This document offers a brief guide to understanding Virginia's system for holding schools accountable for raising student achievement. Virginia's accountability system supports teaching and learning by setting rigorous academic standards--known as the Standards of Learning (SOL)--and through annual statewide assessments of student achievement. Results from these tests--which most students take online- are used by the commonwealth to identify schools in need of assistance and to inform parents and the public about the progress of schools through the awarding of annual accreditation ratings. The Virginia Board of Education revised its accreditation standards in 2015 to better inform the public about the progress of schools toward meeting the commonwealth's high expectations for student learning and achievement. The achievement levels required for a rating of Fully Accredited did not change. New "Partially Accredited" ratings, however, now differentiate schools that are close to full accreditation, or that are making acceptable progress, from those that are not. The new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) designates 2016-2017 as a transition year during which the U.S. Department of Education issues final regulations and states develop implementation plans. The new law and the provisions of each state's plan to implement ESSA go into full effect with the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. As Virginia transitions to the new law, the Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) established by the state Board of Education under Virginia's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) flexibility waiver no longer apply to most schools but will factor in the identification of Priority and Focus schools for 2016-2017.