Tag: Standards of Learning

Youngkin Backs Delay in History and Social Science Standards Review

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin said the administration will not be rushed in its review of new history and social science standards, criticizing the previous Democratic administration for lowering the bar in the draft Youngkin’s administration is now changing.

In a press gaggle after a Monday release of National Assessment of Educational Progress scores that show declining performance on reading and math in fourth and eighth grades, Youngkin said, “In the context of what we’ve seen today, I’m glad we’re taking more time, because the standards that have been set by the previous administration who wrote those history standards has shown itself in the results that our kids have demonstrated over testing that has reflected bad decisions over a long period of time.”

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Disagree on Reason for Low Student Test Scores

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Virginia’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are “catastrophic,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a press conference Monday morning, hours after the NAEP scores were released. Nationally, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a press release the scores are “appalling.” Virginia’s Republican education administration blamed the Commonwealth’s scores on Democratic policy under previous administrations predating COVID-19, while Cardona said the national results are “a reminder of the impact that this pandemic has had on our learners.”

“Today’s data release is a clear and heart-wrenching statement that Virginia is failing her students,” Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera said at the conference, and said the results are not a surprise. “Recent date from the ACT, SOLs [Standards of Learning], from the PALS data, and today’s catastrophic decline in Virginia’s NAEP scores are a predictable outcome of the decade-long systemic dismantling of a foundational commitment to excellence in education.”

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Virginia Schools 2020-2021 Standard of Learning Tests Results Unsurprisingly Low

Eric Burk

Virginia’s 2020-2021 standards of learning (SOL) pass rates are low: 69.34 percent for reading, 54.18 percent for mathematics, and 59.45 percent for science, according to Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) data released Thursday. The VDOE emphasizes that those results are due to COVID-19 and related factors, and followed national trends.

“Pass rates reflect disruptions to instruction caused by the pandemic, decreased participation in state assessment programs, pandemic-related declines in enrollment, fewer retakes, and more flexible ‘opt-out’ provisions for parents concerned about community spread of COVID-19,” the VDOE said.

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