Virginia Association of School Superintendents
1805 Chantilly Street Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 562-4430
Assessment and Accountability Reform
White Paper
Introduction
The current Virginia accountability system was developed in the mid-1990’s and
has successfully served its purpose by creating a more standardized curriculum
across all school divisions throughout state, implementing external accountability
measures to create comparable assessment programs for all students and schools,
providing a system that was in compliance with all federal mandates included in the
“No Child Left Behind” (ESEA) legislation and significantly increasing the data on
student achievement needed for educational improvements.
Having fulfilled its original mission, the system is in need of fundamental changes
to insure that Virginia’s students are prepared for the demands of higher education
and careers in the 21st century. This paper provides a brief overview of the needed
reforms.
Areas of Focus
Reform should target two separate efforts; the standards (Standards of Learning
Objectives or SOL’s) themselves and the assessment & accountability system that
measures the standards and informs the final evaluations of students, staff, and
schools based on the assessment results.
1. SOL’s
Virginia’s Standards of Learning, which were originally based on
the Cultural Literacy goals of education promoted by E.D. Hirsch,
emphasize that students should become familiar with a wide expanse of
content knowledge rather than developing the skills to apply the
knowledge to unique situations through the synthesis and analysis of
information and problem solving – skills that are much more relevant to
the demands of the 21st Century global economy. There are simply too many
mandated standards currently in place. The sheer number of standards
and their knowledge-based requirements force teachers to focus on rapid
coverage of content at the expense of a depth of student understanding.
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GOAL: To reform the Standards of Learning to facilitate depth of
understanding vs coverage of content.
Recommendation: Allow the existing reform schedule cycle for
SOL review to eventually reduce the total number of standards
and create standards that encourage depth and understanding
(fewer #, more “depth”).
Rationale: Global competitors are known for a focus on depth and
not breadth; the application of knowledge and not just the
acquisition of knowledge. As Virginia students are compared in
international studies, a renewed focus on deeper learning will
likely yield improved results.
Target Completion: 2018
2. Assessment and Accountability System
The current system requires too many state-directed tests
(minimum of 34* from grades 3-11) and is too reliant on a single source
assessment (SOL tests). As a result, classrooms are focused on preparing
students for tests. An unintended result of this over-reliance is that SOL Test
results are being used for purposes not intended (we have one tool for many
missions) * Appendix 1 provides a summary of the mandated SOL Tests
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GOAL: To create a new assessment and accountability
system that supports 21st century learning needs and
workforce development.
Short Term Recommendations (2014 General Assembly
session)
o Reduce the number of required SOL Exams to
better align with the federal requirements of the
“No Child Left Behind” legislation.
 Eliminate Social Studies SOL exams in
Grades 3-8
 Test science only at Grades 5 and 8.
 Maintain current End of Course high school
exams for the short term
 Maintain current writing exams
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
 Total of 20 SOL Exams (from 34 currently)
Rationale: Aligning the number of SOL Exams with
federal mandates secures compliance and eligibility
for federal funding while maintaining
accountability and reducing the over-emphasis on
testing. It also permits school divisions to pilot
alternate assessments that may be used in the
long-term reform of the accountability system.
Approve expedited re-takes for all students “close”
to passing
Rationale: Currently, only high school students with
“near passing” scores have access to re-takes on
SOL Exams. Elementary and middle school students
do not have the same access. The margin of error
inherent in the development & scoring of SOL
tests** as well as the process to adjust from raw
scores to scaled scores threatens the accuracy of
failed scores near passing rates. All students should
have access to expedited re-takes to insure that
results are an accurate reflection of their
proficiency and not the result of the margin of
error inherent in the tests.
** Appendix 2 provides a brief description of the
SOL tests and scoring
Authorize pilot use of alternate assessments as “R
& D” for potential use.
Rationale: The state accountability system should
include a broad array of assessments to fairly and
accurately ascertain student achievement based on
the variety of ways that students learn and
demonstrate their acquisition of knowledge and
skills. Encouraging research & development of
potential assessments will facilitate the state’s
work to create multiple assessment types.
Delay A-F Report Card implementation to permit
the overall development and improvement of the
accountability system of which the Report Card
may be one piece.
Rationale: The State Superintendent of Public
Instruction as well as the State Board of Education
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have stated the end for additional time to explore
criteria in support of Grading schools A-F. Delaying
the implementation of this system will encourage a
more authentic set of criteria and increase school
and community use of the grades to improve
instructional practice.
Mid Term Recommendations (within 2 years)
o Establish a Task Force Report to complete reform
of the state assessment & accountability system
o Task Force Membership:
 Secretary of Education/staff
 Educators (teachers, principals,
superintendents, school board members)
 Parents
 Legislators and Governor’s administrative
staff
 Higher education representatives
 Business representatives
o Considerations of the Task Force:
 Develop or recognize additional
assessments (beyond SOL tests)
 Examples include some tests already
given in many schools such as
Advanced Placement Exams or
International Baccalaureate Exams
 Workforce skills assessments
 Workforce credentialing
assessments
 Locally developed assessments
 Authentic student growth measures
 The NAEP assessment
 PSAT tests
 International benchmark
assessments such as the Cambridge
Assessment and PISA
 Group schools by “like” demographics”
(SES, ELL, mobility, cost per pupil) for
comparison to facilitate identification of
true “best practices” in matching
circumstances
 Use Student sampling for portions of
mandated checkpoints
 Broaden the A-F Grading system beyond a
single grade for the entire school
 Assign multiple grades (not one)
 Measure all content (not just SOL
tested areas)
 Include data not currently collected
such as
o Extra-curricular offerings
o Parent satisfaction
o Faculty licensure &
qualifications
o External awards or
recognitions earned (such as
Blue Ribbon schools)
o School Safety data
o
o Target Completion: 2016
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Long-Term Recommendations
o Implement the Reformed
accountability/assessment system
o Implement the expanded A-F Grading system
o Complete revision of all SOL’s
APPENDIX 1
Summary List of
State mandated SOL Exams
Accreditation Rating System
Schools not meeting one of the pass rates listed below will NOT be considered
FULLY ACCREDITED
Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade End of
Course
3
4
5
6
7
8
EOC
Subject
English
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
Math
70
70
70
70
70
70
70
History
70
70
70
70
70
70
Science
70
70
70
70
Graduation and
Completion
Index
85
pts.
EOC (End of Course) SOL Exams are mandated for courses as follows:
English:
Reading/Writing
Math:
Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
Science:
Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry
Social St: Va. And U.S. History, World History I, World History II,
World Geography
EOC Exams are taken the year students are provided the course
content (EX Algebra I could be taken in middle school)
APPENDIX 2
DSCRIPTION OF
SOL EXAMS AND SCORING
When
are the
SOLs
given?
What do the SOL tests look like and
how are they scored?
• The SOLs are made up of 35-50 test questions that
measure content knowledge, scientific and mathematical
Most SOL tests are
processes, reasoning and critical thinking skills.
given in the late
• English writing skills are measured with a two-part
Spring of each year.
assessment that includes multiple-choice and a short
The writing test is
response essay.
given in March to
What do the scores mean?
grades 5, 8 and 11.
It’s given earlier
• Student performance is graded on a scale of 0-600 with
because it takes
400 representing the minimum level of acceptable
longer to score them.
proficiency and 500 representing advanced proficiency
• The Board of Education has defined three levels of student
achievement:
• Basic
• Proficient
• Advanced