Performance Assessments Which Replaced SOL Tests

What is an SOL Replaced Performance Assessment?

The 2014 General Assembly omitted five Standards of Learning (SOL) tests in grades 3-8 while requiring local school divisions to continue to teach and measure student achievement of all content standards. SOL Replaced Performance Assessments required for grade-level content areas in which Virginia SOL tests were eliminated, and are created locally by the division. 

The omitted SOL tests replaced by local performance assessments are:

  • Grade 3 Science SOL test

  • Grade 3 History and Social Science SOL test

  • Grade 5 Writing SOL test

  • United States History to 1865 SOL test (administered in LCPS in grade 6)

  • United States History: 1865 to present SOL test (administered in LCPS in grade 7)

Performance Assessments are tasks that measure subject-matter proficiency, requires students to apply the content and skills they have learned, and should present opportunities for students to demonstrate acquisition of the “Five C’s” – critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and contribution  – described in the LCPS Profile of a Graduate. 

Performance assessment can be summative or formative in nature: 

  • A summative assessment occurs at the end of a learning cycle and is designed to determine a student’s level of mastery of specified content or competencies. 

  • A formative assessment occurs during the learning process and is designed to guide next steps toward mastery. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor learning, provide feedback, and set goals to move learning forward. Information gathered during the formative assessment is used to inform next steps in instruction. 

Teacher teams decide collectively and communicate if SOL Replaced Performance Assessments will be formative or summative in nature. If summative, the assessment will impact a student's overall grade. 

SOL Replaced Performance Assessments are one of many types of assessment that teachers use to measure student growth and mastery of content standards. SOL Replaced Performance Assessments are supplemented by unit tests, check-ins, teacher-created quizzes and performance assessments, etc.

Why Performance Assessments?

Performance assessments allow teachers and students alike to identify content that has been mastered, misconceptions, and gaps in learning. The evidence gained through performance assessment may be used to guide future classroom instruction. The implementation of performance assessments results in deeper learning and student engagement that moves students toward the LCPS Profile of a Graduate. 

Performance Assessment Schedule

Grade 3

Grade 5

Grades 6 and 7

Social Studies: two assessments

Science: four assessments 

Writing: one assessment

Social Studies: Grades 6, 7 - two assessments per year

State Rubrics For Scoring Performance Assessments

In order to provide consistent achievement expectations for all Virginia students, school divisions use VDOE's common rubrics when scoring student responses to performance assessments or performance tasks included among the local alternative assessments in these courses. Rubrics and other supports can be found here.


VDOE's Audio Walk-Through of the Framework for Alternative Assessment Implementation
Learn more about the history and implementation of local alternative assessments, also referred to as performance assessments.