New legislation could affect Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. The bills will allow the tests to be provided in languages other than English for non-native English speakers.
On January 3, Del. Laura Jane Cohen introduced HB1679. The bill requires that SOLs “be made available in the most commonly spoken native language in the Commonwealth other than English to any English language learner who speaks such language natively.” This would mean that Spanish-speaking students could take the test in their native Spanish, rather than in English.
“This bill is meant to address the difficulty that language barriers present in capturing the knowledge and understanding that our SOL assessments were intended to evaluate,” Cohen said in a meeting of the House K-12 Education subcommittee on January 14. She pointed out that more than 30 other states, including Texas, Michigan, and West Virginia have implemented similar policies.
Representatives from Fairfax County Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, and the Superintendents Association spoke at the meeting in support of the bill.
The bill progressed from the Education Committee to the Appropriations committee for review on January 15.
On January 16, the Department of Planning and Budget created a fiscal impact statement that says the cost to update the vendor contract is about $5 million beginning in fiscal year 2026 to get new tests. In addition, it will cost about $47,908 to pay staff to implement the changes.
On January 23, Sen. Barbara A. Favola introduced SB753, the companion bill, in the state Senate. It was amended to focus specifically on the math test instead of all assessments.
The substituted bill states: “Each mathematics Standards of Learning assessment shall be made available in the most commonly spoken native language in the Commonwealth other than English to any English language learner who speaks such language natively and is identified as having limited English proficiency.”
As proposed under the Senate substitution, this would become effective beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. Students who score one or two on domain specific English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments would take the math SOL in their native language. For students who score three or above on the ELP, the English language learner facility at the student’s school would make the decision on the test’s language.
The senate bill was sent to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on January 23 for review.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
