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Dear Parents or Guardians:
This letter provides information about the format of online Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) introduced mathematics Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) during the 2014-15 school year and has expanded use of this format each year to include more grades and subjects. This school year, students in grades 3-5 will take a computer adaptive SOL test for both reading and mathematics. All other SOL tests that students take this year will be administered using the traditional format.
CAT provides a customized assessment for each student. Each test begins with a question of moderate difficulty. A correct response leads to a more difficult question, while an incorrect response leads to a less difficult question. However, all students complete the same number of questions for the overall test.
On a mathematics CAT, a student cannot skip questions or return to previous questions. On a reading CAT, a student may move forward and backward among the questions connected with a particular passage; however, once the student navigates to the next passage, he or she may not return to questions from the previous passage.
Teachers and other instructional staff in our school are working with students to help them prepare for CAT. Your child will have opportunities to practice taking this type of test before the spring SOL testing window begins.
The development of CAT is part of VDOE’s continuing efforts to provide students with the best possible testing experience. CAT requires fewer total questions than a traditional SOL test to determine a student’s proficiency and has been proven to increase student focus and engagement. Additional information on CAT is available on the VDOE webpage at: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/test_administration/cat/index.shtml.
For your child’s grade level, CAT is administered over 1 day or 2 days, as marked below:
Reading CAT _____ 1-day test ___X__ 2-day test
Mathematics CAT _____ 1-day test ___X__ 2-day test
Please contact Erin Lear, School Test Coordinator if you have questions or concerns.
SOL Testing Schedule
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