SOL Requirements for Virginia Schools
- The Virginia SOL measures student learning and achievement.taking test image by Petro Feketa from Fotolia.com
The Standards of Learning, or SOL, is a standardized test that is administered throughout Virginia public schools. The SOL represents the Virginia Department of Education's standards for student learning in grades kindergarten to 12th grade. The four core learning areas--English, mathematics, science and history/social science--all have requirements at each grade level that must be taught during the school year. A student's performance reflects on the quality of teaching and learning at each school. - Throughout Virginia public schools, students are given the English SOL every year from grades three to eight and after completing high-school courses. For the third-grade SOL, students are tested on oral language, reading and writing. Students should be able to participate in class discussions and understand the print, sounds and structure of oral and written language, according to the Department of Education. Students must also learn letter formation and how letters represent sounds in language.
For SOL tests after third grade until 12th grade, students will learn communication skills such as speaking, listening, media literacy, reading, writing and research. To achieve these standards, students will learn how to analyze media messages, study language structure and analyze what they read. Students will also be exposed to classic and contemporary literature. For the research requirement, students will learn how to access information and validate sources. - Students are tested with a mathematics SOL every year from third to eighth grade and after high school courses. The Department of Education has established five goals for students to achieve: problem solving, mathematical communication: vocabulary, symbols and ideas and mathematical reasoning: make, test and evaluate math statements. Students will learn about mathematical connections between math and science, and mathematical representations such as graphical, numerical, algebraic, verbal and physical. Every year, students will build on their mathematical skills in each of these categories to prepare for the SOL.
- Students are given a chemistry SOL test in high school.chemistry image by david hughes from Fotolia.com
For the science SOL, students are tested in third, fifth and eighth grades, as well as at the end of high school courses in earth science, biology, chemistry and physics. Specific topics that are built on each year are: scientific investigation, reasoning and logic, force, motion and energy, matter, life processes, living systems, interrelationships in Earth and Space Systems, Earth patterns, cycles and change and resources. These standards help develop a curiosity about science and an understanding of experimental design in scientific inquiry, and they teach students to investigate phenomena using technology and apply scientific concepts, skills and processes. - For the history and social science SOL, students are tested in third, fifth and eighth grades and at the end of high school courses. Students study history while incorporating both humanities and social sciences, like political science, to understand society's past and present. Students are also required to study geography to learn about earth's regions, culture and environment. The civics requirement teaches students about politics, government and citizenship skills. By learning about economics, students better understand the U.S. and world economic market.
