Buckingham Schools excel, district honored for testing growth

Published 7:41 am Wednesday, February 5, 2025

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The results showed what Virginia officials expected. Over the last week, the National Center for Education Statistics released data from the 2024 math and reading tests, comparing states and districts across the country. While some Virginia districts struggled, Buckingham was one of six in the state recognized for exemplary progress. 

This data is from tests given to fourth and eighth graders from late January 2024 through early March. It’s set up as benchmarks every few years, to mark progress or the lack thereof. The last round of this testing was recorded back in 2022. Overall, Virginia finished in the middle of the pack, showing progress in some counties, while others significantly struggled. 

On the plus side, 76% of Virginia’s fourth graders showed at least a basic concept of math. However, only 40% of fourth graders in the state earned proficient or higher scores. There was a similar problem with reading, as 58% of Virginia fourth graders had a basic level of reading, with 31% at proficient or higher. The eighth grade data was also mixed. A total of 66% of Virginia eighth graders read at a basic level, while only 29% were labeled as proficient for grade level or above. On the math side, 63% of eighth graders showed a basic understanding, while only 29% were graded as proficient. 

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“Those test results tell us exactly what we expected them to tell us,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “We had big work to do coming out of the pandemic, where students had deep learning loss. We have a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do. 

We had deep and persistent learning loss. We know schools were shut for too long. We also know we need to raise expectations.” 

Buckingham, other districts recognized

The news wasn’t all bad, however. As mentioned, there were six districts applauded for showing significant improvement from the 2022 tests. Those were Buckingham, Danville City Schools, Bath County, Brunswick, Richmond City Schools and Hopewell. 

Buckingham Superintendent Dr. John Keeler praised the hard work of his teachers and staff, while pointing out several changes the district has made in the last two years. 

“Buckingham County Public Schools has shown an incredible impact of coming together as a school community with a shared focus on student success,” Keeler said. “Through strong central office and school based leadership, the dedication of our hard-working teachers and staff and willingness to make necessary changes, we’ve made tremendous progress combating learning loss and getting back on track.” 

Part of that was evidenced in the latest round of state testing, where Buckingham had improved as much as 16 percentage points year over year in some areas. As for how it happened, Keeler pointed to several adjustments. Previously, the district had a 4 x 4 period schedule. They turned that into a seven period schedule at the middle school. 

“And it worked,” Keeler said. “(It created) targeted time for tutoring during a school day, not just after school or before school. Students get (the) individual help they need.” 

Looking at the school district data

That’s not the only project the district adopted. At both the elementary and middle school, Buckingham used the “Zearn” math platform. The platform uses pictures, visual models and real-life examples to show students better understand math problems and solutions. That change helped 77% of the middle school’s students pass the state math test back in May, marking the first time since the pandemic the school had a pass rate over the state average. They did the same with the “Lexia” reading platform at the middle school, finding ways to help students understand and gain confidence in reading. For the first time since 2019, Buckingham Middle students achieved a pass rate above the state average in reading, with 76% passing, compared to the state average of 75%. 

At the high school, Buckingham set up structured support and attendance recovery programs. As we reported at the end of last month, students have the opportunity to make up the missed time, by coming in for an after school program on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

All of this was funded through the governor’s “All-In” grant initiative. 

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera applauded the district’s efforts, as did the governor and State Superintendent Lisa Coons. 

“Regular report cards are important for looking at performance, and how well we’re doing, but they’re also important for being able to identify what’s working so we can celebrate it, we can learn from it and we can scale it,” Guidera said.