The Virginia Department of Education released state accreditation ratings for 2022-23 on Thursday afternoon for the first time since the 2019-20 school year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All ten Danville Public Schools were either fully accredited or accredited with conditions.
Galileo Magnet High School and Forest Hills Elementary School received full accreditation, and all other schools are accredited with conditions. No schools were denied accreditation.
With many schools seeing growth above 18-19, DPS students are recovering from lost instructional time as
a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the district recognises that there are still gaps and work to be
done so that students can progress further.
State Accreditation standards measure performance on multiple school-quality indicators, not just student
achievement on Standards of Learning tests. These indicators include, but are not limited to, proficiency and
growth in reading, writing, and mathematics, absenteeism, graduation and completion, and achievement
gaps among student groups in English and mathematics.
One metric used to determine accreditation is a combined “growth” rate. The VDOE recognises growth in
English and math, which is combined with pass rates to assess how students are improving, even if they did
not pass. This combined rate for reading and writing in elementary and middle schools includes students who
passed SOL tests and students who did not pass but showed growth, including English learners who made progress toward English proficiency.
For mathematics, the combined rate includes students who pass SOL tests in math and students who didn’t
pass but showed growth.
For DPS, these combined rates with growth showed improvements above the 20-21 school year in nearly
all schools in both reading and mathematics.
Some schools even achieved growth above pre-pandemic rates. The following schools showed
improvements over three years (note that SOL testing did not take place in 19-20):
E. A. Gibson Elementary
o Growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 70% compared to 60% in 18-19 and 35% in 20-21.
o Growth scores in math for 21-22 were 62% compared to 58% in 18-19 and 18% in 20-21.
Forest Hills Elementary
o Growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 90% compared to 78% in 18-19 and 61% in 20-21.
o Growth scores in mathematics for 21-22 were 90% compared to 86% in 18-19 and 48% in
20-21.
G. L. H. Johnson Elementary
o Growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 68% compared to 40% in 18-19 and 27% in 20-21.
o Growth scores in mathematics for 21-22 were 62% compared to 54% in 18-19 and 34% in
20-21.
Park Avenue Elementary
o Growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 76%, compared to 59% in 18-19 and 30% in 20-
21.
o Growth scores in mathematics for 21-22 were 66% compared to 61% in 18-19 and 12% in
20-21.
Schoolfield Elementary’s growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 74% compared to 68% in 18-19
and 40% in 20-21.
Woodberry Hills Elementary
o Growth scores in reading for 21-22 were 64% compared to 56% in 18-19 and 37% in 20-21.
o Growth scores in mathematics for 21-22 were 70% compared to 54% in 18-19 and 12% in
20-21.
O. T. Bonner Middle
o Growth scores in English for 21-22 were 58% compared to 54% in 18-19 and 43% in 20-21.
o Growth scores in mathematics for 21-22 were 55% compared to 51% in 18-19 and 33% in
20-21.