Last week, I was talking to a new client, Betty. She was asking me about how we rate schools.  I told her that we use the SOL passing rates to help our readers compare schools.

Students take Standards of Learning (SOL) tests

She was satisfied with the answer, but she went one step further. She asked about exactly what SOL passing rates were, and how they related to SOL scores, which she had heard of from her friends with kids in school.

So let’s start from what Standards of Learning (SOL) are:

What are Standards of Learning (SOL)?

The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) are standardized tests that are administered to students starting in 3rd grade and through high school.  These tests cover subjects such as English, mathematics, science, and history [1].

The SOL tests are meant to measure how well the students are learning throughout the State of Virginia.

To measure how well students are learning, the schools and their corresponding districts provide each test’s result up to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). The VDOE  compiles the results and publishes them as scores and passing rates.

What is an SOL score?

Each SOL test is made up of about 35-50 items or questions.   To grade the test, a score is calculated based on each student’s number of correct answers.

This score is reflected on a scale of  0-600 and it’s called the “SOL Scaled Score”.

The minimum scaled score to “pass” the test is 400.  So let’s see what a “pass rate” is: Continue Reading…