The Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to raise the minimum passing scores for math and reading Standards of Learning tests taken by public school students across the state.
It’s a move that education officials say raises the bar for students and begins to close an achievement gap when comparing Virginia to other states.
Virginia students take language arts and math SOL tests in grades three through eight. High school students take end-of-course SOLs in major subjects before they can graduate.
SOLs are graded on a scale of 0 to 600. The current threshold for proficiency is 400.
The new cutoff for a proficient score will range from 444 to 479 for reading and from 430 to 453 in math, depending on the grade level.
“This is arguably the most critical vote that this board will take because it reaffirms the Commonwealth of Virginia’s commitment to our students and our future,” said Superintendent of Instruction Emily Gullickson ahead of the board’s vote Thursday.
Some educators had expressed concerns that revising the so-called cut scores mid-year would be hard on teachers and students and could complicate high school graduation plans for seniors who already took their end-of-course SOLs.
The plan approved by the board Thursday, however, will exempt current seniors from the change.
The new cut scores will be phased in over several years. The board is expected to vote on the implementation plan for the score revision at its meeting Oct. 24.
SOL pass rates for 2024-25, which were released last month, showed modest gains across the five subjects tested, but pass rates continue to lag behind pre-pandemic results.
The scoring update has been in the works since 2023, but the bulk of the review and discussion has taken place this year. A committee of 230 people, including teachers, administrators and parents from across the state, reviewed test questions to align them with the new scoring rubric, according to Education Department materials discussed at this week’s board meetings. A VDOE slideshow said that 73% of committee members were “expert Virginia public school teachers and instructional leaders.” The committee’s recommendations were shared with the board in August.
The Department of Education says the current cut scores for SOLs reflect proficiency standards from 2017 for English and 2016 for math. Because those standards have since been revised, cut scores must be updated to align the “proficient” threshold to the more rigorous standards, the department said.
Adjusting cut scores would also better match SOL performance to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide assessment known as the “Nation’s Report Card.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has often referenced this “honesty gap” when talking about SOL scores, which have lagged pre-pandemic levels since he took office in 2022.
“We’re going to reset the definition of mastery, the definition of what it means to be proficient,” Youngkin said at a press conference on Aug. 27. “The reality is we’re going to see Virginia students thrive as a result, because we’re going to know where the challenges are, where the resources need to go, what works. And therefore we can double down on what works [for] more students.”
That press conference about the latest SOL scores took place the same day the Board of Education first reviewed the plan to raise cut scores.
The Education Department’s presentation this week said the new cut scores would lead to an initial drop in scores, but would better identify students who need support in math and reading.
Department staffers plan to meet with administrators from each school division in October to review how the changes will impact their schools and to seek feedback on the implementation process.