"To spur improvement in academic performance, Virginia plans to honor excellence with an award for what the state calls "VIP schools."

The new Virginia Index of Performance program, debuting in the fall, will rate 1,839 public schools and 132 school systems with points for test scores and other factors. Top scorers will be eligible for a Governor's VIP Award for Educational Excellence.

Although the state and federal government have for years held schools accountable for meeting minimum proficiency standards in core subjects, there have been few incentives in Virginia to exceed them.

In the spring, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) called for the state to change its emphasis in public education "from competence to excellence." His challenge prompted education officials to design a plan to motivate schools to strive for stellar achievement.

"We should not be satisfied with proficient," Patricia I. Wright, chief deputy superintendent of public instruction, wrote in a proposal to the state Board of Education.

"We seem to be so focused on how many [schools] passed and how many have not passed, and this is an attempt to look at those schools who are going above and beyond," she elaborated in a recent interview.

The state board approved the program at a meeting July 25 in Richmond; the first awards will be given out in the fall.

Schools that have met minimum state and federal pass rates for two consecutive years are eligible. In Northern Virginia, only a handful of schools did not meet state benchmarks last year, but more than 70 schools fell short of more rigorous federal benchmarks, a standard known as "adequate yearly progress."

Eligible schools will be rated according to a point system based largely on state Standards of Learning exam results. The matrix also will add points for other indicators that reflect statewide educational goals, such as high school graduation rates, the percentage of graduates with college-level credit or advanced diplomas, and the percentage of third-graders reading at grade level or of students who take algebra by the eighth grade.

The data-driven matrix resembles one used in Massachusetts and the process the U.S. Department of Education uses to issue Blue Ribbon awards. It is meant to be an objective measure and to draw largely upon data the state already has, so school systems do not have to spend hours filling out complicated applications, Wright said.

State education officials said they hope private investors will eventually contribute funds to award winners, but initial accolades will come in the form of banners and speeches rather than money, Wright said. But public recognition can have a major effect, she said.

Mark McDermott, principal of Seneca Ridge Middle School in Loudoun County, said the prospect of winning new honors can drive staff members and students.

But, he said, awards based on test scores tend to favor affluent schools. At Seneca Ridge, where a quarter of the students receive free or reduced-price lunches, many students don't ace tests but excel in lots of other ways, he said. Seneca Ridge was among the schools that did not meet federal benchmarks this year.

Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education, acknowledged that it will be more difficult for some schools to get the awards. But he said that the matrix takes into account more than test scores, and that there are different levels of awards, including one for schools that demonstrate improvement.

"Our approach from the very beginning has been to maintain very high expectations for all children," Pyle said." (Michael Alison Chandler, The Washington Post, August 9, 2007)