One of the initial phases of work for 2Rev and Virginia Beach was a landscape analysis to assess regional conditions, assets, and barriers to transformation.

The landscape analysis, conducted by 2Rev at the start of the work together, focused on reviewing Virginia Beach City Public School’s (VBCPS’) readiness and capacity to move towards transformational learning for all. The analysis looked at the district and city’s: resources, policy and governance, data infrastructure, leadership capacity, learning orientation, innovation culture, and public will/demand, along with the barriers that might impede innovation and the assets that would support it. 2Rev used a combination of secondary, web-based research, as well as a series of one-to-one empathy interviews with more than 30 stakeholders from across the community to make its assessment. 2Rev spoke to educators, government and military leadership, business and community members, parents, and students and documented their perspectives on VBCPS.

The process was not meant to be exhaustive, and while the interview group was certainly a smaller subset of the larger Virginia Beach community, there were clear patterns and themes that emerged. Community members cited strong assets in the Virginia Beach education system, most commonly highlighting Superintendent Aaron Spence and his leadership team; the VBCPS strategic framework as an authentic roadmap; strong community and business support for education; and the wealth of student programs, in particular the robust network of high school academies. Participants also identified several barriers, including: state policies, particularly standardized tests; a general deference to the status quo; and perceived inequities in students’ access to specialized programs.