
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997            TAG: 9702250196

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  103 lines

VIRGINIA WEIGHS TOUGHER RULES TO ACCREDIT ITS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Beefed-up high-school graduation requirements.

A minimum of 75 percent of school time spent teaching academic core subjects.

Judging schools by how well their students learn as measured by standardized tests - not just on their student-teacher ratios or whether they're flying U.S. and Virginia flags as required.

These are some of the proposed changes in the standards used to accredit public schools that the state's superintendent of public instruction released Monday. They will be formally presented today to the state Board of Education - board members received advance copies Monday by courier - and, if approved after an opportunity for public comment, would take effect in July, although school divisions would be allowed one-year waivers.

Already adopted have been stricter standards for what the state's students should learn in each grade. New standardized tests are being written to see whether they did.

State certification that a school is meeting minimum standards is where the focus of accreditation should be, state Superintendent Richard T. La Pointe said Monday.

``These revisions will emphasize higher expectations,'' he told reporters in his office. ``We feel they will provide a better education.''

The superintendent's proposed graduation requirements - which would become effective for the class of 2001 or, if a school division receives a waiver, 2002 - would add two credits for a standard diploma, and one to four for an advanced-studies diploma.

The new standard diploma would require three math credits - one more than now - including algebra I starting in the fall and geometry beginning in 1999. It also would require a third credit in laboratory science - earth science and biology would be mandatory - and a fourth credit in history or social science. The rest would remain the same: four credits in English, two in physical education and health, one in fine or practical arts and six electives, for a total of 23 credits.

La Pointe's proposed requirements would prepare a graduate for college or vocational training, he said.

Advanced-studies diplomas under the new standards would require a fourth credit in math, including algebra I, geometry and two units above the level of geometry; a fourth credit in laboratory science and a fourth credit in history or social science. The other requirements are the same as for the standard diploma, except for adding three or four years of a foreign language and one to four electives, for a total of 24 to 27 credits.

In 1994-95, 47 percent of Virginia's high-school graduates received advanced-studies diplomas with algebra I the only designated advanced-math requirement.

``If you're going to a tier-one college, algebra I isn't going to make it,'' La Pointe said.

An additional proposed graduation requirement: passing the new 11th-grade state standardized test. Students now must pass the Literacy Passport Test, which is first given in sixth grade. Only 83 students statewide didn't receive diplomas last year because they failed the Literacy Passport Test, which La Pointe would do away with in 1998.

``One of the things I wanted to do was create a diploma that has value,'' he said.

He also would allow the testing to be split up so that tests could be taken in the core academic subjects at the end of the course, rather than - in the case of freshman classes - waiting almost three years for the end of 11th grade.

La Pointe's proposed accreditation standards also recommend - but don't require - that students be retained who don't pass the new third-, fifth- and eighth-grade standardized tests.

Existing guidelines for safe and adequate school facilities remain in the 40 pages of proposed new regulations. But academic achievement based on standardized-test performance and improvement in test scores would form the major basis for accreditation. Every two years, schools would be labeled ``accredited,'' ``warned'' or ``unsatisfactory'' based on test-performance standards set by the Board of Education.

Schools not accredited would have to make a self-improvement plan using specific criteria set by the board. If the school fails to improve, it could be taken to court or closed.

No school in Virginia has been denied accreditation under current standards, adopted in 1988, said Charles W. Finley, policy and public affairs specialist for the state schools.

The schools now report on themselves, he added. He's the only state official in charge of school accreditation, and so isn't able to inspect all the state's schools. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

PROPOSED SCHOOL STANDARDS

Proposed new accreditation requirements are the third part of

education reform in Virginia. Already adopted: stricter standards

for what students should learn in each grade; and new standardized

tests to measure whether they did. Among the proposed accreditation

changes:

Two more credits would be necessary for a standard diploma, and

one to four more for an advanced-studies diploma.

An emphasis on academic achievement based on standardized-test

performance.

WHAT'S NEXT

The state Board of Education today will receive the proposal.