Standards of Learning

The main commercial corridor of the Cradock neighborhood, lined with boarded-up buildings and "for rent" signs, is among the last places someone would look for a hip retail business. But to Toney Herndon, it made supreme sense. Herndon, a Portsmouth...

At Norfolk's Tidewater Park Elementary School, nearly half the students tested last spring failed the state's standardized reading exams. That wasn't the first time the school's students -- many of whom come from impoverished families -- struggled in...

HAMPTON — Hampton City Schools is considering adding access controls to enhance security at schools across the division. School Board members learned about the proposal Wednesday. School officials are working with vendors to gather more...

Learning cursive is almost a rite of passage in Elementary School.  But could the writing be on the wall for those squiggly letters? More and more states are writing off daily cursive lessons throughout elementary school.  Virginia requires third graders...

Eight-eight percent of the class of 2012 graduated on time, according to the Virginia Department of Education. Also, the statewide dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent for the class of 2012, down from 7.2 percent for the class of 2011. Highland County had a...

Splish-splash - and lots of screams. It might look like weekend fun, but this is actually a school trip. While these 4th graders from Buchanan, Breckinridge, Eagle Rock and Greenfield Elementary schools are having a good time, you can see from the...

Ninety-three percent of Virginia's public schools are fully accredited, according to numbers released Wednesday afternoon by the Virginia Department of Education. According to the VDOE, 96 percent of elementary schools and 88 percent of middle schools...

All eight Gloucester County schools received full accreditation by the Virginia Department of Education in a Wednesday announcement. Gloucester joins 84 other Virginia school divisions, out of 132, in which all schools received accreditation....

Here are the results of the Peasley Middle School 6th- and 7th-grade Standards of Learning results released last week by the Virginia Department of Education. 6th Grade Reading – 2010-11: 92; 2011-12: 89 Writing – 2010-11: 89; 2011-12:...

Here are the Gloucester High School Standards of Learning results for this year compared to last year. This year's scores were released last week by the Virginia Department of Education. Gloucester High School Reading – 2010-11: 93; 2011-12: 96...

Acronyms are on the move in state education — schools are saying goodbye to meeting AYP targets and hello to measuring up under new AMOs. The state will report this year's Standards of Learning exam results based on new annual measurable...

Last week, I reported on the state's new method of assessing student achievement on Standards of Learning exams, now that it has a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind accountability model. The new objectives set by the state include a pass...