WASHINGTON — About four out of five math, reading and science tests evaluating Virginia students earned passing marks in 2015 — an improvement from the 2013-14 school year even as achievement gaps persist.
The Virginia Standards of Learning tests, which describe the commonwealth’s expectations for student learning, show that in math, Algebra II had the largest percentage of students — 87 percent of test takers — earn a mark of proficient or better for the 2014-15 school year.
Seventh grade math had the lowest pass rate at 72 percent, a 7-percent improvement from last year. The seventh grade math test has had the lowest or tied for the lowest pass rate each of any math test each of the last four years.
Reading pass rates this year are between 75 percent and 81 percent for grades three through eight — three to six percent higher than last year.
This was the first year that elementary and middle schoolers could retake tests that they were somewhat close to passing, and the Virginia Department of Education says the retakes increased pass rates by about four points on each test.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven Staples says in a statement that the retakes help provide a “more complete picture of the performance of schools.”
“Some students who initially do not pass may have just had a bad day. And there are students who barely miss the benchmark and just need a little extra instruction in a particular area to achieve proficiency. For these students, an expedited retake offers another opportunity to demonstrate success before the end of the year,” Staples said Tuesday of this year’s data.
Virginia faces a persistent achievement gap in math and reading between white students and black and Hispanic students.
While pass rates improved for all three groups in 2015, white students continued to have pass rates more than 10 percent higher than Hispanic students, and around 20 percent higher than black students.
Overall, around one in five students sitting for a reading, math, science or writing test failed to get a passing mark.
Seventy-nine percent of test takers earned scores of proficient or above in math and reading, 77 percent did the same in writing, 82 percent in science and 86 percent in history or social studies.
Chemistry and end-of-course reading had the highest pass rates at 88 percent and 89 percent, respectively. History courses were close behind.
Editor’s Note: WTOP will have a breakdown of Northern Virginia school systems’ scores Wednesday. School accreditation ratings will come out this fall after the state Board of Education adopts new standards in line with bills signed into law this spring.
