Revised SOL Cut Scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asinine changes but an administration bent on making our schools look bad.

Want to increase rigor? Then do so while maintaining that scoring system of 400=pass and 500=pass advanced. The new scoring thresholds will only serve to confuse educators, the community, and drive a further wedge into public ed. Thankful that VDOE is going to be gutted after the November election!

+1

Manipulating data in an effort to defund our public schools.

Ding! Ding! Ding!
The dismantling of our government and our public schools is happening right before our eyes. Go throw whatever money you’re not spending on jacked up groceries and healthcare and invest in for-profit charter/private schools. They are waiting in the wings to get access to the public dollars.

[Anonymous]

Advanced cut scores are barely changing. For example, the new algebra cut score of 453 will have a pass advanced score of 518. Geometry will be 452 and 510.

The entire thing is ridiculous but, fortunately, is being phased in so my daughter with a learning disability will be a junior by the time they're fully in effect. She has dyslexia and having to achieve a 474 on her reading SOL that year will be a struggle but there are some alternatives we can hopefully take advantage of.

Also, for those talking about science, these cut scores are only being changed for math and reading and they will NOT be retroactive so no concerns for those of you whose kids have already passed under the old scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Advanced cut scores are barely changing. For example, the new algebra cut score of 453 will have a pass advanced score of 518. Geometry will be 452 and 510.

The entire thing is ridiculous but, fortunately, is being phased in so my daughter with a learning disability will be a junior by the time they're fully in effect. She has dyslexia and having to achieve a 474 on her reading SOL that year will be a struggle but there are some alternatives we can hopefully take advantage of.

Also, for those talking about science, these cut scores are only being changed for math and reading and they will NOT be retroactive so no concerns for those of you whose kids have already passed under the old scores.

Thank you so much! I was worried for a second… but still, I think this whole thing is really silly and if they want improvement they shouldn’t be changing test requirements, but the teaching and making sure students actually understand material. Making passing scores higher does not make kids magically get a higher score…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asinine changes but an administration bent on making our schools look bad.

Want to increase rigor? Then do so while maintaining that scoring system of 400=pass and 500=pass advanced. The new scoring thresholds will only serve to confuse educators, the community, and drive a further wedge into public ed. Thankful that VDOE is going to be gutted after the November election!

+1

Manipulating data in an effort to defund our public schools.

If our public schools supported the community they are supposed to serve, they could count on the support of that community. FCPS treats kids and parents like trash and expects them to be horrified if the state government holds them accountable.

[Anonymous]

Just lead to more teaching to the test. Original SOL score levels were established in the late 90s, by the 1999-2003 graduating classes. Y’all might remember we deliberately tried to do poorly so that score thresholds would be lower for future generations. Okay well that was a lie we told ourselves. Anyway, the state will lower the bar back down maybe not to 400 but yea 469 or 479 is like 2-3 correct answers to a pass advanced, so you’ll see a ton of actual bright kids be told they failed even though they really didn’t. I’m all for raising the bar but 430-435 is probably where it should be to pass proficient. Anything higher you’re actually going to hinder not help scores. And let’s not even get into the sped nature of what will happen

[Anonymous]

Isn't the whole scale weird? I thought I read that a 500 was only 2 or 3 questions missed while a 400 was something like half. To me, it is wild that that the questions aren't weighted the same, like in traditional grading, but also that someone can miss half the questions and be considered proficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:China laughs at our educational regression. At least this new SOL increase is a small step in the right direction.

What an absolutely idiotic statement. Have you actually seen Pearson tests? No, you have not, because most aren't released to the public. You haven't seen how poorly composed the reading selections are, how obtusely worded are the questions, and how most questions actually contain several steps of completion that must ALL be correct in order to get any credit (which they call increased "rigor".)

The tests are designed to make schools looks like they are failing. And arbitrarily raising the pass score from 400 to 453 or 479 is utterly ARBITRARILY going to make a passing student look like a failing student, and a good school look like a bad school.

