Tougher academic standards ahead for Virginia students

Virginiastudentsmaysoonfacetougheracademicbenchmarksasthestatealignsitsperformancelevelswiththehigherstandardsofanationalassessment. Startingnextmonth,theVirginiaBoardofEducationwillbeginadjustingitscutscores—usedtodeterminewhetherK-12studentsaremeetingproficiencylevels—tobettermatchtherigoroftheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP). Studentperformanceistypicallycategorizedas“belowbasic,”“basic,”“proficient”or“advanced,”reflectingtheirknowledgeandskillsincoresubjects. Since1998,VirginiahasreliedonitsStandardsofLearning(SOL)assessmentstogaugeproficiencyinareaslikereadingandmath.However,NAEP,awidelyrecognizednationalorganization,hasoftenbeenusedtoassesssmallerstudentgroups,suchasfourthandeighthgraders. “TheNAEPassessmentprovidesacommonbenchmarkthatstatescanthenusetolookattherelativerigoroftheirownassessmentcutscores,”saidLesleyMuldoon,executivedirectoroftheNationalAssessmentGoverningBoard,duringaworkse