VALLSS (Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System)

In 2022, the General Assembly passed the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) to improve literacy outcomes for students in Virginia. Part of this legislation requires that students in Kindergarten through grade three be screened by a single, comprehensive literacy screener. Beginning in 2024-2025, Virginia will administer the Virginia Language and Literacy Screener (VALLS) developed by the University of Virginia (UVA) to students in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

VALLS is a one on one assessment completed with the teacher. The assessment consists of a variety of subtests* that fall into one of the following three categories:

  1. Code-based - assesses alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, decoding and encoding abilities, and oral reading fluency.

  2. Language-based - assesses passage comprehension, nonsense sentences, relational vocabulary, and vocabulary fluency

  3. Processing - assesses rapid automized naming (RAN) of letters

*Not all subtests are required at each grade level or at each assessment period.

VALLS provides a snapshot of critical literacy skills at a single moment in time. Scores from the assessment will tell you if your child is at risk for developing reading difficulties and what components of literacy your child needs further instruction in.

Snapshot of a Score Report

score

Frequently Asked Questions about VALLS