Virginia Students Make Gains in Reading, Math as Schools Push Toward Pre-Pandemic Levels

Virginia students continued to make progress in reading and math last school year, posting gains that moved them closer to pre-pandemic performance levels, the Virginia Department of Education announced Tuesday.

Across the commonwealth, students’ proficiency in math and reading increased by 0.4% from the prior school year. Over the past five years, proficiency rates rose 5% in reading and 19% in math.

“Behind the numbers are the dedicated efforts of thousands of students, educators, and families working hard every day to strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy skills,” Secretary of Education Jeffery Smith said in a statement.  “We also know that a lot of hard work is ahead of us, and I am convinced that together, we will continue to address learning gaps.”

Virginia uses the Standards of Learning assessments to measure student learning and achievement in mathematics, reading, science, writing, history, and social science. The results also help determine school accreditation, which affects funding, support, and intervention efforts.

A push to reform SOL assessments was led by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Board of Education and administration from 2022 to 2026. In January, Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s team took over and is now celebrating the gains while also seeking ways to ensure more students reach proficiency in all content areas.

Statewide, 72% of students in grades 3 to 8 passed their reading SOLs, and 69% passed their math SOLs.

Beyond those results, the state’s history and social sciences pass rates increased by 3.2% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. A nominal decrease of 0.2% was found in science.

Roughly 53 school divisions, or 40%, achieved increases in both math and reading pass rates last year compared with the 2024-2025 school year.

The results are based on previous proficiency benchmarks, or cut scores, for state assessments. This school year, Virginia rolled out new proficiency benchmarks that students must meet, and these benchmarks will continue to increase over the next four years.

A look back

The assessment results come as the Spanberger administration makes its mark on Virginia’s education system, following the Youngkin administration’s broader effort to raise academic expectations beginning in 2022.

Youngkin pushed for greater rigor in academic standards and assessments with the help of his appointed Board of Education and the state legislature.

In 2023, the executive branch and lawmakers appropriated $418 million for the ALL In VA plan to address learning loss and other problems that worsened during the pandemic, with a priority on tutoring, literacy and school attendance.

The agency said Tuesday that the sustained improvement over several years reflects students’ resilience and educators’ ongoing efforts to close learning gaps and strengthen foundational skills statewide.

“We know there is still work ahead to ensure every child develops the knowledge and skills needed to be successful anywhere, but this growth demonstrates that our schools are moving in the right direction,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway said in a statement.

“We will continue using this information to inform targeted and meaningful support for our students’ long-term academic success.”

What’s next

The department said it will release the results of the School Performance and Support Framework for the 2025-2026 school year in October. Schools are rated on multiple measures of school quality and student achievement, including mastery, growth in reading and mathematics, readiness, and high school graduation rates.

The education board is scheduled to hold a briefing on the results at its work session Wednesday, where members will discuss them. A breakdown of student performance, including grade-level and course-specific pass rates for schools, school divisions and the commonwealth, is available on the agency’s website.

The department’s  School Quality Profile reports will be updated in the coming week.

By Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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