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Legislation passed in the 2021 Virginia General Assembly (HB2027 and SB1357) required the implementation of “through-year” or “growth” assessments.The growth assessments are administered to students in grades 3-8 in reading and math in the fall and winter. Middle school students who are enrolled in a high school math course will only participate in reading. Students will continue to take the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests each spring.
The fall growth assessments will be based on content from the student’s previous grade level to identify any unfinished learning. For example, students enrolled in grade 5 will take fall growth assessments based on grade 4 content. The winter growth assessments will assess content the student is learning in their current grade/course. For example, students enrolled in grade 5 will take winter growth assessments based on grade 5 content.
The online, computer adaptive tests have been configured so that the student might be administered some items from below or above the current grade level depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level content items. For example, students taking the grade 5 mathematics growth assessment will primarily be administered grade 5 test items; however, depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level test items, the student may also be administered some grade 4 test items or some grade 6 test items.
The online assessments will be relatively short; with 17 and 25 test items and look very much like the online SOL tests. Paper assessments will be available for students requiring that accommodation.
Score reports will be available for parents/guardians in ParentVUE under the Documents tab, soon after the test window has closed. The reports will show the academic standards on which the student was assessed and whether the item was answered correctly, without assigning a passing or failing score. Parents and teachers will be able to identify which standards students have mastered and which standards may require review.
Watch VDOE's video on growth assessments
Visit the VDOE growth assessment webpage
Visit VDOE's Parent and Caregiver webpage
Why is VDOE using vertical scaled scores?
The growth assessments were designed to measure content acquisition, rather than proficiency, thus they will not provide a "pass" or "fail" score like the standard SOL tests. The Vertical Scaled Score represents where a student's score lies, when compared to all other Virginia students in the same grade, who participated in the growth assessment. VDOE has selected quartile ranges to provide this comparative feedback.
VDOE Slides:
What data should teachers and parents/guardians review?
Each Student Detail by Question Report, which can be viewed in the ParentVUE portal's Documents tab, shows the SOL strands that your student was tested on and whether they answered the test item correctly, as well as the level of difficulty (H=high difficulty, M=medium difficulty, L= low difficulty). This information shows what academic content/skills your child knows well and which SOL strands may require review during the school year. Teachers can view this information for their class so they can pace instruction and build in supports where needed. Beginning school year 2022-2023, students are generally assessed on content they are still learning, thus they are not expected to demonstrate knowledge of standards not yet taught.VDOE emphasizes that standard level information should be the primary focus for parents, guardians, students, and teachers over the vertical scaled score.
Your student may have two reports- one for Reading and one for Math
Fall 2022 Growth Assessment Quartile Table -Math
Fall 2022 Growth Assessment Quartile Table -Reading
Winter 2023 Growth Assessment Quartile Table -Math
Winter 2023 Growth Assessment Quartile Table -Reading
Fall 2023 Growth Assessment Tables -Reading & Math
VDOE's Parent Video On Interpreting Winter Growth Assessment Vertical Scaled Scores
Please reach out to your student's teacher or their School Testing Coordinator with questions.
