Recent legislation requires the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to implement new "through year" assessments, also referred to as Virginia Growth Assessments, to measure student growth throughout the school year. These growth assessments will be phased in over two years (school year 2021-2022 and school year 2022-2023) and will be administered in addition to spring SOL tests. 

Watch VDOE's video on growth assessments

Visit the VDOE growth assessment webpage

School Year 2021-2022: Year 1 Implementation

The fall 2021 online growth assessments will be administered to students in grades 3-8 in reading and math. Middle school students who are enrolled in a high school math course will only participate in reading. 

The growth assessments will be based on content from the student’s previous grade level to identify any unfinished learning from 2020-2021 due to the pandemic. For example, students enrolled in grade 5 will take growth assessments based on grade 4 content. The online assessments will be relatively short; with 17 and 25 test items. Paper assessments will be available for students requiring that accommodation; however, these assessments will mimic a full SOL test with significantly more test items. Students will take the regular SOL tests during the spring 2022 test administration (May-early June 2022).

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. 

School Year 2022-2023: Year 2 Implementation

The online growth assessments will be expanded and modified to incorporate above and below grade content. They will be administered in the fall and winter, with students continuing to take the regular spring SOL tests. 

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

Please reach out to your student's teacher or their School Testing Coordinator with questions.