Henrico students improve slightly on reading, science SOLs but still trail statewide averages on most grade-level exams

Henrico students last school year fared slightly better on the Virginia Standards of Learning exams in reading and science than they did during the previous school year but worse in math and history/social sciences, according to new data released last week by the Virginia Department of Education.

The SOL results also showed that, just as they did in the 2023-24 school year, Henrico students continued to trail their state counterparts in 2024-25 in three of the five overall SOL categories (reading, math and history/social sciences) while remaining even with them in a fourth (science). Only 73 total Henrico students took an SOL in the fifth category – writing – rendering their 90% pass rate statistically insignificant, though it exceeded the statewide average of 76%.

County students achieved pass-rates of:

• 70% in reading (a 1% increase from the 2023-24 school year but below the 74% statewide average from the 2024-25 school year);

• 71% in science (a 3% increase from ’23-’24 and even with the statewide average in ’24-’25);

• 65% in math (a 1% decrease from ’23-’24 and below the 72% statewide average in ’24-’25);

• 44% in history/social sciences (a 9% decrease from ’23-’24 and below 66% statewide average in ’24-’25, though only 728 Henrico students took the exam).

Statewide during the 2024-25 school year, student pass rates improved by 3% in science; 1% in reading, history/social sciences and math; and remained the same in writing.

Although the state pass rates overall remained relatively similar to the previous year’s results, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this month said that his administration’s efforts to “end the era of lowered expectations” among public school students in Virginia had paid off, since the ’24-’25 exams required students to retain and apply knowledge of 30% to 40% more content in order to pass.

“We challenged our students, and they answered the call,” Youngkin said. “Scores in reading and math improved, particularly in the grades we have been targeting as part of our ALL In Virginia campaign.”

That initiative invested more than $418 million dollars in school divisions to reduce chronic absenteeism, accelerate the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, and institute intensive tutoring to address learning loss that resulted from pandemic-related school closures.

Henrico pass rates in the three core tests – reading, math and science – remain down from pre-pandemic levels; in 2018-19, 76% of Henrico students passed the reading SOLs, 82% passed the math SOLs and 81% passed the science SOLs.

County students showed improvement from their 2023-24 pass rates in 18 of the 29 course-specific exams they took last school year, while recording lower pass rates in just eight. The pass rates were the same in three exams.

But among those 29 exams, they achieved pass rates higher than those of their statewide counterparts in just eight – and half of those were statistically insignificant because fewer than 75 students took them. The other four were end-of-course Algebra II (90% pass rate), end-of-course Earth Science (84% pass rate), end-of-course Geometry (83% pass rate), end-of-course World History (51% pass rate).

Henrico students’ pass rates were lower than the statewide averages in every reading and math SOL exam given to students in grades 3 through 8. The gaps were between 2% and 6% in the reading exams and between 2% and 17% in the math exams.

Stark achievement gaps remain

Most public school students take SOL exams in reading and math each year from grades 3 through 8; in science during grades 5 and 8; and at the end of various high school-level courses in math, history/social sciences, science and reading. The tests are designed as a way for school systems and the state to benchmark students’ learning progress.

Henrico Schools officials touted the fact that pass rates on all six science exams increased slightly from the previous year. They also noted gains of 1% to 2% in reading test pass rates among Black, white, multiple-race, economically disadvantaged and English learner students; a 5% increase in sixth-grade reading pass rates; and a 4% increase in those among eighth-graders.

Overall, English learners improved from the previous school year in all four subject areas in which they were tested: from 26% to 28% in reading, 38% to 39% in math, 27% to 35% in history and social sciences (though only 62 students took those exams) and 29% to 36% in science.

But the results also displayed an ongoing gap between the achievement levels of Asian and white students on the higher end and Black and Hispanic students on the lower end. For example, Black students overall in Henrico scored pass rates of between 27% (history/social sciences) and 55% (reading) in the five subject areas, while Hispanic students overall scored between 49% (math) and 56% (science).

Meanwhile, Asian students scored 86% pass rates in reading and math and 89% in science (fewer than 100 Asian students took the writing or history/social sciences exams), while white students scored 81% in math, 85% in reading and 86% in science (few took writing or history/social science exams).

In Henrico, girls outperformed boys in two of the four statistically significant exam subjects (reading – 73% to 67%; and science – 72% to 70%), while the two groups had the same pass rates in the math (65%) and history/social sciences (44%) exams.

Despite modest improvements in reading and science, economically disadvantaged students still struggled (with pass rates of 54% in reading and science and 48% in math).

Individual school results vary significantly

Scores generally demonstrated the continuation of an ongoing theme in the county, with schools in the wealthiest areas of the West End generally achieving the highest pass rates and those in the poorest areas of the county, or those with large immigrant and refugee populations, generally witnessing the lowest rates.

The highest-scoring elementary school overall was Rivers Edge in Glen Allen, where the lowest student pass rate was 90% in fourth-grade math and the highest was 95% in third-grade math. No other school of any type in the county achieved pass rates of at least 90% in all of its exams.

