ROANOKE, Va. – Virginia education officials are allowed to cancel federally mandated Standards of Learning (SOL) tests for the 2019-2020 school year, the Virginia Department of Education announced on Monday.
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Education granted Virginia’s testing waiver application which was submitted on Friday. The waiver is still technically pending formal approval, which will happen later this spring.
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This move eliminates the required reading, math and science tests that students would normally complete near the end of the school year.
SOL tests are mandated through the 2015 Every Student Success Act, which requires states to administer annual assessments in reading and math in grades 3-8 and at least once in high school. The law also requires testing in science at least once in elementary, middle and high school.
On March 20, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced an expedited process for approving statewide waivers of ESSA testing mandates.