grade).
Lylburn Downing Middle had a more pronounced positive trend. This year’s passing rate in math was 86, compared to 85 last year, in science, 89 compared to last year’s 80, and for history, 89 to last year’s 88. Reading scores decreased slightly, from 88 last year to 86 this year, while writing scores held steady, 83 for both this and last year.
The most significant changes between this and last year were in middle school science, which showed a 11% increase, and in middle and elementary reading, both of which saw a 2% drop.
“We received our school quality profiles and assessment reports, and our scores are in a good place,” said Superintendent Rebecca Walters. “Both schools are accredited, which is exciting; it kind of puts a cap on all our hard work there.”
One area flagged in the state assessment is chronic absenteeism at Waddell Elementary, which nearly doubled this year. The district is aware of the issue, and has already begun taking steps to remedy it, said Walters.
According to the Virginia Department of Education, chronic absence means a student missed 10 percent of the school year for any reason, including both excused and unexcused absences.
“We sat down at the beginning of this summer to look at what can be done,” she said. “We actually looked at kids who were chronically absent.
“One of the great things about having a small district is that you can know all your kids, and our teachers have done a great job at that, so we were able to compile a list of people who were at risk.”
Teachers and staff worked over the summer to reach out to or sit down with students - and their families - who were at risk to try to determine barriers to consistent attendance and what can be done to help.
Lexington also communicated with families on its new policy for absences at both of its schools.
“We actually reached out to everyone to let them know that there are going to be some changes in the way we document student absences,” Walters explained.
“Now, if a student acquires 15 absences, we start requiring additional documentation, whether that’s a doctor’s note, or an excuse to go to a funeral, for example. We’re going to keep monitoring that as the year goes on.”
Overall, Walters feels the district is doing well, and expressed gratitude for teachers, students, and community.
“All in all, we’re looking strong — science scores jumped this year, we had drops in some areas but nothing too significant,” she said.
“I’m grateful, we have great teachers and staff, and our students work hard, and families and the community have been engaged.”
In Buena Vista
Buena Vista scored lower than state averages for some subjects. In reading, Buena Vista averaged 69, while the state averaged 73, last year this was 76 to 73; for writing, the district averaged 59 to the state’s 65, 50 to 65 last year; and in history, 56 to the state’s 65, 63 to 66 last year.
However, Buena Vista’s math passing rate was 75, higher than the state average of 69, last year this was 68 to 66, and its science passing rate of 70 also exceeded the state average, 67, 60 to 65 last year.
Buena Vista schools saw a mix of trends this year, with gains in some subject areas and losses in others.
Enderly Heights Elementary saw a drop in reading, scoring 66 to last year’s 78; and in history, scoring 72 to last year’s 83.
Scores in other subject areas improved — this year’s passing rate for math was 67, compared to 66 last year; for science, 72 to last year’s 58; and for writing 59 to last year’s 50.
Parry McCluer Middle saw similar losses in reading and history. This year’s reading pass rate was 75, compared to 77 last year; this year’s history pass rate was 61, compared to 72 last year.
However, the school improved in other subject areas: the math pass rate increased, from 76 last year to 83 this year.
Parry McCluer High School improved in nearly all subject areas. The passing rate for reading was 73, as compared to last year’s 71; for writing 60, compared to 50 last year; for math 82 compared to 66 last year, and in science 70, compared to 61 last year. History scores held steady, at 45 for both this and last year.
The most significant changes for Buena Vista were in high school math scores, which increased by 24%; elementary school science scores, which increased by 24%; and elementary reading scores, which showed a 15% decrease.
“Overall this year’s scores shows a lot of growth,” said Superintendent Tony Francis.
One area of particular growth was in writing, which has been a problem area the last few years but jumped this year.
“Academically, our writing scores went up, pre- to post-pandemic. We were one of only 18 schools in the state where that happened, so we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.
Buena Vista schools have also seen issues with chronic absenteeism, particularly at the high school level.
