Correction 11:33 a.m. Aug. 29: The map titled “Math: School divisions with 2025 SOL pass rates at or above the statewide rate” has been updated. An earlier version showed incorrect pass rates.
Students showed increased proficiency across the five subjects tested for the Virginia Standards of Learning. Those gains, however, were modest and largely continue to lag behind pre-pandemic pass rates.
The Virginia Department of Education released 2024-2025 SOL test results Wednesday.
Reading pass rates increased noticeably in grades six, seven and eight, with minimal improvements in grades four and five. The third-grade pass rate held steady with the prior year.
Forty-five percent of school divisions matched or exceeded the state pass rate for reading, with many of them in Southwest Virginia.
Math pass rates increased for all grade levels, three through eight, but were most pronounced in grades three, four and five.
Half of school divisions matched or exceeded the statewide pass rate for math. A considerable portion of those were located in Southwest and Southside Virginia.
The tests, given at various points in grades three through eight and during high school, evaluate whether students are meeting the state’s instruction requirements.
At a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the progress made in the state’s public education system during his tenure.
“We made the tests harder and yet the students’ performance improved,” Youngkin said. “That is a testament to the capabilities of Virginia students. When we set high expectations, the results improve. When we expect more from our students, they will deliver more.”
The tests were updated this year to reflect revised math and English language arts standards. Students needed to demonstrate knowledge of 30% to 40% more content than the previous year’s tests in order to pass the 2025 reading and math tests, said Emily Anne Gullickson, state superintendent of public instruction.
Attendance also saw a slight improvement, state officials noted Wednesday.
Chronic absenteeism, the percentage of students who miss 18 or more days in a school year for any reason, decreased. It dropped from 16.1% in 2023-2024 to 15.7% for 2024-2025.
School divisions that implemented flexible time to help students make up missed days, such as after-school sessions or Saturday school, had even lower chronic absenteeism, she said. Statewide, divisions with “attendance recovery” programs had a chronic absenteeism rate of 14.8%, versus 15.7% the previous year.
More granular chronic absenteeism data is typically released at the end of each September for the previous academic year.
Gullickson said the state’s goal is to cut chronic absenteeism in half compared to where it stood in 2022-2023, when 20% of students statewide were chronically absent.
Youngkin spoke at length during the press conference about the events he says led to this point in the “journey from recovery to excellence,” as his slide deck was titled. Youngkin, who succeeded two Democrats as governor, blamed “decisions made by adults” for hurting Virginia’s students by lowering expectations on state tests and being one of the last states to return to in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Math and reading SOL proficiency thresholds were lowered in 2019 and 2020, respectively. No testing took place in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic.
He touted his administration’s work to increase education funding, including teacher pay and school construction money, and to revise the K-12 accreditation system for public schools.
Gullickson is the third superintendent of public instruction to serve in Youngkin’s administration.
‘All In’ funding is helping, but end of program looms
Youngkin, Gullickson and Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera spoke in front of banners for the administration’s “All In VA” initiative, which was launched in fall 2023 in response to a particularly lackluster year of SOL results. The General Assembly allocated $418 million to that initiative across school divisions, with funding divided into three buckets: tutoring in core subject areas, boosting literacy in grades four through eight and increasing attendance.
The 2023-2024 SOL scores showed more widespread improvement among school divisions, but statewide, pass rate increases were modest, continuing to lag below pre-pandemic levels.
All In will sunset at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, leaving questions about how school divisions will continue to boost academic achievement in the years to come.
“When I have an opportunity to sit down and introduce my budget, we’re going to work through and prioritize a whole bunch of the shared priorities that I believe represent what Virginians need to go forward,” Youngkin told reporters after the press conference. “So, this is very much on my mind as I put together my final budget submission.”
Meanwhile, school divisions have already begun to figure out how to continue parts of All In that they’re finding beneficial.
