Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked the Virginia Department of Education to examine claims of racial disparities among students in gifted education programs in Virginia. While African-Americans make up 26 percent of the statewide student population, 12 percent of students identified as gifted are black, according to Education Department statistics.

A flash drive containing personal information for about 100,000 former adult education students has been lost, and now the Virginia Department of Education is trying to notify all those affected. The DOE is mailing letters to 77,577 former adult education students for whom the department has addresses. Education department employees are also trying to notify another 25,693 former adult education students whose addresses are not known. They are asking that people who do not receive a letter, but who finished an adult education course between April 1, 2007, and June 30, 2009, or who passed a high school equivalency test between January 1, 2001, and June 30, 2009, call the department at 877-347-5224 for more information.

School divisions identified as being too heavy-handed when it comes to disciplining minority special-education students now must put money toward early efforts to keep children out of special education. Chesterfield and Henrico counties were cited by the Virginia Department of Education earlier this year for suspending or expelling a disproportionate number of minority special-education students during the 2007-08 school year.

The number of elementary and middle school students using an alternative to the Standards of Learning has skyrocketed since it was introduced in 2005, but the assessment’s popularity hasn’t translated to the high school level. The gap between the two is so drastic, it has caught the attention of educators and has parents and advocates worried that older students aren’t getting the help they need.

Books and bus rides to school are free, but parking and lockers could cost you. So say proposed rules hammered out by the Virginia Department of Education in an attempt to clarify what school systems can charge students as part of a public education. The goal is to bring uniformity to the patchwork of fees levied on a range of items in school systems across the state.

Before the Virginia Board of Education voted yesterday to retain the state’s third-grade history exam, several speakers suggested that members use the robust discussion about the possible elimination of that test to start a review of the entire assessment program. It has been roughly a decade since students began taking Standards of Learning exams, and many changes have been made along the way, including a concentrated move to online testing.

A disagreement over whether to scrap the state’s third grade history assessment is leading to a broader discussion about the state’s testing system. State Superintendent of Instruction Patricia I. Wright late last week withdrew her proposal to eliminate the third-grade history and social science Standards of Learning exam, which covers material taught in kindergarten through third grade.

From the Democratic chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus to the Republican majority leader of the House of Delegates, there’s bipartisan bewilderment over a proposal to scrap the state’s Standards of Learning history test for third-graders. The alliance of lawmakers joins an already vocal opposition to the Virginia Department of Education’s proposal to scrap the test.

Virginia now has access to $806 million in education stimulus funding to help local school systems make up for budget cuts and save teaching jobs. Yesterday’s release of the first portion of state stabilization money comes less than two weeks after Virginia submitted an application for its cut. “The impact of these funds will be felt this summer and fall as teachers and other vital employees—who otherwise would have lost their jobs—return to schools across Virginia to serve the commonwealth’s children,“ said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright.

After a 16-year hiatus, Virginia again is taking part in a federal survey of health-risk behaviors affecting youths that covers topics from bullying to drug use. This month and next, high school students across the state will answer questions such as how many times they have used over-the-counter drugs to get high; whether during the past 12 months they ever seriously considered attempting suicide; and how they would describe their weight.

Nearly 9 percent of Virginia’s public school students who started ninth grade in 2004 dropped out by the end of their expected senior year in 2008, with the numbers spiking dramatically for those with a limited English proficiency.

What is your school’s on-time graduation rate? Later this morning, the state Department of Education will release information for each Virginia school and school division on their on-time graduation rates for 2008. The report will show how many students who entered ninth grade for the first time in 2004 received a diploma in 2008.