Home / education, Featured / Good News for Virginia in Education?

Good News for Virginia in Education?

An article on HamptonRoads.com caught my attention today. According to a report released Thursday Virginia was given a B grade in overall educational quality, ranking the state fourth in the nation and better than the U.S. average.

Researchers at Editorial Projects in Education, which publishes Education Week, gave Virginia a score of 83.2 out of 100. The national average is 76.2 or C and only Maryland, Massachusetts and New York scored higher than Virginia. I was really surprised that Virginia rated so highly in education as I have read many articles about how Virginia schools have been struggling to raise their academic standards, along with most other states.

Unfortunately, the B grade that Virginia received is a little deceiving. The report actually graded states in several categories, including academic achievement, school finance, and standards, assessments and accountability. The state scored an A in the “standards, assessments and accountability” category. I am not exactly sure what that category encompasses but a grade of A is commendable. In the “chance for success” category – which examines indicators such as parents’ income and employment levels and participation in preschool and postsecondary education – the state scored a B. Again a commendable score.

But here is where the reports starts to lose some of its luster. In the “school finance” category, which rates per-pupil spending, Virginia scored a C+ , matching the national average. But the most disturbing part of the report is that Virginia scored only a C in student achievement. Compared to the national average of a D – , Virginia did fairly well. But to me the student achievement category is the single most important category and it is disturbing that Virginia only scored a C, even if the national average is D- .

What this report tells me is that while Virginia is doing well in some areas of education the really important category, student achievement, should be doing much better.  As a student I was never satisfied with a C grade, I always felt that I could do much better. I feel the same way about Virginia. While Virginia is doing better than a lot of states in education, Virginia still has much to accomplish if it is to provide its citizens with the quality education they deserve. The bottom line of education in Virginia is the quality of the students that are graduated from its schools. I hope that like me Virginia will not settle for a C in that category.

Comments