Local Performance Assessments
On September 20, 2018, the Virginia Board of Education approved Guidelines for the Use of Local Performance Assessments to verify credit in End-of-Course Writing. The Standards of Accreditation (8VAC20-131-110B5) permit local school divisions to award a verified credit in writing to a student who “meets the criteria for the receipt of a verified credit in English (writing) by demonstrating mastery of the content of the associated course on an authentic performance assessment, that complies with guidelines adopted by the board.”
Some additional details about this process:
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Performance assessments generally require students to perform a task or create a product that is scored using a rubric.
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Performance assessments used to award verified credits must be evaluated using the Virginia Quality Criterion Tool for Performance-Based Assessments. These will include three types of writing covered in English, grades 9-11: persuasive, analytical, and argumentative. At least one of the writing samples must include a research component.
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Each year, the student’s performance assessment will be scored using rubric from the Virginia Department of Education.
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Families will be notified of the student’s academic performance after each sample is collected and scored.
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The school division will review the body of evidence (all three performance assessments) in grade 11 and determine if a student’s achievement is advanced, proficient, or doesn’t meet the standard (fail).
- Students who score proficient or advanced on the body of evidence will be awarded a verified credit. Students who do not receive credit through the LPA process will have additional opportunities to receive the verified credit.
Additional information from the district and English teachers will be forthcoming. Please contact the NNPS Testing Office ([email protected]) with any questions.