Transparency and Accountability Where Local Systems Fell Short

by Todd Truitt

My guest commentary this week in the Richmond Times-Dispatch expresses thankfulness for Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. Before statewide testing, local assessments often masked poor performance and hid achievement gaps from parents and policymakers. The SOLs brought essential transparency and continue to keep struggling kids visible and schools accountable.

You can read the full OpEd here.

Key points from the commentary:

• Districts cannot serve as their own judges of success — statewide standardized testing is essential to provide honest, comparable information to the general public.
• Standardized tests provide a clear, external check that more subjective alternatives cannot reliably match.
• True educational equity requires honest measurement of achievement gaps to better target resources.

Virginia is currently updating its SOLs with more rigorous content standards (adopted in recent years), new aligned assessments, and higher cut scores for proficiency — demonstrating a continued commitment to raising expectations and using objective measures to drive improvement.

This perspective aligns with recent developments in higher education. Just this week, more than 1,000 University of California STEM faculty (as of the publishing of this article) signed an open letter urging reinstatement of SAT/ACT math scores for STEM admissions, citing severe preparation gaps and the need for reliable readiness measures amid grade inflation. Yale similarly reinstated standardized testing requirements this week, recognizing their predictive value for student success.

Some adults working inside the K-12 system have long complained about standardized testing, with arguments often centering adult comfort over results for students. For instance, see a former school superintendent’s guest commentary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch earlier this year. Generally never mentioned in such complaints is the strong support for objective statewide testing from prominent civil rights organizations, as well as the key role played by Virginia Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott. In 2015, Rep. Scott helped ensure that annual summative testing requirements survived in the Every Student Succeeds Act when it replaced No Child Left Behind.

My OpEd resulted in some good commentary on X (f/k/a Twitter). Here’s former Virginia Board of Education member, and prominent national Democratic education leader, Andy Rotherham:

Here’s former Virginia Department of Education spokesperson (and prior Bacon’s Rebellion contributor) Charles Pyle:

Perfect cannot be the enemy of good. Virginia’s SOLs have been a net positive force for students and families. We should be grateful for the clear data they deliver and the accountability they provide. Honest measurement remains one of the best tools we have to ensure every Virginia public school student gets the education they deserve.