The Virginia Department of Education has announced that they are raising the minimum passing scores for the math and reading SOL tests.
Many school divisions have been discussing this recent change during the school board meetings. The VDOE said raising the scores will help close the achievement gap when comparing Virginia to other states.
During the Danville School Board meeting on Thursday night, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Takiwi Milton-Babalola explained to the board what the SOL test scores would look like.
According to the VDOE, SOL scores range from 0-600. The VDOE’s current threshold is 400 to be considered proficient in a subject like math, reading, history, and science. However, after new math and reading curricula were updated and improved over the last two years, Governor Glenn Youngkin felt it was time to update the scores as well.
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.
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The Virginia Department of Education has said that seniors who graduate in the spring will be exempted from the new scores.
During the Danville School Board meeting, Dr. Milton-Babalola said that the current plan the VDOE is looking at is phasing in this new grading scale.
“They are calling it approaching,” Dr. Milton-Babalola said. “At this time, the VDOE is looking to implement the new scale in either four or five years, but at least a minimum of four years.”
Below is her presentation to the Danville School Board:
The VDOE said these new cut scores will also help with what is called an “honesty gap.” Dr. Milton-Babalola said that the gap is caused by Virginia’s cut scores being dramatically different than the national cut scores, which is something Governor Youngkin would like to fix.
The Education Department’s presentation 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.