Williamsburg-James City County Schools saw improvements in state standardized test scores in the 2023-24 school year compared to the year before, but racial disparities in performance persist.
The Virginia Department of Education released Standards of Learning exam scores — earlier this week. Most Hampton Roads school divisions saw gains in math and science pass rates last year, according to the data. Big gains were also seen across the state in pass rates on the writing assessment.
The numbers showed gains in reading, writing, history and social science, math and science overall for WJCC Schools.
“I am proud of our students’ achievement and appreciate the thoughtful dedication of the teachers, staff, and school leaders that made these 2023-2024 SOL gains a reality,” Superintendent Olwen Herron said in a statement.
“I also recognize opportunities for continued growth and affirm our commitment to pursue excellence and champion the success of all students. Together with our funding partners, I look forward to the work ahead to invest in opportunities and outcomes for all learners to excel,” she continued.
All 16 WJCC schools are fully accredited. However, the division’s chronic absenteeism rate — the rate of students absent for 10% of the year or more total — dropped from over 16% to 10.6% for the most recent school year, according to the school system. That trends lower than the state chronic absenteeism rate.
While the overall numbers are encouraging, WJCC schools saw a gap of 20% or more when comparing white student performance to Black student performance in all areas. The school system noted the following as examples of growth:
- English pass rates among Black students grew nearly 3%.
- Math pass rates among Black students and English language learner students grew 3%.
- Science pass rates among students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and Black students all grew 5%.
Pass rates for students in WJCC Schools and York County Public Schools for the 2023-24 school year are listed below. The rates in parentheses are from the 2022-23 school year.
WJCC SOL pass rates for all grade levels and all students
- Reading: 77.75 (76.41)
- Writing: 80.46 (69.60)
- History and social science: 70.91 (70.42)
- Mathematics: 76.56 (75.00)
- Science: 74.76 (72.02)
WJCC SOL pass rates for white students in all grade levels
- Reading: 87.70 (86.74)
- Writing: 89.08 (79.28)
- History and social science: 82.66 (82.93)
- Mathematics: 87.21 (85.63)
- Science: 87.22 (83.66)
WJCC SOL pass rates for Black students in all grade levels
- Reading: 60.64 (57.72)
- Writing: 63.39 (43.89)
- History and social science: 52.05 (50.71)
- Mathematics: 56.87 (53.29)
- Science: 53.82 (48.15)
YCPS SOL pass rates for all grade levels and all students
- Reading: 86.59 (86.64)
- Writing: 87.02 (77.23)
- History and social science: 79.74 (80.00)
- Mathematics: 86.48 (85.53)
- Science: 80.00 (80.50)
YCPS SOL pass rates for white students in all grade levels
- Reading: 89.65 (89.61)
- Writing: 89.48 (81.27)
- History and social science: 84.94 (84.53)
- Mathematics: 89.43 (88.68)
- Science: 84.54 (85.17)
YCPS SOL pass rates for Black students in all grade levels
- Reading: 74.11 (73.79)
- Writing: 75.48 (63.27)
- History and social science: 60.50 (61.49)
- Mathematics: 74.20 (70.72)
- Science: 61.33 (60.61)
At the state level, more than 70% of school divisions have shown improvement in reading in grades 3 to 8, and more than 75% made gains in grades 3 to 8 in math.
Pass rates are still lower, in some cases notably so, than before the pandemic. Disruption to schooling caused by closures and other precautions led to widespread learning loss. Reading, math and science pass rates at all area divisions still have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Rates began to improve last year. This year, state officials credit some of the gains to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s $418 million “All in VA” plan. The plan focused on addressing learning loss, student achievement and chronic absenteeism using several strategies, including “high-dose tutoring.”
The state is in the final stages of approving a new school accountability system, which will include a school report card aimed at making it easier for parents to understand school performance. The first report cards are expected to be released next summer.
Staff writers Nour Habib and Eliza Noe contributed to this story.
Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com
