Arlington Public Schools was near the top of the pack in both the state and in Northern Virginia in its test scores for the 2024-25 school year.
APS trailed the Loudoun school system in the five broad Standards of Learning categories last school year, but outperformed Fairfax and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria. It topped the averages statewide in each category.
“I am feeling a sense of competitiveness with Loudoun County that I have not previously,” School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton said during a presentation on academic achievement at the Board’s Sept. 18 meeting.
Arlington’s overall pass rate in reading and math was 79%, compared to 82% in Loudoun. In science, the pass rates were 75% and 80%; in social studies, 78% and 86%; and in writing, 89% and 90%.
Results previously had been released by the Virginia Department of Education, but Arlington school officials put together the comparison as part of a broader discussion of 2024-25 achievement data.
School Board members applauded the effort.
“There is more information in these slides than we historically present in public,” said Board member Miranda Turner. “There is a degree of transparency with that, and I am very appreciative of it.”
Gerald Mann, APS’s chief academic officer, said the information was just a snapshot, albeit an important one. Year-over-year variations in test scores are the norm, he said.
“We know that we have some ups and downs across the years,” Mann told School Board members.
School divisions statewide continue to rebound from test-score declines — sometimes significant ones — after students were shunted into a virtual-learning environment in 2020-21.
“After the pandemic, everyone dropped,” Mann said of scores.
Kimberley Graves, the system’s chief of school support, said plans to address achievement gaps include the creation of “consultation teams” to provide targeted support to individual schools.
The goal is to see every student live up to potential, she said.
“We’re working really closely to align our efforts … to demystify this notion that students who are not typical, or who require additional supports, aren’t capable of achieving at extremely high levels,” Graves said.
A number of School Board members zeroed in on specific aspects of the results, with Kathleen Clark asking about challenges facing students with disabilities and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley asking about support for English-language learners.
Among sub-groups, year-over-year results were mixed, but APS officials pointed to improvements in some areas:
- Black students: Pass rates increased in science, social studies and writing
- Hispanic students: Pass rates increased in math and writing
- English-language learners: Pass rates increased in math and writing
- Students with disabilities: Pass rates increased in science and writing
“We’re trying to leave no stone unturned” in determining future strategies, Mann said. But he acknowledged “it’s not as easy as for us to say ‘this worked and this didn’t.’ We really need to target what we’re doing and who we’re working with.”
One of the challenges in tracking performance over time is that the Virginia Department of Education revamps tests on a regular basis.
“Traditionally when we’ve introduced and tested new standards, we across the state see a dip in performance,” Mann said.
