Stafford's Spring 2025 SOL Results Show Improvement in Most Subjects
Division was consistent with or exceeded statewide performance on most SOL tests this spring.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Editor’s Note: The Virginia Department of Education released the results of the spring 2025 Standards of Learning yesterday. The Advance will publish overviews of the results for Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg today and tomorrow, and will publish a deeper look at the data in coming weeks.
Stafford County students improved their scores on 21 out of 27 Standards of Learning (SOL) tests this spring as compared to last spring—and outperformed the state average on five assessments, including end-of-course reading and writing.
The Virginia Department of Education released the results of the spring 2025 SOL tests yesterday, and those for Stafford show “a clear sign of the dedication of our students, staff, and families,” said division superintendent Daniel Smith, in a press release.
“We are especially encouraged by the strong gains overall in reading, writing, and history,” Smith said. “While we recognize there is more work to do, this progress reflects our continued focus to ensure that high quality teaching and learning is taking place in every classroom, every day.”
The greatest year-over-year increases were in end-of-course reading and Virginia and U.S. history, where pass rates in each subject improved by 5% over 2023-24; geometry, which improved by 9%; and World History II, which improved by 20%.
Stafford students outperformed the state average in end-of-course writing (80% pass rate vs. 76%); end-of-course reading (90% vs. 86%); Earth Science (76% vs. 70%); Algebra I (86% vs. 85%); and World History II (55% vs. 37%).
Pass rates in grade 5 math, grade 6 and 8 reading, and Algebra II improved between 2 and 5% over last year and match the state average pass rates.
The press release from the division also recognizes “areas of challenge,” such as performance on the grade 8 math assessment, which decreased by 9 points over last year.
“This decrease is attributed in part to the adoption of new state standards and changes in middle school course sequencing, which led to four times as many 7th grade students taking the Grade 8 Math SOL this year,” the press release states.
Pass rates in math among English learners, students with disabilities, students from economically disadvantaged also remain slightly below the state average, though there have been some year-over-year increases.
English reading pass rates among English learners and economically disadvantaged students were even with or slightly above the state average, but pass rates in this subject for students with disabilities were four points below.
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