Virginia school board elections, 2018

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Elections

2018 Virginia School Board Elections
District Primary Election General Election Runoff Election Regular term length Seats up for election Total board seats 2015-16 enrollment
Chesapeake Public Schools N/A 5/1/2018 N/A 4 5 9 39,943
Norfolk Public Schools N/A 5/1/2018 N/A 3 5 7 32,148
Prince William County Public Schools (special election) N/A 11/6/2018 N/A 4 1 8 87,793
Richmond Public Schools N/A 11/6/2018 N/A 4 1 9 23,980
Virginia Beach City Public Schools N/A 11/6/2018 N/A 4 6 11 69,777


Academic performance

See also: Public education in Virginia

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Education terms
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For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

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NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The table below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Maryland, North Carolina, and West Virginia), Virginia had the highest percentage of eighth grade students scoring at or above proficient in math. Both fourth and eighth grade students fell below those in Maryland in reading.[1]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
Math - Grade 4 Math - Grade 8 Reading - Grade 4 Reading - Grade 8
Virginia 47% 38% 43% 36%
Maryland 47% 37% 45% 42%
North Carolina 45% 36% 35% 33%
West Virginia 35% 24% 27% 25%
United States 41% 34% 34% 34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables"

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Virginia and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[1][2][3]

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[4]

Virginia schools reported a graduation rate of 84.5 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, second highest among its neighboring states.

In Virginia, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning an average SAT score of 1528.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State Graduation rate, 2013 Average ACT composite, 2013 Average SAT composite, 2013
Percent Quintile ranking** Score Participation rate Score Participation rate
Virginia 84.5% Third 22.6 26% 1528 71%
Maryland 85% Second 22.3 21% 1483 73%
North Carolina 82.5% Third 18.7 100% 1479 62%
West Virginia 81.4% Third 20.6 63% 1513 15%
United States 81.4% 20.9 54% 1498 50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express"
ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores"
The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Virginia was lower than the national average at 2.3 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 1.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[5]

State profile

State profile

Demographic data for Virginia
 VirginiaU.S.
Total population:8,367,587316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):39,4903,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:69%73.6%
Black/African American:19.2%12.6%
Asian:6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:3.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:8.6%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:88.3%86.7%
College graduation rate:36.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$65,015$53,889
Persons below poverty level:13%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Virginia.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Virginia

Virginia voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Virginia, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[6]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Virginia had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Virginia coverage on Ballotpedia

Pivot Counties

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 133 Virginia counties—3.8 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Buckingham County, Virginia 11.28% 2.43% 0.87%
Caroline County, Virginia 5.02% 8.24% 11.97%
Essex County, Virginia 2.14% 7.30% 10.35%
Nelson County, Virginia 5.59% 2.72% 9.15%
Westmoreland County, Virginia 7.14% 6.95% 10.24%

Note: Although it is highlighted in the map above, the city of Chesapeake is not considered a county and not included in our calculations as such.

In the 2016 presidential election, Virginia was a battleground state. Hillary Clinton (D) won Virginia with 49.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 44.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic 56.67 percent of the time and Republican 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic three times (2008, 2012, and 2016) and Republican two times (2000 and 2004).

See also

Virginia School Boards News and Analysis
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Footnotes