I strongly oppose the requirement that an SOL score count as 10% of a student’s final course grade for students in grades 8–12. This policy gives standardized tests even more power than they already hold and shifts the focus away from meaningful, year-long learning. SOLs measure performance on a single day, not a student’s growth, effort, creativity, or mastery of course content over time. Tying such a high-stakes test to course grades disproportionately harms students with test anxiety, learning differences, IEPs, 504s, language barriers, or outside challenges beyond their control. Even with accommodations, standardized tests often fail to accurately reflect what students with IEPs or 504 plans truly know and can do. This requirement places students with disabilities at a systemic disadvantage by allowing a single exam to override months of instruction, support, and demonstrated progress. It also contradicts the intent of individualized education plans, which are designed to recognize diverse learning needs and multiple ways of demonstrating understanding. Instead of promoting equity, this policy reinforces inequities and adds unnecessary stress to students who already face barriers within the education system. It also undermines professional educators by reducing their year-long assessment of student learning to a number generated by one exam. House Bill 189 was introduced to repeal this requirement and restore balance and fairness to student evaluation. Allowing the mandate to remain in place prioritizes test scores over authentic learning, undermines professional educators’ assessments, and disproportionately harms students with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. Our education system should value multiple measures of achievement, honor individualized learning needs, and recognize that students are more than a test score. For these reasons, HB189 should advance out of committee and be supported.

As a high school educator in the Commonwealth, I am writing to urge the General Assembly and the Board of Education to prohibit the use of Standards of Learning (SOL) scores as a component of a student’s final course grade. While I understand the desire for "buy-in," the current trajectory—specifically the push for these tests to count as 10% of a student’s grade—will exacerbate an already critical mental health crisis in our schools without improving authentic literacy or numeracy. 1. The "Verified Credit" Pressure Cooker Our students already face immense pressure: the SOL is the gatekeeper to their diploma. Adding a GPA penalty to this high-stakes requirement creates a "double jeopardy" scenario. I witness students experiencing "SOL paralysis,” where test anxiety triggers a physiological stress response that shuts down cognitive recall. In these moments, we aren't measuring their knowledge of the curriculum; we are measuring their nervous system's ability to handle the threat of failure. 2. Growth Over Snapshot Performance A final grade should be the aggregate of 180 days of laboratory work, essays, critical thinking, and incremental growth. The SOL is a four-hour snapshot. One "bad day" due to illness, trauma, or anxiety should not have the power to override a year of demonstrated proficiency. Recommendation: Keep the SOL as a state accountability tool and a graduation milestone if necessary, but keep it out of the grade book. Let the final grade remain a reflection of a student's total body of work, managed by the professional educators who see their growth every day—not a standardized algorithm.

I agree that incorporating SOL scores into final grades is a slippery slope and will force teachers to teach to the test even more than they already do. I support this bill, and ask that SOL scores not be included in final grades. They already hold enough weight in the VA education system.

SOL scores should not be a factor in these kids grades for the year. You should start worrying about security in the schools, the abysmal lunches you feed these kids, the burnt out and underpaid educators... not this. Do better.

The SOLs should NOT be a part of a student’s grade.

Please eliminate the incorporation of SOL score into class grade. Teachers provide differentiated instruction to engage all students in the ways those students can understand and retain the material. To then require all students grades be tied to a single assessment type doesn't capture the true comprehension levels across the students, and encourages teachers to spend more time "teaching to the test" rather than teaching to the students.

I support this proposed bill to not allow an SOL to factor in the students final course grade.

The SOL scores should not dictate a student's overall grade. Students stress about these scores enough and this reflects in their performance. Students with testing issues will feel more discouraged about school. Teachers will feel more pressure to teach to a test limiting their own curriculum and this will impact learning as a whole. They are not the whole picture of a student, Teacher or a school and they shouldn't hold any weight let alone for student grades.

As an neuropsychologist who sees many children in Virginia for psychoeducational testing to assess for learning disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions, I fully support HB189. Including standardized testing as part of a child’s class grade is not fair. Standardized tests are designed to measure performance under narrow, timed, high-pressure conditions—not to reflect a child’s overall understanding, growth, or effort throughout a school year. When these scores are folded into classroom grades, they distort what grades are meant to represent: a student’s learning over time. This practice is especially harmful for children with learning disorders, ADHD, or processing speed challenges. These students may understand the material and work hard all year, yet struggle in testing environments that demand quick recall, sustained attention, or heavy reading loads. Even with accommodations, standardized tests often fail to level the playing field. Penalizing these students by tying test performance to their grades effectively punishes them for how their brains work—not for what they know. Beyond issues of equity, grading based on standardized tests significantly increases anxiety for many children. High-stakes testing environments can trigger stress responses that interfere with thinking, memory, and problem-solving. For some students, test anxiety becomes so overwhelming that it undermines performance entirely, creating a cycle where fear of failure leads to lower scores, which then reinforce that fear. When test results affect grades, that anxiety doesn’t stay in the testing room—it spills into classrooms, homes, and a child’s self-esteem. Standardized tests may have a role as one data point for system-level evaluation, but they are not an accurate measure of individual learning. Including them in class grades undermines fairness, further disadvantages students with learning differences, and places unnecessary emotional strain on children who are still developing academically and emotionally. Education should support learning—not sort, label, or penalize kids for factors beyond their control.

