The Standards of Learning (SOL) is a public school
standardized testing program in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for core subjects for grades
K-12
K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acqui ...
in Virginia's Public Schools. The standards represent what many teachers, school administrators, parents, and business and community leaders believe schools should teach and students should learn. The
Virginia Department of Education, schools, and school systems routinely receive essential feedback on the effectiveness of implementation and address effective instructional strategies and best practices. The Standards of Learning is supportive of and a direct response to th
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based educati ...
, which was signed into law by then-President
George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. They address student achievement i
four critical areas:(1) English, (2) mathematics, (3) science, and (4) history/social studies. Students are assessed in English and mathematics in grades 3-8 and upon completion of certain high school level courses. Science and history SOL are administered in grades 4, 5, and 8 and at the end of completing high school courses in these respective subjects.
History
In 1992, Virginia attempted adopting an education plan known as the Common Core of Learning. A largely parent-driven grassroots movement opposed the Common Core of Learning, arguing that it held no meaningful education plan and seemed to be putting more emphasis on behavioral issues than education issues. After a debate at
Huguenot High School
Huguenot High School, part of the Richmond Public Schools system, is a high school located in Richmond, Virginia, United States, with grades 9–12.
Huguenot High School was named in honor of the Huguenots, French Protestants who emigrated to ...
, the Common Core of Learning was discarded, to be later replaced by the Standards of Learning. The SOL were created through a process involving parents, teachers, and common citizens.
The SOL became the springboard for adhering to the new
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based educati ...
, which was enacted in January 2002. They were used as the basis for evaluation of administration, teachers, and students in public schools.
Establishing standards
In June 1995, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) approved the Standards of Learning in four core content areas:
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
, and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
&
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
s. In September 1997, the Board of Education established new Standards of Accreditation (SOA) for public schools in Virginia that link statewide accountability tests to the SOL and hold students, schools, and school divisions accountable for results.
The results of the SOL directly affect the schools that administer them as much as the students. If a certain passing rate is not met each year, the school can lose its accreditation. This sets higher standards for employment and puts more responsibility on teachers and administrators to focus on areas of learning that are fundamental to the Standards of Learning. The published results of the testing also help parents who are looking for schools with high achievement for their children, putting further pressure for success on school administrators and teachers.
Before the SOL was implemented, the tests required to graduate affected the student, not the school. To graduate from high school, a student only needed to pass a sixth grade level test. As a result, 24-25% of new college freshmen needed remedial help. This level of literacy was unacceptable for the demands of the 21st century. The SOL set the bar higher for test-oriented education and performance-driven results.
64 percent in 2002, 78 percent in 2003, and 84 percent in 2004.
In October 2005, the state reported that 92 percent of the Commonwealth's 1,834 schools received accreditation ratings for 2005–2006, with students meeting or exceeding state achievement objectives on Standards of Learning (SOL) tests and other statewide assessments in the four core academic areas.
The VDOE stopped reporting statewide results in 2006. However, complete results of all assessments in grades 3-8 and end-of-course tests for fall, spring, and summer may be found on th
School Report Cards
Standards of Accreditation
On January 14, 2010
the Board of Educationannounced that personal learning plans will be created for each middle and high school student to align the student's course of study with academic and career goals. This revision was made to the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia. The Virginia Department of Education has poste
fact sheetsdetailing the timeline for changes, accreditation ratings, diploma requirements, and other documentation related to the SOL. Annual reports regarding the condition and needs of public education in the Commonwealth of Virginia are also located on th
Virginia Government Website
Scoring
A student must get a raw score of 400 or higher on their SOL(s) in order to pass the test. A student's advancement to the next grade is not contingent on passing any SOL tests. Passing with a raw score of 500 is considered advanced/proficient. A perfect score is 600. 399 or below is considered failure.
The scores are scaled and do not correlate to the percentage of correct answers (a passing score of 400 does not indicate a student got 66% of the questions correct). Each test has its own scale and may not be the same as another SOL test.
For students in grades 7-8, SOL scores are correlated to
Lexile
The Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers with books, articles and other leveled reading resources. Readers and books are assigned a score on the Lexile scale, in which lower sco ...
measures. A Lexile measure can be used to match readers with targeted text and monitor growth in reading ability. For more information concerning the SOL(s) and Lexile measures, visi
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/scoring/lexile/index.shtml
Several tests have been updated to the more advanced
computer adaptive test (CAT) model, in which students are given a question, and based on whether or not the student got the answer correct or not, a computer gives the student either an easier or harder question. By using this model, many students have noticed worse scores on the tests. It remains controversial.
Controversy
The initial creation of the SOL caused extensive debate around both the validity of the tests and the administration of the process. Debate became more heated by the Department of Education's and the Secretary of Education's refusal to reveal information about tests or how the tests were created. The Department of Education was concerned that releasing actual tests would encourage "
teaching to the test," while parents and educators were concerned that tests would be poorly written and not test the targeted subject material.
We'll teach shining shoes: Virginia school divisions responds to state-mandated standards
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Because teachers and administrators are evaluated based on students' SOL performance, there has also been concern that teachers will focus their teaching on SOL subject matter and omit much of the overall learning that is necessary in school.
Every year, many teachers and administrators from schools around the state are invited to provide feedback on the tests. However, many teachers feel that the feedback process is just for show, and most report seeing no changes in new SOL's.
References
External links
Virginia Dept. of Education, Standards of Learning webpage for home schooling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standards Of Learning
Education in Virginia
Standardized tests in the United States