SOL scores exceed state average in New Kent; Charles City scores perfect passing rate in four categories

New Kent County public schools Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores surpassed the state average while Charles City County public schools achieved perfect pass rates in four categories as data from the 2014-15 school year was released on Aug. 10.

In New Kent, all 29 areas topped the 70 percentile pass rate, with 26 of those areas eclipsing the 80-point achievement barrier. Top areas of scoring include a 97 percent achievement rate in the subject of geography and a pass rate of 94 percent in Algebra I. Other subjects that saw a 90 percent or more pass rate are end-of-course reading (92), civics & economics (91), Virginia Studies (92), World History II (93), grade four mathematics (93), and chemistry (91). Other impressive numbers include high advanced-pass rates in the area of Virginia Studies (50 percent), grade five mathematics (39 percent), civics and economics (33 percent), and fifth grade reading (32 percent). New Kent schools saw score increases in 25 of the testing areas.

“I am ecstatic of what staff has done, but more importantly the students’ performance,” said New Kent superintendent of schools David Myers. “The students put in the hard work and we have nowhere to go but up from here.

“It was important to look at the state average,” Myers continued. “We surpassed the state average in all categories as well as had nearly nine to ten percent increases in a few of those areas.

“The schools were above the state average by a couple of points last year, but because of the students and educational teams and support staff, we surpassed the average,” Myers concluded.

Charles City schools also had reason to celebrate, posting perfect pass rates in four categories.

Subjects reaching the 100 percent plateau include World History I, Algebra II, chemistry, and earth science. High rates of advanced passing were achieved in the areas of Virginia Studies (48 percent) and grade five mathematics (26 percent).

“It is really the efforts of teachers who have helped these students accomplish these achievements,” said Charles City superintendent of schools David Gaston. “They put in a lot of after school hours and after work hours to grab the students attention.

“Teachers bounced ideas off each other and the kids responded,” he continued. “It is a pretty amazing thing, especially to see a perfect score in a subject such as Algebra II.

Charles City students fared well in the area of social studies, but found difficulty overall in the other categories. Overall, Charles City surpassed the 70 percentile mark in 17 of the 29 testing subjects. Charles City schools showed improvement in 11 areas of testing.

“We have rewritten the curriculum for mathematics and English for grades 6-12 this year,” said Gaston, pointing on strategies to improve test scores. “It is much better and much more oriented to suit both the teachers and students.

“The leadership team will be helping rewrite curriculum for grades 3-5,” he continued. “Planning this curriculum is going to get everybody together who teach that subject and we are going to capitalize with teachers teaming together for the better of our students.”

New Kent County SOL scores

Charles City County SOL scores