An Evaluation of Virginia’s Standards of Accreditation - Factors that Foster and Impede Local-Level Discretion in Implementation

Oct 15, 2026

An evaluation examines Virginia’s Standards of Accreditation (SOA) using a utilization-focused evaluation approach to capture early implementation experiences across four urban districts. The study analyzes how district and high school administrators interpret the new standards, what shapes their interpretations, and how schools respond to SOA requirements. Results link understandings of the standards to perceived implementation efficacy, and show leadership experience and change-oriented mindsets influencing responses within a compliance-to-continuous-improvement frame.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose and Research Questions

Policy Implementation: A Brief Overview

Policy Implementation: Evolving Perspectives

SOA Focus Areas and Evaluation Categories

An Evaluation of Virginia’s Standards of Accreditation: Factors that Foster and Impede LocalLevel Discretion in Implementation Jay Paredes Scribner Old Dominion University Karen L. Sanzo Old Dominion University We apply a utilization-focused evaluation approach to an evaluation of Virginia’s latest comprehensive accountability policy—the Standards of Accreditation (SOA). Our study focuses on the implementation experiences of district and high school level administrators in four urban districts. This study is significant in two important ways. First it provides an example of UFE approaches to policy analysis and evaluation. The literature on UFE supports the approach’s application to policy analysis, but its use in this arena has been limited. Second, our study provides important insights for evaluation stakeholders formulating and implementing complex accountability policy, particularly in early phases of implementation. Our findings explore how and why local level administrators understand each of the new standards, what factors shape those understandings, and then how the case districts and schools respond to each of the SOA. Our findings illustrate how, along one dimension, stakeholders’ understandings ofthe standards are related to factors that influence their sense of implementation efficacy. Along a second compliance-continuous improvement dimension, administrators’ leadership experience and change-oriented mindsets appeared to determine how they responded to the new policy regime. We present conclusions and recommendations for key stakeholders and other students of policy analysis and evaluation. ICPEL Education Leadership Review, Vol. 21, No. 1– December, 2020 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2020 International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership This paper reports on the early implementation experiences of new state education accountability standards in Virginia. Framed as a utilization-focused evaluation, we sought to capture four districts’ experiences early in the adoption of the Virginia Standards of Accountability (SOA) . Specifically, and according to the needs of key evaluation users, the study reports on how administrators in four districts made sense of the new SOA, a set of policy indicators designed to allow for broad implementation discretion at the local level. How local level district and school leaders responded to the discretion allowed under these new standards was a key area of focus in this evaluation study (Ganon-Shilon & Schechter, 2019; Spillane, Reiser, & Reimer, 2002) . The new SOA were developed to complement the long-standing Virginia Standards of Learning (VA Department of Education, 2018) . Where the Standards of Learning focused on specific academic content and achievement, the SOA were designed to encourage district and school focus on continuous improvement, student academic growth, and student engagement with school and learning (VDOE, 2018) . The SOA focus on five areas divided into categories for academic performance and student engagement. For example, under the performance category schools are evaluated on student progress in English, mathematics, and science. Districts and schools are measured on their progress in closing achievement gaps in English, mathematics, and science, and on ELL student progress toward English proficiency. Under the student engagement category districts and schools are evaluated on 1) progress toward lowering chronic absenteeism and dropout ratesand 2) participation and achievement in college, career, and civic preparedness (VDOE, 2018) . Purpose and Research Questions Guided by conversations with the intended users of the evaluation – state department of education officials – the purpose of this evaluation study was to understand how the new policies were being interpreted and responded to at the local level. In so doing, we sought to understand the responses of local educational leaders to the new policy, how they responded to the impleme

FAQs

What evaluation approach guides the study of Virginia’s SOA implementation?

The study uses a utilization-focused evaluation approach to analyze how stakeholders interpret and respond to the SOA during early implementation phases.

What factors are examined in relation to administrators’ understanding of the new SOA standards?

The study explores how administrators make sense of each new standard and which factors shape those understandings, including relationships to implementation efficacy.

How are districts and schools evaluated under the SOA framework?

The SOA divide focus into performance (academic progress and gap-closing measures) and student engagement (progress on chronic absenteeism and dropout reduction, plus participation and achievement in college, career, and civic preparedness).

Oct 15, 2026

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