News Brief
Virginia Reading Scores Drop by Double Digits on New SOL Test
Washington Post (08/20/13) Chandler, Michael AlisonReading scores for the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) exam fell by double digits after a new, tougher test was introduced this year, said the Virginia Department of Education. Virginia's new on-line standardized tests, which align with revised academic standards, represent a shift from emphasizing minimum grade-level skills to higher-order thinking skills and knowledge. "We are asking students to meet higher expectations so that when they graduate, they will be ready for college and the workforce," said Patricia I. Wright, superintendent of public instruction. "Raising standards is difficult, but well worth the effort." Overall, 75 percent of students passed the grade-level reading test, compared with 89 percent the prior year, but elementary and middle school students fared worse overall than high school students. The fall in reading scores resembles a similar decline in math scores one year ago, after a tougher statewide math exam was introduced. The most recent results show that math students experienced modest gains on the two-year-old test, up from 68 percent last year to 71 percent in 2013.
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