Key Assessments

Your child will receive a standards-based report card that indicates how well your child is progressing in various skills and on various subject area standards. There are several assessments that have been identified as critical for monitoring student performance.

Reading and mathematics continue to be a key focus throughout the elementary grades. As a third grader, your child will take several assessments that will help her teacher design and deliver small group instruction in reading and your child will participate in the state testing program.

• The Developmental Reading Assessment, 2nd Edition (DRA2) measures reading proficiency by observing, recording, and evaluating how well students read aloud and understand what they have read.
• The Houghton-Mifflin Reading Inventory (RI) measures reading comprehension and indicates a student’s grade level performance standard and Lexile measure score. A Lexile indicates the ability to read text at a specific level with approximately 75 percent comprehension.
• The Grade 3 Reading and Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) tests measure how well students are meeting the state’s expectations for learning in the areas of reading and mathematics by the end of third grade. For all students with disabilities identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines whether the student will participate in the SOL assessment or the Virginia Alternative Assessment Program (VAAP). Students may receive testing accommodations for the SOL under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan. Parents should check with their child’s case manage to ensure these supports are in place prior to the testing date. Learn More

Click here for a full list of assessments administered in the school division.