“We’re just now starting to see the results” of the programs implemented in Amelia County Public Schools, said Jan Medley, the division’s director of student services. Medley is also a regional representative on the board of the Virginia Association for Teaching, Learning and Leading, a nonprofit membership organization for educators.
What the candidates are saying
We asked both candidates for governor for their reaction to the SOL test results released Wednesday.
The campaign for Republican Winsome Earle-Sears did not respond.
TaNisha Cameron, spokesperson for Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s campaign, issued the following statement:
“As a mom of three daughters in Virginia public schools, Abigail knows that every parent should be confident that their children will receive an outstanding education that sets them up for success. At a time when Virginia ranks last in the country in student math recovery, it’s clear the Youngkin-Sears Administration has failed to focus on what kids actually need to succeed — evidenced by the fact that they have nothing to show for student achievement four years into their administration. As Governor, Abigail will provide schools with the resources and support they need to uphold academic excellence and rigor in Virginia’s public schools, including high-quality instructional materials, a qualified teacher in every classroom, a strong curriculum, and targeted math and reading supports. That includes making sure Virginia has an accountability system in place that provides clear insights into how our kids are progressing and allows parents and teachers to use these insights to drive improvements that respond to the needs of Virginia students.”
In an interview ahead of the release of the test results, she talked about “pockets of positivity” in the 1,600-student school division southwest of Richmond. Amelia County opened Saturday school to help students recoup days absent and increased communication with parents to improve attendance.
Amelia County’s reading pass rate increased from about 59% in 2023-2024 to 67% this year. For math, the pass rate increased from 59.6% to 65%. It still has a long way to go: Prior to the pandemic, the division had a 75.5% pass rate in reading and 86% in math.
Professional development funded by All In is helping teachers grow and feel more confident to support their students, Medley said. That development is especially important in places like Amelia County, where the statewide teacher shortage is particularly apparent. The division did not start the year fully staffed, Medley said.
Medley said that educators are always looking ahead when they receive one-time funding, so they can determine how to pay for programs or initiatives a division wants to be able to sustain.
In Radford, Superintendent Adam Joyce was feeling good on Wednesday about his division’s test results. Joyce is also a regional representative on the VATLL board.
Radford saw reading pass rates increase from 75% in 2023-2024 to 84% of students in 2024-2025. This year’s pass rate was higher than the 83% it saw in 2018-2019, the last test cycle before the pandemic.
In math, it saw a small boost, from 70.5% to 72%.
Pre-pandemic, 87% of Radford students passed math SOLs.
Joyce is concerned about All In funding ending after it has filled an important gap these past few years. “We don’t want those initiatives to go away,” he said. “It presents a budgeting issue.”
Radford has already made plans to move its attendance coordinator funded by All In to its future operational budget, but it’s not clear yet how the division will absorb the costs of other elements of the initiative, such as paying tutors to work with students. “We knew this would come to an end,” Joyce said of the funding. “We’re trying to move some things over.”
Cut score changes ahead for SOL tests
On the heels of the release of results, the Virginia Board of Education is considering changing the “cut scores,” or minimum scores needed to pass, for SOLs.
The goal is to further align Virginia’s assessments with the bar set by the National Assessment of Education Progress tests, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.
The new, more rigorous tests in math and English language arts require higher minimum cut scores, an Education Board memo stated. The board is set to consider the new cut scores at its meeting Thursday morning.
New cut scores would be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year, according to the memo.
Joyce said the timing wouldn’t be great for educators.
“The school year has started,” he said. He’s leery of changing cut scores for this academic year when some divisions have already been back in the classroom for nearly a month. “The rug’s being pulled out” from under teachers, he said.
During a work session Wednesday afternoon, Tiara Booker-Dwyer, the state’s deputy superintendent of student outcomes and school quality, said schools would receive funding and professional development to make sure they’re prepared for the new cut scores.
Elizabeth Beyer contributed information to this report.