Francis hopes to use prospective state funding to help remedy this issue.
“When the money from the state comes in, some of it will go toward absenteeism. I’m going to come up before the School Board, and hopefully hire two attendance specialists who can work with kids and work with families, to make sure our kids are in school, because if they’re not in school they won’t be achieving what they’re capable of,” he said.
While some of the state’s delayed budget is set aside for specific uses, such as tutoring, Francis hopes to use some of it to start creating interventions for chronically absent students.
“Part of the funding is marked for tutoring, but some of it we can put towards the absenteeism problem,” he explained.
“We need to make more opportunities for people to make up time, whether before school or after, on the weekends, to have opportunities to make up for the time they’ve missed.”
While Enderly Heights, Kling, and Parry McCluer Middle schools are fully accredited, the level of chronic absenteeism at the high school has led to it being accredited “with conditions.”
Francis expects improvement in this area, and that Parry McCluer High School will be returned to full accreditation next year.
“We’ll commit to doing what we need to do on chronic absence and we’ll be fine going forward,” he said.
In Rockbridge
Rockbridge County Public Schools saw an overall drop in test scores this year as compared to last year, falling below the state averages.
In reading, Rockbridge averaged a 71 pass rate, while the state’s average is 73, last year this was 75 to 73; in writing, the district scored 59 to the state’s 65, last year 63 to 65; in math, 64 to the state’s 69, 66 to 66 last year; in science, 66 to the state’s 67, 69 to 65 last year, and in history 64 in comparison to 65 for the state, last year this was 63 to 66.
At Central Elementary, this year’s reading scores matched last year’s, both at 68; while math scores improved, 71 this year compared to 64 last year; science scores increased, from 59 last year to 68 this year; as did history, 70 this year to 63 last year.
Fairfield Elementary showed a drop in reading scores, scoring 65 this year in comparison to 74 last year; and in math and history: this year’s math passing rate was 70 in comparison to last year’s 75, and the history passing rate was 66 to 70 last year. There was an improvement in science: this year’s pass rate was 74, while last year’s was 69.
Mountain View Elementary showed similar trends. In reading, Mountain View students had a 74 pass rate, compared to 87 last year; a 56 pass rate for math, compared to 74 last year; and a 67 pass rate for history, to 72 last year. Again, there was an improvement in science; this year’s science score was 71 to last year’s 59.
At Natural Bridge Elementary, reading scores dropped, from 67 last year to 61 this year, as did math scores, 61 last year to 52 this year. Science scores increased, from 41 last year to 60 this year; as did history scores, from 51 last year to 73 this year.
Maury River Middle School has less significant changes across subject areas. In reading, middle schools students scored a 73, in comparison to 75 last year; in writing, 47 to last year’s 54; in science, 67 to last year’s 69, and in history, 72 to last year’s 74. Math scores stayed the same, 63 across both years.
Rockbridge County High School also saw drops in test scores. This year’s writing score was 69 to last year’s 70; this year’s math score was 66 to last year’s 74; for science, 66 to last year’s 74; and in history, 24 to 32 last year. Reading scores held steady at the high school level, 81 for both this and last year.
The largest changes in county schools were in history at Natural Bridge Elementary, which saw a 43% increase, and in science at Natural Bridge, which saw a 46% increase. Math scores at Mountain View Elementary dropped by 24%, while reading scores at Mountain View dropped by 15%.
While staying aware of these trends for instruction going forward, the district is also taking a more holistic approach, according to Tim Martino, assistant superintendent of instruction and administration.
“Always remember that SOLs are a snapshot of our kids learning; these evaluations are only looking at a small period of time,” he said. “But we use that data as a way to see where we can improve.
“Since there was learning loss we are trying to do better by our learners moving forward,” he said. “We’re working on it, while trying to be aware of our student’s mental health, and of our staff’s mental health. There’s been a lot on everybody recently,” he said.
“Our teachers are working hard, and everybody’s and pulling together and moving forward.”