Tuckahoe Elementary (with pass rates between 87% and 98%) and Nuckols Farm Elementary (pass rates between 88% and 97%) also were top performers at the elementary level. Nuckols Farm improved in six of the seven exams taken by more than 100 students and remained the same in the other two.

Short Pump Middle was the most consistent among the county’s middle schools, with pass rates below 80% on only one of 10 exams. Conversely, Rolfe Middle School students achieved pass rates of above 50% on only two of 10 exams.

At the high school level, scores varied wildly at most schools, in part because certain exams were taken only by a handful of students. But among exams taken by at least 100 students, Godwin students achieved the most consistently strong pass rates (between 76% and 99% on five such exams). Henrico High School students fared the worst on such tests, scoring between 45% and 74% on four.

Ten schools in the county (all elementary schools in the West End) achieved student pass rates of at least 80% or higher on all of their exams:

• Echo Lake (lowest pass rate – 83%)
• Gayton (87%)
• Kaechele (88%)
• Nuckols Farm (88%)
• Pemberton (83%)
• Rivers Edge (92%)
• Shady Grove (85%)
• Short Pump ES (80%)
• Tuckahoe ES (87%)
• Twin Hickory (86%).

Conversely, seven other schools (all elementaries and all Title I schools last school year) witnessed no student pass rates higher than 50%:

• Dumbarton (highest pass rate – 50%);
• Johnson (43%);
• Glen Lea (38%);
• Highland Springs (41%);
• Laburnum (46%);
• Ratcliffe (50%);
• Ridge (42%).

Title I schools receive additional federal funding because at least 40% of their students qualify for free or reduced lunches; Henrico had 22 Title I elementary schools last school year, but as of June, Johnson and Seven Pines no longer qualify.

Among those 22 schools last year, Harvie Elementary School in Eastern Henrico showed the best across-the-board pass rates; between 63% and 73% of Harvie students passed each of the seven SOLs they took. Harvie students improved on six of their seven exams from the previous year – and did so by more than 11% on three of them.

Students at Eastern Henrico’s Ashe Elementary also performed well, with pass rates between 55% and 72% on the same seven exams.

Among tests taken by at least 100 students, some of the most significant year-over-year gains were these:

• Rolfe Middle School students improved by 28% on the end-of-course earth science exam (to a pass rate of 59%);

• Highland Springs Elementary School students improved by 27% on the third-grade math exam (to 41%);

• Fair Oaks Elementary School students improved by 23% on the fifth-grade math exam (to 58%);

• Deep Run High School students improved by 21% on end-of-course World History II (to 68%);

• Maybeury Elementary School students improved by 21% on the fifth-grade math exam (to 88%);

• Ward Elementary School students improved by 19% on the fifth-grade reading exam (to 72%);

• Brookland Middle School students improved by 18% on the eighth-grade science exam (to 44%);

• Holladay Elementary School students improved by 18% on both the fifth-grade math and science exams (to 61% in both cases);

• Rolfe Middle School students improved by 14% on the sixth-grade reading exam (to 49%);

• Brookland Middle School students improved by 13% on the eighth-grade reading exam (to 50%).

On the flip side, some of the most significant declines from the previous year on tests taken by at least 100 students were these:

• Glen Lea Elementary fifth-grade science students witnessed a 28% drop in their pass rate (to 21%);

• Longdale Elementary fifth-grade math students witnessed a 27% drop (to 46%);

• Donahoe Elementary third-grade math students witnessed a 22% drop (to 36%);

• Baker Elementary third-graders saw a 20% drop in reading (to 30%).

Performance assessments used in lieu of some SOLs

During each of the past two school years, Henrico Schools officials have opted to take advantage of state-granted opportunities to use performance assessments in lieu of traditional SOL exams in certain courses. For example, during the 2024-25 school year, Henrico did so for students in third-grade science, Virginia studies, civics and economics, end-of-course social studies and end-of-course writing.

Most students who complete performance assessments do not receive “pass rates,” per se, because the assessments are embedded throughout the curriculum of a course and scored like other classroom assignments, according to Henrico Schools spokesperson Eileen Cox.

The exceptions are end-of-course writing and end-of-course World History I, both of which do provide students with a “proficiency determination,” Cox said, because those are tied to verified credit needed for high school graduation. During the ’24-’25 school year, the end-of-course writing initial pass rate was 72% (among just more than 3,700 students), while the end-of-course World History I pass rate was 90.7% (among just more than 3,800 students), she said.

All students who have earned a verified credit in a high school science, math or social studies course no longer are eligible to take an end-of-course SOL exam, Cox said, which accounts for lower participation rates in certain SOL exams in those subjects. But some of those who still need a credit in one of those subjects do take those SOLs.

And, students at Freeman, Hermitage, Henrico, Highland Springs, Tucker and Varina high schools who last school year still needed a verified credit in social studies earned it through participation in performance assessments in Virginia and US History, rather than through an SOL exam, Cox said.