After a one-year hiatus from issuing state grades, the 19th annual edition of Quality Counts鈥擯reparing to Launch: Early Childhood鈥檚 Academic Countdown鈥拦别蝉耻尘别蝉 Education Week鈥檚 long-standing tradition of grading the states on their performance. This year, those grades return in a newer, leaner form that focuses on outcomes rather than on policy and processes. A state鈥檚 overall grade is the average of its scores on the three separate indices tracked by the report.
This year, Virginia finishes 12th among the 50 states and District of Columbia, with an overall score of 78.7 out of 100 points and a grade of C-plus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C.
Diving into the findings for the three graded indices, Virginia earns a B in the Chance-for-Success category and ranks ninth. The average state earns a C-plus. In School Finance, Virginia receives a C-plus and ranks 17th, while for the K-12 Achievement Index it finishes 10th with a grade of C. The average state earns grades of C and C-minus in School Finance and K-12 Achievement, respectively.
Quality Counts 2015 also focuses on early-childhood education as its special theme, examining how new academic demands and accountability pressures are altering the learning environment for young children and the educators serving them. For this year鈥檚 report, the Education Week Research Center issued state and national grades for a new Early Education Index, which draws on an original analysis of participation in early-education programs, poverty-based gaps in enrollment, and trends over time.
Virginia earns a D-plus and ranks 31st on the Early Education Index, which incorporates data from eight specific indicators. The nation as a whole earns a D-plus.
Virginia鈥檚 2014 Highlights Report includes the state鈥檚 full report card, including results for each of the nearly-40 indicators that make up Quality Counts鈥� overall grading rubric. This year鈥檚 State Highlights Report also includes the Early Education Index and a special analysis of data on enrollment in early-childhood programs.
