Some were having difficulty reading and writing or solving a simple math problems. The future was slipping through the cracks in some of our classrooms. We needed to pinpoint where our schools were failing and fix them. We needed to restore confidence in parents that a public education is a quality education. Our answer to these challenges was and remains high academic standards.
Academic standards are the best hope for public education in Virginia.
Because of your hard work, the future of our system of public education is looking brighter every day. The most recent SOL test results confirm that we are improving not only the quality of education, but also the achievement of our students. In only two years, significant gains have been posted across all four academic areas of our standards. Students achieved at a pass rate of 70 percent or higher in 13 of 27 tests and increased their pass rate by double-digits in 17 of 27 tests. Let's take a moment to give our students a well-deserve round of applause.