SOL, growth assessments, district given testing should never be allowed to be a part of the child’s final grade. We have made our children and teachers into robots. They are no longer teaching content but teaching to a test. Our children are the ones being sacrificed. The wording on the SOL and district testing is so far complex no wonder they can get through it. There are children who have developed severe test anxiety from your extensive testing at such a young age. Why would you ever think it would be ok to penalize them and count any of your SOL or district tests as their grades???? In my opinion get rid of the testing! Get rid of the chromebooks. Let the teachers get back to real educating. You will find your data and numbers might drastically change.

Please do NOT allow SOL scores to be part of a student’s grade. They are stressful, not reflective of what they need to know and this is completely unnecessary. Have we learned nothing from the reform in SAT scores and how colleges view them?

HB189 | Convirs-Fowler | Certain student assessment requirements; calculation of final course grade. SOLs are cumbersome and an unnecessary way to measure academic performance. They are causing undue stress on our educators and students. They should not be mandated as part of a students grade.

I am in support of removing the provision requiring SOL tests to count for 10% of a student's grade. Students are already required to earn 5 verified credits to graduate from high school, which shows that Virginia high school students already meet rigorous requirements to graduate. Additionally, local school districts should have the autonomy to establish their own final assessment and course grading guidelines in line with cognitive science and educational research.

I am writing in support of HB189 to remove SOL scores from having an impact on the final grades of our students. As the parent of an 8th grader and a 5th grader in Chesapeake Public Schools, I do not see the value in increasing pressure for our children by having the SOLs count towards final grades. Having to take the SOLs creates a lot of stress and anxiety in the first place, particularly for children with disabilities. It does not increase their comprehension or ability to retain information & adds nothing of value for individual students. They are data points for districts to understand where their weaknesses are in conveying information and properly preparing their students. Do not pass this burden onto our children. Please pass HB189.

The amount of stress we are placing on students is detrimental to their health. My daughter is in advanced classes and does well, however she suffers from anxiety and ADHD and has great difficulty passing the SOL tests. It already brings down her confidence and self esteem; there is no reason for it to bring down her grade as well. I oppose having the SOL assessment factor into a students grade. Students are so much more than an SOL score.

I support HB189 because I do not believe standardized test scores should be directly tied to a student’s course grade. As a parent of a 3rd grader and a 1st grader in Chesapeake Public Schools, I am concerned about giving SOL tests even more influence over how children are evaluated. SOLs are a single snapshot in time and do not fully reflect a student’s understanding, growth, effort, or learning style. Teachers should have the flexibility to assess students using classroom work, projects, participation, and ongoing evaluations, not be required to assign a percentage of a final grade to one high-stakes test. Rescinding the mandate that SOL scores count toward grades protects students from unnecessary pressure and allows educators to use their professional judgment. I urge the committee to support HB189 and support teachers by not requiring them to teach to a single test.

Please rescind using SOL scored as part of grades. Not all children are great standardized test takers. The goal of just passing should be enough, without adding extra anxiety of how their scores will affect t grades. Grades should be based on coursework. We don’t base grades on SAT/ACT/AP scores, SOLs should be treated similarly.

The intense focus on SOLs is not helping to improve our VA student outcomes. Teachers and students spend much too much time worried about a single test peformace rather than the process of learning and developing critical thinking skills. Adding even more power to the SOL by influencing a students grade was a misguided law that moves education in the wrong direction. I support this proposed bill to not allow an SOL to factor in the students final course grade. There are myriad reasons unrelated to a student's actual grasp of the material that can lead to low SOL scores. The classroom teachers have the best ability to craft assessments that adequately measure knowledge retention by their students.

I support HB 189. Standardized tests like the Virginia SOL tests are a good measurement of grade progress and student progress, but they should not be taken into account a final or intermediate grade for a course. Teachers should be the best arbiter of what kind of a grade their students should receive, based on teachers' assignments/tests and students' knowledge and application of lessons learned. But Standardized tests, like Virginia SOLs (or even national standardized tests like the SAT and ACT) should not be a factor in student's grades for courses on their report cards.