WASHINGTON — More students passed Virginia standardized tests this year than last in most, but not all, Northern Virginia school systems.
Statewide, the 2015-16 Standards of Learning test results released this week show slight increases in overall pass rates on reading, math and science tests, while pass rates in other categories remained flat.
The small Falls Church City school system is at or near the top of the list for SOL pass rates in each of the broad categories, although, like last year, the tiny West Point school system outside of Richmond leads the way in many cases.
Both school systems serve well-educated and relatively wealthy communities, especially compared with school systems at the bottom of the pass-rate list in many categories, such as Richmond and Petersburg.
Northern Virginia school systems spanned from near the top to near the bottom of statewide lists:
English: Reading
Falls Church leads Northern Virginia school systems with a 92 percent pass rate on reading SOLs, 2 percentage points behind statewide leader West Point.
Of the 133 full school divisions in the commonwealth, Richmond and Petersburg have the lowest pass rates at 60 percent, a slight improvement over last year.
On all exams, achievement gaps continue that the data show can be tied to race or class.
Arlington and Loudoun counties tied for the highest pass rates in Northern Virginia for “economically disadvantaged” students. The 71 percent pass rates were up slightly from last year.
In the region, Falls Church (64 percent), Alexandria and Manassas Park (63 percent), Fredericksburg and Fauquier County (62 percent) and Winchester (61 percent) had the lowest pass rates for economically disadvantaged students.
| All Students, English: Reading Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 State Rank/School System | 2013-14 Pass Rate | 2014-15 Pass Rate | 2015-16 Pass Rate |
| #2 Falls Church City | 91 | 92 | 92 |
| T-5 Loudoun County | 84 | 87 | 88 |
| T-7 Arlington County | 82 | 86 | 87 |
| T-15 Fairfax County | 81 | 85 | 85 |
| T-28 Stafford County | 78 | 83 | 82 |
| T-43 Fauquier County | 76 | 80 | 80 |
| T-43 Orange County | 74 | 80 | 80 |
| T-43 Prince William County | 77 | 81 | 80 |
| T-51 Spotsylvania County | 74 | 78 | 79 |
| T-60 Culpeper County | 74 | 76 | 78 |
| T-96 Alexandria City | 66 | 71 | 73 |
| T-96 Fredericksburg City | 69 | 76 | 73 |
| T-96 Manassas City | 66 | 72 | 73 |
| T-96 Winchester City | 70 | 72 | 73 |
| T-106 Manassas Park City | 65 | 71 | 71 |
English: Writing
On writing tests, Falls Church and West Point tied for the top pass rates statewide, with Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington counties close behind.
Richmond City (45 percent, down from 48 percent last year and 56 percent in 2014) and Petersburg (47 percent, down from 49 percent last year and 52 percent in 2014) are at the bottom of the 132 regular school divisions.
In Northern Virginia, the racial divides in pass rates on this test can be stark.
White students in Falls Church (94 percent pass rate), Fairfax (93 percent), Alexandria (92 percent), Loudoun (91 percent), Prince William (87 percent), Manassas Park (85 percent), Stafford (85 percent), and Fredericksburg (84 percent) passed at higher rates than their peers.
In Fredericksburg, the pass rate for black students was just 56 percent; for Hispanic students, 64 percent, both down over the last two years.
Manassas Park had the highest pass rate in Northern Virginia for black students at 74 percent. That is the eighth-highest in Virginia among jurisdictions with large enough sample sizes.
Fairfax County and Falls Church were close behind with 73 percent pass rates, followed by Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford Counties at 72 percent.
Hispanic students in Manassas Park and Spotsylvania County had a 71 percent pass rate, while Hispanic students in Fairfax and Prince William counties had a 70 percent pass rate.
In Alexandria, Hispanic students had a 55 percent pass rate.
Lee County, in Southwest Virginia, had the lowest writing pass rate for white students of any school division at 61 percent. Page County, in the Interstate 81 corridor, had the second-lowest pass rate for white students at 64 percent.
| All Students, English: Writing Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State Rank/School System | 2013-14 Pass Rate | 2014-15 Pass Rate | 2015-16 Pass Rate |
| T-1 Falls Church City | 91 | 93 | 91 |
| #4 Loudoun County | 87 | 87 | 87 |
| T-5 Fairfax County | 84 | 85 | 86 |
| T-8 Arlington County | 84 | 85 | 85 |
| T-15 Fauquier County | 78 | 82 | 82 |
| T-22 Stafford County | 77 | 81 | 81 |
| T-36 Prince William County | 78 | 80 | 78 |
| T-46 Manassas Park City | 71 | 78 | 76 |
| T-46 Spotsylvania County | 74 | 78 | 76 |
| T-46 Winchester City | 75 | 73 | 76 |
| T-63 Orange County | 70 | 78 | 74 |
| T-75 Culpeper County | 70 | 73 | 73 |
| T-79 Manassas City | 70 | 72 | 72 |
| T-97 Alexandria City | 71 | 70 | 69 |
| T-102 Fredericksburg City | 75 | 75 | 68 |
History and Social Sciences
On history and social sciences tests, Falls Church tied for the highest pass rates in the commonwealth with West Point and Poquoson City, near Newport News.
