                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CERTAIN ADVANCED OR ACCELERATED MATHEMATICS OPPORTUNITIES; POLICIES AND CRITERIA
FOR ENROLLMENT; DATA REPORTING (§ 22.1-207.9)

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.

HISTORY: 2025, c. 309.