Hampton Roads students’ scores improve in math, science and writing
Most school divisions in Hampton Roads saw gains in math and science last year, according to data released Tuesday by the Virginia Department of Education.
Major gains from the 2023-24 Standards of Learning were also seen across the country in pass rates on the written test.
In Hampton, the group’s academic success rate rose 7 percent. Newport News had a 4 percent gain and Norfolk saw a 3 percent improvement. science facts with lots of hands-on activities in the room.
Poquoson, York County and Virginia Beach continue to have the highest science pass rates in the region, at 84%, 80% and 78%, respectively.
Other areas have also seen significant gains in science at the individual school level. Portsmouth, IC Norcom High School had a 20 percent increase in science passing rates, Churchland Academy Elementary had a 14 percent increase and Cradock Middle School had and an increase of 13 percent.
The stats have also improved across the board. Norfolk saw a 4 percent increase in pass rates, and Newport News, Portsmouth and Williamsburg-James City County increased pass rates by 3 percent each.
Divisions across the state and Hampton Roads also saw a big jump in test scores this year. Norfolk and Portsmouth each had gains of 16 per cent.
The reading pass rate improved modestly.
At the state level, more than 70% of school divisions showed improvement in reading in grades 3 through 8, and more than 75% made gains in grades 3 through 8 in math.
Passing rates are still lower, in some cases significantly, than before the pandemic. Disruption to schooling caused by school closures and other security measures has led to widespread learning loss. Reading, math and science scores in all areas have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Rates started to improve last year. This year, state officials are crediting some of the success to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s $418 million “All in VA” initiative. The project focused on addressing learning loss, student achievement and chronic absenteeism using several strategies, including “high standards education.”
Permanent absenteeism in the state, which increased after the epidemic, has had a 16% reduction, according to the VDOE, with more than four out of five sectors showing an improvement in attendance. Attendance is closely related to success. In grades 3 through 8 this year, chronically absent students — defined as those who missed 10 percent or more of the school year — performed 19 percent below their peers while they also count 26 percent below the numbers.
The government is in the final stages of approving a new school accountability system, which will include a school report card designed to make it easier for parents to understand the school’s performance. The new report cards are expected to place students’ proficiency, or mastery, at 50% to 65% of the school’s overall score, depending on the school level. The increase is about 20% to 25%. The first report cards are expected to be released next summer.
Below are the pass rates by area of study for Hampton Roads divisions. The numbers in parentheses are last year’s pass rates for comparison.
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Chesapeake
- Reading: 79% (78%)
- Writing: 78% (72%)
- Score: 78% (77%)
- Science: 74% (74%)
- History: 72% (74%)
Hampton
- Reading: 71% (70%)
- Writing: 75% (62%)
- Score: 74% (72%)
- Science: 74% (67%)
- History: 67% (65%)
Newport news
- Reading: 60% (59%)
- Writing: 56% (53%)
- Score: 59% (56%)
- Science: 57% (53%)
- History: 47% (45%)
Norfolk
- Reading: 61% (61%)
- Writing: 65% (49%)
- Score: 54% (50%)
- Science: 58% (55%)
- History: 50% (50%)
Portsmouth
- Reading: 61% (60%)
- Writing: 61% (45%)
- Score: 56% (53%)
- Science: 54% (52%)
- History: 55% (54%)
Virginia Beach
- Reading: 82% (82%)
- Writing: 81% (73%)
- Score: 78% (77%)
- Science: 78% (77%)
- History: 73% (73%)
Isle of Wight
- Reading: 79% (78%)
- Writing: 82% (70%)
- Score: 80% (77%)
- Science: 71% (67%)
- History: 73% (71%)
Poquoson
- Reading: 85% (87%)
- Writing: 83% (79%)
- Score: 83% (85%)
- Science: 84% (86%)
- History: 83% (81%)
Suffolk
- Reading: 72% (72%)
- Writing: 68% (65%)
- Score: 72% (69%)
- Science: 64% (63%)
- History: 61% (60%)
Williamsburg-James City County
- Reading: 78% (77%)
- Writing: 80% (70%)
- Score: 76% (75%)
- Science: 75% (72%)
- History: 71% (70%)
York County
- Reading: 87% (87%)
- Writes 87% (77%)
- Score 86% (86%)
- Science 80% (81%)
- History 80% (80%)
Country
- Reading: 73% (73%)
- Writing: 76% (65%)
- Score: 71% (69%)
- Science: 68% (67%)
- History: 65% (65%)
Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
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