Parent & Caregiver Resources for Virginia Assessments

Resources to Support Students

Engaged parents and caregivers are a critical part of a child’s successful learning experiences. Reading with students and talking about what is being read is important to the development of strong readers. Talking about and doing math within the family is a great way to engage students and encourage success. Some of the many online resources available for reading, mathematics, science, and history and social science are provided to help parents and caregivers support their children and continue their learning at home.

Interpreting the Student Detail by Question Report

The score report that results from completing a Virginia assessment is called the Student Detail by Question Report or SDBQ Report. School divisions can provide the SDBQ Report to families. Please contact your child’s school for access to these reports.

The Overview of the SDBQ Report (PDF) is available to assist in the interpretation and use of the SDBQ Report.

Understanding Vertical Scaled Scores

A score called a Vertical Scaled Score is one piece of information in the Student Detail by Question Reports for Growth Assessments. SDBQ Reports for Standards of Learning reading and mathematics tests in grades 3-8 and Algebra I also include a Vertical Scaled Score.

Two resources for the Fall 2022 Growth Assessment Vertical Scaled Scores have been developed for parents:

• Vertical Scaled Score Ranges for Fall 2022 Growth Assessments - This document provides step-by-step directions for finding a Vertical Scaled Score within a specific range and a brief description of each range.
• Vertical Scaled Score Interpretation for Fall 2022 Growth Assessments - This short video provides information about the Vertical Scaled Scores resulting from the Fall 2022 Growth Assessments and explains how to interpret a score when comparing score ranges.

Resources for the Winter 2022/2023 Growth Assessment Vertical Scaled Scores developed for parents include:

• Vertical Scaled Score Ranges for Winter 2022/2023 Growth Assessments - This document provides step-by-step directions for finding a Vertical Scaled Score within a specific range and a brief description of each range.
• Vertical Scaled Score Interpretation for Winter 2022/2023 Growth Assessments - This video presentation will be available soon!

Growth Assessments

Growth Assessments are computer adaptive tests, shorter than the Standards of Learning tests, that were developed in grades 3-8 reading and mathematics as a result of legislation passed in the 2021 Virginia General Assembly. The growth assessments consist of test items that measure the Standards of Learning, have been reviewed by Virginia teachers, tried out with Virginia students, and accepted for use on the growth assessments.

Beginning with the second year of implementation (2022-2023) and beyond, the legislation requires that the grades 3-8 reading and mathematics growth assessments be administered to students once in the fall and once in the winter (mid-year) during the school year. In addition to the growth assessments, the SOL tests for grade 3-8 reading and mathematics will continue to be administered.

Unlike the fall 2021 fall growth assessments that focused on content from the student’s previous grade level, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the fall and winter growth assessments will focus primarily on content from the student’s current grade level. For example, a student taking grade 5 mathematics in 2022-2023 will be administered a growth assessment that focuses primarily on grade 5 mathematics content. However, in compliance with the 2021 legislation, the computer adaptive test (CAT) algorithm has been configured so that the student might be administered some items from below or above the current grade level depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level content items. For example, students taking the grade 5 mathematics growth assessment will primarily be administered grade 5 test items; however, depending on the student’s responses to the on-grade-level test items, the student may also be administered some grade 4 test items or some grade 6 test items.

There are several exceptions to the potential administration of off-grade level test items. One exception is that the grade 8 reading and mathematics growth assessments will only include items assessing SOL content that is at or below the 8th grade level since there are no above-grade-level items available in the current CAT item banks. Additionally, in fall 2022, items that measure grade 2 SOL content are being field tested with students. Because these items are being tried out with students, they will not count toward the student’s score. Therefore, the items for grade 3 reading and mathematics growth assessments that count toward the student’s score will only include items that assess content at or above the 3rd grade level. Finally, a student who meets the criteria for a paper test will only be administered test items that assess SOL content aligned with the student’s grade level.

Computer Adaptive Testing

A computer adaptive test or CAT is an assessment that is customized for every student. How a student responds to questions determines the difficulty of the next question. Correct responses lead to more difficult test questions, while incorrect responses result in the selection of less difficult items for the student.

Watch the videos to learn how computer adaptive testing provides students with a customized assessment experience.