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Report Name
Target Audience
Description of Report Contents

CUT SCORES

Central Office Administrators, Specialists, Principals, Teachers

This resource provided by the state DOE indicates the number of items that a student must answer correctly for each proficiency level.  This information is provided by grade and SOL test. 

Virginia Assessments Cut Scores Established by the Board of Education*
Standards of Learning Tests
SOL Test Fail/Basic Pass/Proficient Pass/Advanced
Grade 3
English: Reading 13 out of 35 items 23 out of 35 items 31 out of 35 items
Mathematics** 21 out of 50 items 35 out of 50 items45 out of 50 items
History & Social ScienceNA 27 out of 40 items 35 out of 40 items
Science NA 27 out of 40 items 36 out of 40 items
Grade 4
English: Reading Mathematics** 		14 out of 35 items
16 out of 50 items 		23 out of 35 items 31 out of 50 items 31 out of 35 items
43 out of 50 items
Grade 5
English: Reading 17 out of 40 items 27 out of 40 items 37 out of 40 items
English: Writing NA 32 out of 44 items 41 out of 44 items
Mathematics**23 out of 50 items 35 out of 50 items 44 out of 50 items
Virginia Studies NA 25 out of 40 items 35 out of 40 items
Science NA 26 out of 40 items 37 out of 40 items
Grade 6
English: Reading Mathematics** 		17 out of 45 items
22 out of 50 items 		28 out of 45 items 34 out of 50 items 39 out of 45 items 44 out of 50 items
Grade 7
English: Reading Mathematics** 		17 out of 45 items
19 out of 50 items 		28 out of 45 items 31 out of 50 items 39 out of 45 items 42 out of 50 items
Grade 8
English: Reading 17 out of 45 items 29 out of 45 items 40 out of 45 items
English: Writing NA 30 out of 48 items 46 out of 48 items
Mathematics** 19 out of 50 items 32 out of 50 items 42 out of 50 items
History & Social Science NA 26 out of 50 items 43 out of 50 items
Science NA 27 out of 50 items 44 out of 50 items
Content Specific History
Virginia Studies NA 25 out of 40 items 35 out of 40 items
U.S. History to 1877 NA 25 out of 40 items 36 out of 40 items
U.S. History from 1877 to present NA 23 out of 40 items 34 out of 40 items
Civics and Economics NA 21 out of 40 items 34 out of 40 items
High School
English: Reading (1995)NA 24 out of 42 items 37 out of 42 items
English: Reading (2002)NA 28 out of 50 items 42 out of 50 items
English: Writing (2002) NA 37 out of 54 items 49 out of 54 items
Algebra I**NA 27 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
Algebra II (2001) NA 31 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
Algebra II (2001 Revised) NA 30 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
GeometryNA 27 out of 45 items 41 out of 45 items
Earth Science NA 30 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
Biology NA 26 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
ChemistryNA 27 out of 50 items 45 out of 50 items
World History (I) to 1500 A.D. (1995 Standards)NA 33 out of 61 items 55 out of 61 items
World History (I) to 1500 A.D. (2001 Standards)NA 30 out of 60 items 50 out of 60 items
World History (II) from 1500 A.D. to the present (1995 Standards)NA 32 out of 63 items 57 out of 63 items
World History (II) from 1500 A.D. to the present (2001 Standards)NA 30 out of 60 items 50 out of 60 items
Virginia & U.S. History (1995 Standards)NA 34 out of 61 items 55 out of 61 items
Virginia & U.S. History (2001 Standards)NA 30 out of 60 items 51 out of 60 items
World Geography (1995 Standards) NA 28 out of 60 items 49 out of 60 items
World Geography (2001 Standards) NA 33 out of 60 items 50 out of 60 items

*The cut scores shown in the chart were set by the Virginia Board of Education. Subsequent cut scores may vary slightly. Please see http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Assessment/Solss3.pdf for more information.

**The cut scores for plain English mathematics tests are the same as those for regular mathematics tests.

NOTE: Cut scores adopted by the Virginia Board of Education on March 19, 2008, are in bold print.

Virginia Department of Education Revised April 3, 2008