It’s been an interesting week. We’ve survived another heatwave, my youngest and I headed out for a baseball filled vacation and we all begin to plan & focus on the return to school! 😮 It got me to thinking about student performance and accountability.
As a candidate for the Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) School Board, I believe deeply in accountability, transparency, and student achievement. But more importantly, I believe in the people behind the numbers—our students, teachers, and families who show up every day and give their best in a system that often feels defined by test scores.
Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOLs) are an important measure of academic progress. They help ensure students are learning essential content in reading, math, science, and more. These standards provide a common benchmark across the state and are a tool for identifying areas of growth. But like any tool, how we use it matters.
SOLs are meant to assess mastery—but over time, they’ve evolved into high-stakes & high-pressure events. Teachers often feel constrained by pacing guides and pressured to “teach to the test.” Students, especially those already facing academic or emotional challenges, experience stress that can impact their performance—and more critically, their love of learning.
Frederick County’s educators are working incredibly hard under this system. They are deeply committed professionals who want the best for their students. We also know our students, are more than capable—they are creative, thoughtful, and resilient. When scores dip or growth plateaus, it’s not a failure of effort. It’s a signal that the system needs to adapt to better support the people within it.
SOL data should be used to support, not define, our schools. We need to recognize that performance on a single test does not reflect a student’s full potential or a teacher’s impact.
We also know that consistent academic achievement, especially in early literacy and mathematics, is essential for long-term success. That's why Ignite 2030, our division’s strategic plan, rightly emphasizes grade-level proficiency by the end of third grade in reading and eighth grade in math, as well as post-secondary readiness by graduation.
Our challenge—and our opportunity—is to build a system that ensures every child meets these standards without sacrificing creativity, mental health, or joy in learning.
Rather than narrowing instruction to what's tested, we must trust teachers to integrate SOL content into engaging, relevant, and creative lessons. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), already emphasized in Ignite 2030, can help educators collaborate on best practices for balancing rigor and flexibility.
SOL results should inform where support is needed—not serve as the basis for punitive measures. Let's identify struggling students early and provide targeted interventions—without labeling or discouraging them. Similarly, we must use this data to invest in schools and classrooms that need additional resources, not stigmatize them.
Through models like FCPS’s Prevention, Intervention, Extension (PIE) framework, we can differentiate instruction to meet students where they are—offering enrichment for those excelling and responsive intervention for those who need extra help, academically and/or emotionally.
We must reinforce the message that while SOLs matter, they are not the only measure of learning. Let's elevate project-based learning, student portfolios, capstone projects, and presentations that showcase a student’s growth, creativity, and mastery in diverse ways. As a community, we all want to see our children succeed—on tests and beyond. Let’s shift from a culture of pressure to a culture of purpose, where the Standards of Learning are a roadmap, not the finish line. Let’s ensure every student, every teacher, and every school has the support they need not just to meet the standard—but to exceed it with pride.
Because our students are more than a test score—and so are our schools.