Test scores

What is SOL?

Virginia public-school students take Standards of Learning (SOL) tests each spring in Reading, Math, Science, and History/Social Sciences (grades 3-8 + high-school End-of-Course exams). SOL uses 4 performance levels — students at Pass Proficient or Pass Advanced are counted as passing.

What does "% Passing" mean?

It is the percentage of students at the school who scored at "Pass Proficient" or "Pass Advanced" on the SOL — the top 2 of 4 performance levels (Fail Below Basic, Fail Basic, Pass Proficient, Pass Advanced). Passing means the student demonstrated grade-level mastery. A higher number is better.

What does 74.0% mean for English: Reading at Covington High?

It means about 74.0 percent of students tested at Covington High performed at grade level or above on the SOL English: Reading test in 2022-23. The statewide average for Virginia that year was 72.8%. The other students fell into the lower performance levels.

How is the state average calculated?

It is a weighted average, not a simple average of each school's number. We multiply each public school's score by how many of its students tested, add those together for all schools in Virginia, and divide by the total students tested that year. This way a big school with 1,500 students counts more than a small school with 50 students, which is the right way to ask "how did the typical student do this year?". District and county averages on this page use the same method, just scoped to that district or county.

Where does this data come from?

Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. School-level Pass Rate by subject from the VDOE School Subject-Area report. Headline metric is the cumulative "Pass" rate (Pass Proficient + Pass Advanced, top 2 of 4 SOL performance levels).

How often is it updated?

SOL is administered once a year (spring). Results are released by the state in the summer or early fall. We refresh this page after each annual release.