What happens if a student doesn’t pass the SOL in high school

[Anonymous]

DD hasn’t always passed her SOLs in the past, but it hasn’t mattered. Now that she is in high school, what will happen if she doesn’t pass say the English 9 SOL? Her grades in the actual classes have always been A’s and B’s, but SOLs are hard for her.

[Anonymous]

If in the 385-399 range, she will retake it again a week or two later after intensive extra help (ideally, depends on school)

If below 385 or failed a second time, she will retake it in the fall and spring as naseum until she passes or gets an exemption by scoring high enough on the sats/psats.

[Anonymous]

I didn't realize there was Resding SOL in 9th. I thought it was just Science.

What SOLs do they take in 9th?

[Anonymous]

There is no English 9 SOL. They take the Reading SOL and Writing SOL in 11th grade and that's it for English.

And the previous poster is off a little.. 375 is the typical retake threshold, though lately they've allowed 350 and up to qualify for a retake within the same test window.

If you don't pass, a retake would likely happen a week or so later if their score qualifies. If it doesn't, they can retake it during another testing window the next year(s) as long as they passed the course

But, for Math and Science, you only need to have passed 1 SOL in each for verified credits toward graduation... so, for example, if you fail the Bio SOL, and retake it but fail again, you could continue to try to pass it in future years... or you can just pass the Chenistry or Earth Science SOL when you take those classes and be done with the Bio SOL

[Anonymous]

Also, for English there are some substitute tests available that can help count in place of the SOL if you have trouble passing. PSAT and SAT subscores can also be used in Reading and Math if they are high enough and they've passed the associated courses for those SOLs

[Anonymous]

As for what SOLs are in 9th grade.. it doesn't exactly work that way. There are SOLs in specific courses, and it depends on when you take those courses

Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2

Biology
Chemistry
Earth Science (Geosystems)

Reading (English 11)
Writing (English 11)

World History 1, 2, and USVA History have SOLs, but many schools have moved to a performance based assessment instead

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone!

[Anonymous]

My kid took and passed Alg 1 SOL in 7th and passed Geometry SOL in 8th. Does she have to take the Alg 2 SOL in 9th?

[Anonymous]

So, there's a federal participation requirement on the school for taking a Math SOL once in high school. If you pass an Algebra SOL in middle school, the verified credit for graduation can count, but you still may be scheduled to 'sit' for the SOL in high school if you take Alg 2 or Geometry if the federal Participation hasn't been met. That is a reporting thing though and not a graduation requirement for the student

[Anonymous]

What does it mean if you failed the bio test the second time but the teacher said you don't need to take the chemistry sol?

[Anonymous]

Not sure without more information. Sometimes teachers misunderstand the requirements. When you fail the SOL, you can retake it in future years/Testing windows as long as you passed the course. You also continue to take the SOL for the current class in science unless you passed that previous one first.

So, in your science example, the student is in Bio and fails the SOL and its retake. Next year, if they are in Chemistry, they take the Chemistry SOL at the end of the year unless they remediate during the year for Bio and pass the Bio SOL sometime prior to the Chem SOL (there's a winter window for these purposes).

Im not sure why a teacher would say they don't have to take the Chem SOL when they hadn't passed the Bio SOL. The only scenarios I can think of where that would be true is if they have transferred in from some other place and have fewer verified credit requirements, or if they have already passed a different science SOL and were only taking Bio for federal participation... need more info to be sure.

[Anonymous]

What happens if a student doesn't pass a math SOL at all? As in, they came from a system where they failed upwards and everyone passed the buck and then they didn't enroll in a course that would have enabled them to learn the algebra or geometry required to pass at least one SOL? Do they not graduate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid took and passed Alg 1 SOL in 7th and passed Geometry SOL in 8th. Does she have to take the Alg 2 SOL in 9th?

yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid took and passed Alg 1 SOL in 7th and passed Geometry SOL in 8th. Does she have to take the Alg 2 SOL in 9th?

Yes, technically if they already passed a HS level math sol in middle school, they need to sit for a math sol in HS but are not required to pass it( but they will pass)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens if a student doesn't pass a math SOL at all? As in, they came from a system where they failed upwards and everyone passed the buck and then they didn't enroll in a course that would have enabled them to learn the algebra or geometry required to pass at least one SOL? Do they not graduate?

Correct, they wouldn't graduate, unless they got their Math verified credit through a substitute test, like an SAT math sub score, or a special permission process given to some special Ed students. However, SOLs are made available for any SOL course they've passed... meaning if they passed Alg 1 class in 9th grade, they can remediate for that SOL and take it in 10th, 11th, and even 12th grade too until they pass it