Petersburg and Richmond had the lowest pass rates in the state at 66 percent and 67 percent. Lancaster County, on the Northern Neck, is the only other school division with a pass rate lower than 70 percent in history and social sciences.
| All Students, History and Social Sciences Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State Rank/School System | 2013-14 Pass Rate | 2014-15 Pass Rate | 2015-16 Pass Rate |
| T-1 Falls Church City | 93 | 96 | 95 |
| T-6 Loudoun County | 91 | 92 | 92 |
| T-10 Fairfax County | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| T-20 Stafford County | 87 | 89 | 89 |
| T-30 Arlington County | 88 | 88 | 88 |
| T-30 Orange County | 86 | 85 | 88 |
| T-40 Fauquier County | 86 | 87 | 87 |
| T-40 Prince William County | 86 | 88 | 87 |
| T-49 Culpeper County | 82 | 84 | 86 |
| T-70 Spotsylvania County | 82 | 85 | 84 |
| T-79 Winchester City | 81 | 85 | 83 |
| T-85 Manassas Park City | 81 | 79 | 82 |
| T-96 Fredericksburg City | 80 | 80 | 81 |
| T-105 Manassas City | 77 | 80 | 80 |
| T-118 Alexandria City | 76 | 77 | 77 |
Mathematics
In math, West Point (93 percent) and Wise County, in Southwest Virginia (92 percent), had the highest pass rates statewide.
Falls Church had the highest pass rates in Northern Virginia, followed closely by Arlington and Loudoun counties.
Lancaster County (57 percent, down from 67 percent last year and 60 percent two years ago) had the lowest overall pass rate statewide, just lower than Richmond (58 percent).
Math tests for most third graders and middle schoolers were different this year than in the past, since the tests changed based on the answers students got correct or missed. A correct answer led to more challenging questions, while incorrect answers led to less challenging questions. Scores were based on the number of answers correct overall and the degree of difficulty of the questions a student saw.
More math and reading tests for students in grades 3-8 will likely be taken in a similar way by the 2017-18 school year.
Arlington had one of the highest math pass rates for students with disabilities last school year (62 percent, seventh-highest statewide), followed by Falls Church (60 percent/10th), Loudoun (59 percent/11th), Fairfax County and Stafford County (both at 56 percent/T-16th).
Fredericksburg had the lowest Northern Virginia math pass rates for students with disabilities at 26 percent, fifth from the bottom. Alexandria, at 34 percent, was just slightly ahead.
While the pass rates are compared with previous years, they measure a different group of students in each grade level, so the numbers can fluctuate.
| All Students, Math Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State Rank/School System | 2013-14 Pass Rate | 2014-15 Pass Rate | 2015-16 Pass Rate |
| T-7 Falls Church City | 90 | 90 | 88 |
| T-10 Arlington County | 83 | 87 | 87 |
| T-14 Loudoun County | 81 | 85 | 86 |
| T-33 Culpeper County | 75 | 82 | 83 |
| T-33 Fairfax County | 81 | 83 | 83 |
| T-33 Stafford County | 80 | 84 | 83 |
| T-56 Fauquier County | 74 | 80 | 80 |
| T-56 Orange County | 72 | 76 | 80 |
| T-56 Spotsylvania County | 73 | 80 | 80 |
| T-63 Prince William County | 77 | 80 | 79 |
| T-70 Manassas City | 71 | 78 | 78 |
| T-80 Manassas Park City | 72 | 76 | 77 |
| T-89 Winchester City | 73 | 74 | 76 |
| T-102 Fredericksburg City | 72 | 75 | 74 |
| T-119 Alexandria City | 64 | 69 | 68 |
Science
On science tests, West Point leads the way with a 96 percent pass rate, followed by a tie between Falls Church and Poquoson City.
At the bottom are Martinsville (60 percent), Richmond (64 percent) and Petersburg (65 percent). Alexandria is tied for seventh from the bottom of 132 full school divisions in pass rates for all students.
In Fairfax County, just 67 percent of “economically disadvantaged” students passed science tests; that number was 63 percent in Manassas and 62 percent in Fredericksburg.
In Fairfax County, the pass rate for those students is a slight increase over the 65 percent pass rate last year and the 64 percent pass rate for 2014.
| All Students, Science Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State Rank/School System | 2013-14 Pass Rate | 2014-15 Pass Rate | 2015-16 Pass Rate |
| #2 Falls Church City | 91 | 90 | 92 |
| T-9 Loudoun County | 88 | 89 | 89 |
| T-22 Fauquier County | 83 | 86 | 87 |
| T-33 Fairfax County | 84 | 84 | 86 |
| T-33 Stafford County | 84 | 87 | 86 |
| T-33 Arlington County | 84 | 85 | 86 |
| T-51 Culpeper County | 76 | 80 | 84 |
| T-59 Orange County | 79 | 83 | 83 |
| T-67 Prince William County | 81 | 82 | 82 |
| T-67 Spotsylvania County | 79 | 82 | 82 |
| T-101 Manassas Park City | 66 | 68 | 77 |
| T-101 Winchester City | 74 | 72 | 77 |
| T-114 Fredericksburg City | 75 | 77 | 74 |
| T-117 Manassas City | 74 | 74 | 73 |
| T-125 Alexandria City | 66 | 68 | 69 |
