by Jackie Nunnery
KILMARNOCK—Principals at each of the three public schools in Lancaster County on November 14 shared plans to improve student outcomes with the school board. The meeting had been rescheduled from November 12 due to weather.
When evaluating school performance, now called School Quality Indicators by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), schools are graded Level 1, 2, or 3, with 1 being the highest, or meeting the state’s criteria. Level 2 means the school is partially or close to meeting the criteria, and Level 3 means they are not.
Lancaster High School
LHS principal Tara Booth shared the critical areas for the high school, namely achievement gaps in math and student engagement. The school was accredited with conditions this year as well as last.
In order to receive full accreditation, LHS needs to score at Level 1 or 2 for all measures. In math, LHS was at Level 3, with achievement gaps among black students, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.
Booth pointed out that in addition to changes in the math test last year, “one of our high school algebra teachers left in the middle of the year, which certainly had a negative impact on scores.”
Booth outlined the academic improvement plan, which focuses…
