Another state whose pursuit of standards-and-accountability based reform has been doubted by testing opponents had good news this week. According to results released on Tuesday, Virginia schools nearly doubled their rate of success on the state's Standards of Learning exams this year, with 40 percent meeting this year's state benchmarks and an additional 30 percent of schools reaching targets for annual progress. Beginning in 2007, schools in the Old Dominion will need to reach the annual-progress targets to receive accreditation. For more, see "Virginia Schools Nearly Double Passing Rate on SOL Tests," by Liz Seymour, The Washington Post, October 17, 2001.
