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Virginia Schools Earning Good Marks

Posted: 7:24 AM Nov 29, 2012

Virginia Schools Earning Good Marks

November 29, 2012

(AP) A new report gives Virginia's public schools good marks in most areas but there are still some issues.

The Virginia Board of Education's annual state-of-schools report says 93 percent of the state's 1,836 public schools are fully accredited.

The on-time graduate rate has increased by 7.2 percent in four years. The dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent for the Class of 2012.

Student achievement also has made gains. Virginia students performed higher than national averages on the SAT and ACT exams.

But there's an achievement gap between students of different ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds.

The report also says some schools continue to struggle, including one in Petersburg that was denied accreditation for the seventh straight year.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the board will receive the report Thursday.