You have to ask: Who does this benefit? Do you really believe that 3rd grade reading proficiency should arbitrarily be cut off at a much higher level than proficiency used to be measured at?

No. This is entirely political, entirely pushed by the testing companies who continues to profit obscenely by siphoning public education money away from schools, and pushed by politicians whose goals are to shot down public schooling as we know it.

Well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Youngkin administration is trying to make it harder for kids to pass. Thus, the schools will be "failing" and the need for vouchers will be imminent. Ugh.

Or maybe they're just trying to undo the fact that the prior administration made it progressively easier for kids to pass to hide the educational gaps and the fact that fewer and fewer kids were proficient.

Virginia has for years had the easiest-to-pass state tests in the nation. That's....definitely not anything to brag about. Yes, even easier than the looked-down-on states in the Bible Belt (which, of course, have quietly been getting better and better educationally as they adopt proven teaching methods).

[Anonymous]

All I can say is thank God my test-anxiety prone kid passed his SOLs. This is the dumbest test ever and I wish this whole "No Child Left Behind" BS was done with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:China laughs at our educational regression. At least this new SOL increase is a small step in the right direction.

What an absolutely idiotic statement. Have you actually seen Pearson tests? No, you have not, because most aren't released to the public. You haven't seen how poorly composed the reading selections are, how obtusely worded are the questions, and how most questions actually contain several steps of completion that must ALL be correct in order to get any credit (which they call increased "rigor".)

The tests are designed to make schools looks like they are failing. And arbitrarily raising the pass score from 400 to 453 or 479 is utterly ARBITRARILY going to make a passing student look like a failing student, and a good school look like a bad school.

You have to ask: Who does this benefit? Do you really believe that 3rd grade reading proficiency should arbitrarily be cut off at a much higher level than proficiency used to be measured at?

No. This is entirely political, entirely pushed by the testing companies who continues to profit obscenely by siphoning public education money away from schools, and pushed by politicians whose goals are to shot down public schooling as we know it.

You have a point. However, there's also legislation that would enforce the current law that test banks be made public in an appropriate time frame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Youngkin administration is trying to make it harder for kids to pass. Thus, the schools will be "failing" and the need for vouchers will be imminent. Ugh.

Or maybe they're just trying to undo the fact that the prior administration made it progressively easier for kids to pass to hide the educational gaps and the fact that fewer and fewer kids were proficient.

Virginia has for years had the easiest-to-pass state tests in the nation. That's....definitely not anything to brag about. Yes, even easier than the looked-down-on states in the Bible Belt (which, of course, have quietly been getting better and better educationally as they adopt proven teaching methods).

You can't compare cut scores between different states. They are different tests.

[Anonymous]

About time school systems are held accountable for their primary mission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has this been discussed? Just wondering what thoughts people have on the proposed scores. 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.

https://cardinalnews.org/2025/09/26/state-to-raise-minimum-passing-scores-for-sol-tests/

I'm glad my child with HFA is out of there. Math would be easy for him to achieve, and he often got pass advanced, but anytime he made it to 400 or a little above in Reading we were jubilant. This would crush him. I don't think he ever had as high as 444.

[Anonymous]

How will these new cut scores gel with that state law changing SOLs to a 100 point scale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Youngkin administration is trying to make it harder for kids to pass. Thus, the schools will be "failing" and the need for vouchers will be imminent. Ugh.

Or maybe they're just trying to undo the fact that the prior administration made it progressively easier for kids to pass to hide the educational gaps and the fact that fewer and fewer kids were proficient.

Virginia has for years had the easiest-to-pass state tests in the nation. That's....definitely not anything to brag about. Yes, even easier than the looked-down-on states in the Bible Belt (which, of course, have quietly been getting better and better educationally as they adopt proven teaching methods).

You can't compare cut scores between different states. They are different tests.

Well then how come NAEP does so...?