by Derrick Max

Yesterday, the Virginia Board of Education voted by a near majority to reject a proposal to delay the implementation of more rigorous Standard of Learning cut scores. I was honored to testify before the Board, along with Arlington Democrat Todd Truitt — who really has been a leader on this important issue. A handful of other parents and leaders testified in opposition to any delay, while no parents testified in favor.  

Thank you to the dozens of readers who sent in emails to the Board calling for them to move forward on the planned implementation of the higher standards after reading my last article. 

We applaud the Board for doing the right thing and look forward to hearing Governor Spanberger’s continued support for greater accountability and standards! Virginia’s children deserve our best. Governor Spanberger’s leadership on this is critical.

Below is the testimony I gave before the Board yesterday:

My name is Derrick Max, I am Vice President of the Jefferson Forum, previously known as the Thomas Jefferson Institute. Thank you for serving on this important board and for allowing public comment today. Your work matters more than you may realize, it is greatly appreciated!

Board, Virginia has spent too many years telling parents their children are doing better than they really are. This is not compassion. It is not equity. It is not good education policy. It is a failure of honesty — and the students hurt most are the very children most in need of help.

It is reported that you are considering a delay to the long-overdue increase in Standards of Learning cut score for another three years. If that happens, Virginia will continue using some of the lowest proficiency standards in the country. By the time the new scores are fully reflected in public reporting, Virginia could have spent nearly a decade operating under weak benchmarks that mask the true academic condition of our schools.

That would be a serious mistake.

This should not be a partisan question. Governor Abigail Spanberger has said the right things about accountability. As a candidate, she put it plainly: “I know accountability is vital to ensuring that our kids are learning, getting the education they deserve, and getting additional help they may need if they face learning challenges along the way.”

She is right. But accountability without honest standards is not accountability at all.

For years, Virginia’s state test results have painted a much rosier picture than the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That difference is often called the “honesty gap.” Virginia has one of the largest gaps in the country! 

That gap is not a technicality. It means thousands of parents may believe their children are on grade level when they are not. It means schools may appear to be succeeding when many students are struggling. It means policymakers can congratulate themselves while children move from grade to grade without the reading and math skills they need.

The federal data on cut scores is just as troubling. The NCES comparison of state proficiency standards shows that Virginia’s students are being given low expectations, and their poor performance is being masked. 

In every other facet of school life – expectations put before students is higher. No football coach is telling their team that their team goal is to rank in the bottom third. The students who performed here today were not told by their band director to just try to be on beat and in tune a third of the time. The theater director is not telling the students to just try to get most of their lines right. No, they are pushing perfection…and the hard work that entails! I can still hear my marching band director pushing me to be in step, in line, and in tune…it literally set a standard changed my life.

Before joining the Jefferson Forum, I founded and ran a private school in one of the poorest communities of Washington, DC. There was nothing sadder about my job than telling parents applying to put their children in our school that their “straight A student,” who performed well on DC’s (at the time) weak testing, was significantly below grade level. To see the pain in a parent’s face when they would ask, “how do we make up for all the lost years?” I would tell them it would be hard work, a joint effort of parents and school…but that hope was not lost. 

But if the student was in high school, getting straight As…reading at a fifth-grade level, with no grasp of basic math…I knew the task of catching up was almost impossible. That parent had been lied to for too long, and now the plight of her child was dim. Parents can handle and deserve the truth!

Board, set high standards and give parents, teachers and schools a chance to meet those expectations. Don’t delay, do it today!