Education

3rd Grade Reading

Standards of Learning:  Third Grade Reading

Virginia students take the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments for the first time in the third grade. The tests are taken by all students and the scores are reported for all school divisions. They provide the first universal assessment for Virginia children.

Why is This Important?

In the first few years of school, students must learn the core skills that will allow them to reach higher levels of learning in subsequent years. Emphasis in third grade English is on learning about words, reading age-appropriate text with fluency and expression, learning comprehension strategies, and writing stories and reports.

From fourth grade on, reading skills are critical to learning other subjects. Achievement scores at the end of the third grade are therefore good predictors of later school success.

How is Virginia Doing?

In the 2005-06 school year, Virginia's Department of Education implemented a new Standards of Learning Reading test that eliminated the writing component and placed a greater emphasis on reading comprehension. Under the old test, passing scores had gone as high as 76.8 percent. Scores under the new test have significantly surpassed that: Overall pass rates for the 2008-09 school year were at 86.8 percent.

Regionally speaking, in 2008-09 the Eastern and Valley regions had the lowest pass rates, at 78.4 and 84.7 percent respectively. The Southwest and Northern regions experienced the highest pass rates in 2008-09, at 88.2 percent.

Advanced SOL Performance

The average advanced pass rate -- meaning students who passed 31 of 35 items -- was 18.8 percent in 2004-05. In the four years since the SOL revisions, the advanced pass rate has improved dramatically, more than doubling on average.  There was, however, a slight decrease in 2008-09 (37.2 percent) from the previous year's rate (38.9 percent).

In 2008-09, the Northern region had the best advanced performance at 41.2 percent, followed by the Central region at 40.4 percent. The Southside region had the lowest advanced pass rate at 29.8 percent.

What Influences the SOL Third Grade Reading Assessment Scores?

Third grade SOL assessments are one measure of a child’s academic progress at the end of the first four years of school. Quality instruction and remediation of any problems detected in the early years will improve a child’s performance on the assessment.  Overall school readiness for kindergarten and the quality of the child’s experiences in kindergarten through grade three will also affect testing results.

What is the State's Role?

The state's job is to supply high-quality early childhood education, identifying students at risk for reading problems and providing appropriate interventions. For example, Virginia’s various early intervention programs (see School Readiness) work to identify and assist students who may be at risk for later learning problems.