Albemarle schools target racial disparity in test scores

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Hundreds-of-thousands of dollars are being invested into addressing a racial disparity found in school test scores in Albemarle County.

“We believe that all children can learn and if we provide them with the resources and the foundation that they need, they’ll be successful,” said Assistant Superintendent Chandra Hayes.

Below are the pass rates for students enrolled in Albemarle County Schools for the 2022-23 school year, according to the Virginia Department of Education:

Subject	White (not of Hispanic origin)	Asian	Black (not of Hispanic origin)	Hispanic
Reading	86%	81%	48%	50%
Writing	83%	84%	37%	50%
History/Social Science	82%	88%	42%	51%
Mathematics	80%	83%	42%	48%
Science	81%	81%	35%	39%

Part of the solution, according to Hayes, is getting parents more involved in their child’s education. To accomplish this, each school in the district will host four community engagement meetings per year.

“What we’re looking for is that partnership for them to say, ‘here’s what we’re noticing in the home,’” she said. “Then we can say, ‘here’s what we’re doing in school.’”

$600,000 will be spent on more tailored initiatives.

“Whether that is around more professional development, around the programs that we have, or looking at human resources, in terms of data coaches, and people to connect with our students to help close those gaps,” said Hayes.

The district will host two Zoom meetings in October for community input.

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