Schools report state test scores

staff reports
Published: September 4, 2008

STAFFORD — Stafford County Public Schools recently received its 2008-09 preliminary Adequate Yearly Progress results from the Virginia Department of Education.

Based on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test performance from the 2007-08 school year, the results indicate that the following schools have made AYP for 2008-09:  Brooke Point, Colonial Forge, North Stafford and Stafford high schools; Ferry Farm, Garrisonville, Grafton Village, Hartwood, Margaret Brent, Park Ridge, Rockhill, Rocky Run, Widewater and Winding Creek elementary schools; and Rodney Thompson middle school.

The department of education has indicated that the following schools have not made AYP for 2008-09:  A.G. Wright, Dixon-Smith, Edward E. Drew, H.H. Poole and Stafford middle schools; Anthony Burns, Conway, Falmouth, Gayle, Hampton Oaks, Kate Waller Barrett and Moncure elementary schools; Mountain View High School and Stafford Middle School.

Stafford County Public Schools has not made AYP as a school division.

These preliminary results are subject to change in the next several weeks.

AYP is the federal standard by which schools and school divisions are rated under No Child Left Behind, the federal law governing various public education programs and services.

No Child Left Behind requires that specific sanctions be imposed on schools that receive certain federal funds and do not make AYP for two or more consecutive years in the same content area. 

Barrett Elementary School and Falmouth Elementary School, which did not make AYP for 2008-09, will be offering school choice for the 2008-09 school year. Rocky Run Elementary School, which did make AYP for 2008-09, will continue to offer school choice and supplemental educational services for the 2008-09 school year. 

Public schools in Virginia are also annually given accreditation ratings by the state, which are also based on SOL test scores from the previous school year. The Virginia Department of Education has not yet released their 2008-09 preliminary accreditation ratings for schools.

In other school news, students in Stafford public schools improved in all three sections of 2008 SAT tests according to recently released College Board reports. SAT mean scores in the areas of Critical Reading (513), Mathematics (509), and Writing (488) increased 5-7 points from one year ago. Students in Stafford County Public Schools outperformed peers in Virginia and the United States in Critical Reading, but scored lower than both the state and national mean scores for Mathematics and Writing. 

Participation by SPCS students also increased in 2008.  There were 1,384 students from the five division high schools who took the SAT tests — a 5.3 percent increase from 2007.