I found the SOL's useful for this reason ~ son was applying to colleges and has never been a strong student. Some would say he was not/would never be college-ready. He was able to state on his college applications (sent early in Senior Yr) that he had already passed all SOL, state mandated subject tests needed for graduation. He then listed each subject. It looked pretty good. I have voiced annoyance at the SOL's. It was easy for me to have that opinion for my oldest, a stronger student. But for my youngest, I am grateful that the teachers had to work hard to make sure he/others passed the tests. I knew he was receiving a satisfactory education when he could have slipped through the cracks.

They publish old tests on the va state dept of Ed website. These can be printed and used for practice/evaluation.

It would make no sense for a private or homeschooled kid to take these tests as they test specific facts (often completely random and out of context facts) that public school teachers drill into the kids each year.

Enjoy your freedom from the SOLs. If you are curious if your child is at or above grade level, have them take the ITBS, Woodcock Johnson, or the explore tests.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if kids who are homeschooled or in private school can take the VA SOL tests. It seems for example that 6th SOL performance is used for 7th grade placement in math, so private school or home school kids joining public middle school wouldn't be able to place properly into 7th grade math unless they can also sit for the 6th grade VA state standards of learning tests.

With the new more challenging SOLe it would be helpful to calibrate how our child's private school is covering the curriculum. Does anyone know if it possible for private school students to the the Virginia sol tests on a voluntary basis?

VA SOLs can only be validated against a formal, traditional curriculum, so they might not really mean all that much if administered to alternative-program or home-schooled children. In addition, until a child is officially registered in the public system, the child is not permitted to use the academic resources of the local system, except as part of a compulsory 504 special-ed plan. You might want to consider having a Wechsler test administered by an ed specialist, psych, or similar person; that would entail a fee of 250-400. You can also call the public school in which you're seeking enrollment and ask their guidance staff, and they might be able to do something no-fee.

Mine is in private school. They don't take SOLs. They take another standardized test, but it has absolutely none of the import that the SOL does.

Schools are more flexible than that - they will use what you bring - test scores from other states, report cards etc. Obviously home schoolers have the harder time but from what friends have said they just use samples of work done etc. We moved to VA from MD and just used MD's test scores and grades.

Does anyone know if kids who are homeschooled or in private school can take the VA SOL tests. It seems for example that 6th SOL performance is used for 7th grade placement in math, so private school or home school kids joining public middle school wouldn't be able to place properly into 7th grade math unless they can also sit for the 6th grade VA state standards of learning tests.