NNPS targeted efforts assure sustained growth on Standards of Learning assessments
Posted: August 27, 2025
Newport News Public Schools teachers approached last school year's Virginia Standards of Learning testing with a laser focus.
As new standards, tests, materials and challenges were being added to the Virginia Department of Education's formula for determining schools' progress towards accreditation, NNPS had a very specific strategy that paid off quickly.
"This year, our focus will be on continuing to strengthen Tier 1 instruction, implementing evidence-based literacy practices, and fostering a positive culture and climate within our schools," Chief Academic Officer Dr. Kipp Rogers said a year ago.
After NNPS put all of that into practice, the resulting sustained growth will be clearly evident when the VDOE releases its 2024-2025 Statewide Assessment Results Annual Pass Rates in the near future. The state has changed the mechanism for determining schools' accreditation and accountability, and is in the process of merging two previous yardsticks into one.
"There will be new terminology for a new criteria," said NNPS Superintendent Dr. Michele Mitchell. "Whichever system is being used, numerous content areas and individual schools have shown marked growth over the last two years and continue on a path towards long-term increases in scores."
One shining example is Greenwood Elementary School, which from last year to this year saw substantive gains in all areas and double-digit gains in five subject areas, according to preliminary data. Greenwood's test scores improved by 21 percentage points in Grade 5 math, 18 percentage points in Grade 4 math and nine percentage points in Grade 3 math.
"They had some strong improvement across the board," Rogers said. "And then in science, they improved by almost 20 percentage points, which is just a testament to our focus on having strong Tier 1 instruction."
"We had many schools make strong gains this year, and Greenwood stood out for showing improvement across every tested area across the board. They were relentless in terms of making sure that they monitored what was taking place in the classroom, provided support and, more importantly, they gave actionable feedback to teachers."
Students with disabilities' achievement is another area where NNPS is showing exceptional, sustained improvement. The gap between students with disabilities and general education students met the goal of less than 20 percentage points.
"The progress of our students with disabilities made this year is encouraging," Rogers said. "And meeting the gap reduction goal shows we are moving in the right direction."
English as a Second Language students at 14 schools met or exceeded standards this past year. Significant improvements at various schools and content areas ranged from 10 and 14 percent to 30 and 33 percentage points. For example, math scores at four elementary schools improved significantly for English learners or students with disabilities.
NNPS leadership's plan has put strong supports in place for Tier 1 instruction, which means that students are able to demonstrate mastery of a lesson, skill or standard the first time it's presented. This happens because the teachers have a solid curriculum to teach and excellent, creative skills and strategies to use in doing so, according to Rogers.
Also, teaching and learning leaders have made sure they have strong local assessments to accurately assess what students know, understand and are able to demonstrate mastery of before they take the SOL tests.
NNPS' Department of Teaching and Learning has adopted a philosophy of being Wildly Consistent with curriculum, instruction and assessment. That means making sure everybody's following and teaching the curriculum as it's presented, as well as getting feedback from teachers and helping them grow.
"We focused on ensuring the curriculum was aligned with state standards, supported by engaging activities, paced appropriately and ensured that our assessments truly measured what students are expected to learn," Rogers said.
The final piece is making sure to have solid supports in place for schools. A School Support Team with representatives from all school division departments meets quarterly to talk about data and determine ways to respond to student learning data that's being collected.
When data shows an area for growth, leaders work collaboratively to look closely at the underlying causes to determine what additional support is needed at the school level, according to Rogers. Instructional coaches can be sent immediately to work with teachers and that has proven to be very helpful in shoring up areas needing extra attention.
Instructional leaders have analyzed what's working best at schools showing significant improvements and how to share that throughout the division.
"We have a lot to celebrate," Rogers said. "Do we have some room to grow? Yes, a lot. And we have a lot of good things taking place throughout the school division."
