Roanoke School Board Vice Chair Michael Cherry said he notices in his own children the division’s efforts to improve test scores.
“I have a third grader at home who is excited about taking tests,” Cherry said. “I can definitely see that what we’re doing is working, just because of the changes I see in my girls. They’re excited to go to school.”
Reading and math pass rates improved in Roanoke during the 2024-2025 school year, according to Standards of Learning data presented during the school board’s meeting Tuesday night.
Pass rates shaped up in Algebra II, which increased 10 percentage points to 93%. Seventh grade reading scores increased 7 points to 55%, the data shows.
Scores generally improved by a few percentage points across subjects and grade levels, except grade 5 mathematics, which remained flat at 56%. The end-of-course reading pass rate improved 2 points to 74%.
SOL scores are a key metric that Virginia uses to measure school performance. School officials in Roanoke and across the state have emphasized improving results, after standardized test scores dropped statewide and nationwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re not going to be done digging out of COVID impacts for quite some time,” said Roanoke board member Eli Jamison.
But the test scores and other data shows improvement in the right direction, including for disciplinary matters, said Archie Freeman, chief instructional and administrative officer.
Students spent 2,660 fewer days suspended from school compared to last year, he said. Additionally, the number of overall disciplinary incidents dropped from 9,932 to 9,152, according to board documents.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a decrease of 23.89% in suspension days,” Freeman said. “We’re going to continue to make adjustments and not make excuses.”
Superintendent Verletta White said the schools’ approach over the last five to six years “has been about prevention, restoration and logical consequences.” The school system teaches ABCs, 123s, as well as classroom behavior, she said.
“We’re spending, yes, a lot of time in preventing problematic behaviors and teaching what our students should do,” White said. “We’re working with children every day.”
High school graduation rates decreased 3%, but there were 100 more students who graduated, School Board Chair Franny Apel said. A total of 1,070 students graduated this summer, the data shows.
“Attendance is key to learning, and so I really want to applaud some schools that made big gains,” Apel said. “We can see that it’s happened at very large schools and at smaller schools.”
Chronic absenteeism improved at 14 Roanoke schools and worsened at 10 schools. The statistic is measured by the ratio of students who are absent from school for 10% or more of the 180-day school year.
Six Roanoke schools had a rate of 25% or higher chronic absenteeism, including both high schools. Irksome to school officials: even excused absences, such as extended illness, count toward the measure.
“The work that we’re doing, it does matter, and it’s working,” Cherry said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but it is happening.”
Luke Weir (540) 566-8917
luke.weir@roanoke.com
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