CHAPTER 309
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-207.9, relating to school boards; certain advanced or accelerated mathematics opportunities; policies and criteria for enrollment; data reporting.
[H 2686]
Approved March 21, 2025
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 22.1-207.9 as follows:
22.1-207.9. Certain advanced or accelerated mathematics opportunities; policies and criteria for enrollment; data reporting.
A. Each school board shall develop and adopt a policy that sets forth the criteria for students in grades five through eight to be eligible to enroll in advanced or accelerated mathematics. Such policy shall, at minimum:
1. Require any student enrolled in the local school division in grades five through eight who earns a scale score on the end-of-year Standards of Learning mathematics assessment that is in the statewide, grade-level upper quartile to be automatically enrolled in advanced or accelerated mathematics during the following school year, provided that such class or course is offered and available;
2. Require that parents be afforded the opportunity to opt their child out of any automatic enrollment otherwise required pursuant to subdivision 1;
3. Establish multiple additional pathways to enrollment in advanced or accelerated mathematics such as teacher recommendations, parental recommendations, student preference, or student aptitude as demonstrated through other means of evaluation such as grades, other standardized testing, portfolios, or observation; and
4. Require that the parents of each student in grades five through eight be annually notified of (i) the criteria and process for enrollment in advanced or accelerated mathematics, including automatic enrollment and parental opt-out, as set forth in the policy; (ii) the importance of middle school mathematics coursework; (iii) the impact of middle school mathematics coursework on the high school mathematics coursework sequence; and (iv) the mathematics courses available within the school division.
B. Each school board shall annually collect and submit to the Department:
1. Division-wide data, data by school, and data by grade level, disaggregated by student subgroup based on gender, race, family income, special education status, English language learner status, and gifted status, on (i) the number and percentage of students in grades five through eight who earned a scale score in the upper quartile on the end-of-year Standards of Learning mathematics assessment and who enrolled in advanced or accelerated mathematics in the following school year, (ii) the number and percentage of students in grades five through eight who earned a scale score in the upper quartile on the end-of-year Standards of Learning mathematics assessment but whose parents exercised the option to exclude the student from advanced or accelerated mathematics in the following school year, and (iii) the number and percentage of students in grades five through eight who did not earn a scale score in the upper quartile on the end-of-year Standards of Learning mathematics assessment but who enrolled in advanced or accelerated mathematics in the following school year; and
2. The end-of-year Standards of Learning mathematics assessment scale score earned in the following school year by each student described in subdivision 1.
C. The Department shall post publicly in an easily accessible location and format on its website all data received pursuant to subsection B.