VIRGINIA GROWTH ASSESSMENT (VGA) SCORE REPORT

Combined Fall and Winter VGA Results                  Current School: ___________

To the Parents/Guardians of: _______________ SID: _______ GRD: ___

This letter provides information about your student’s performance on Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA) tests this year. State law requires schools to give VGA reading and mathematics tests in the fall and winter for all students who are scheduled to take grade 3-8 Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. The purpose of the VGA assessment is to measure student growth and progress within the school year. The Virginia Standards of Accreditation (SOA) also recognize this growth as one component when measuring school success. 

Your student’s results are reported below for all VGA tests this school year. There is no “passing” or “failing” outcome for the VGA. The vertical scaled score shows growth across time. You can compare your student’s fall and winter vertical scaled score to see what growth may be evident. The bottom of each table gives the number of items your student answered correctly out of the total items in each reporting category. A value of “NA” in the table means the student did not complete that assessment, including students enrolled in a high school credit-bearing math course.

Most students’ vertical scaled score will increase throughout the school year. However, remember that each VGA test reflects performance on a single day. School staff use VGA information together with other available data for a more complete picture of students’ academic progress. For more information about your student’s learning progress in reading and mathematics or performance on the VGA tests, please talk to your student’s teacher. Information about how the state measures student growth will be posted on the VGA Score Reports webpage (http://www.fcps.edu/node/43938) when it is released

See this webpage for Digital Resources to Support Student Learning at Home: 

https://www.fcps.edu/node/47089

The method used to measure student growth based on VGA and SOL vertical scaled scores is changing for 2022-23. The Virginia Board of Education is scheduled to review the proposed new method for measuring growth as part of its March 2023 business meeting. The new growth measure approach is expected to be approved and adopted in the Virginia Board's April 2023 business meeting. Once approved, the new method will be communicated here.

This change in the growth measure approach is necessary because:

• Winter VGA tests were introduced for the first time
• Fall VGA tests were completely revised to primarily assess standards for the student's current course, while including computer-adaptive items above and/or below grade level
• Spring SOL tests have been revised to incorporate items above and/or below grade level

VGA tests reflect performance on a single day. VGA results should be used alongside other available data for a more complete picture of students’ academic progress.

There could be a number of reasons why a vertical scaled score might decline from the Fall test to the Winter test. For example, the student may have: 

• Not felt well or have been unmotivated during the Winter test, leading to a score lower than their Fall performance; 
• Received comparatively more questions on the Winter for benchmarks/indicators they had not yet been taught or with which they were less familiar
  • Even though the Fall and Winter tests use the same blueprint and present the same number of questions within a standard, the distribution questions for specific benchmarks/indicators varies.
  • Keep in mind that VGA tests ask questions on standards for the entire school year. This means that students have not yet received instruction for all the assessed standards when they take their VGA tests.  

The shaded rows in the VGA score report letter mailed to families gives the number of items your student answered correctly out of the total questions asked for each test reporting category. 

Remember that your student saw different questions on the Fall and Winter tests, and these questions may have had different difficulty levels. Reviewing the number of items correct in Fall and in Winter may help you reflect on areas of strength and possible need for your student. Keep in mind that the VGA asks questions from the entire curriculum, including some standards that will not be taught until later in the school year,

Each VGA test reflects performance on a single day and should be used alongside other available data for a more complete picture of academic performance and needs. To learn more about how your student is progressing in reading and mathematics, please talk to your student’s teacher.

If you would like to receive more details about your student’s VGA responses, you may request a copy of your student’s VGA Fall and Winter Student Detail by Question (SDBQ) reports from the School Test Coordinator.

VDOE has released guidance on how vertical scaled scores from each fall and winter VGA test compare to student performance across Virginia. 

To use the tables below, follow these steps:

1. Find the row for the Grade Level Growth Test that is named on your student's VGA score report. 
2. Follow the row from left to right to identify which column your student's score falls within. 
3. Refer to the column header to know what percentile range applies to your student's score. Remember that percentiles are not the same as the percent correct.
   • For the 0-24th percentile column, it means the score fell in the lowest 25 percent of all scores across the state for that testing window.
   • For the 75-99th percentile column, it means the score fell in the highest 25 percent of all scores across the state for that testing window.
   • For the two middle columns, it means the score fell in the middle 50 percent of all scores across the state for that testing window.

Reading VGA Percentile Ranges for Vertical Scaled Scores in Fall and Winter 2022-23

 Mathematics VGA Percentile Ranges for Vertical Scaled Scores in Fall and Winter 2022-23

There are no “passing” or “failing” scores for VGA tests, and VDOE has not communicated what scores should be expected for students during the 2022-23 Fall and Winter testing windows. Therefore, at this time it is not possible to say whether a student’s Fall or Winter performance is “on track” for end-of-year expectations, as measured by Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. 

Although VGA scores cannot be used to predict how a student will perform on the Spring SOL test, families may wish to reference the end-of-year proficiency (EOY) proficiency range that will be used for Spring 2023 SOL tests for a sense of how current VGA scores relate to SOL expectations.

To use the tables below, follow these steps:

1. Find the row for the Grade Level Growth Test that is named on your student's VGA score report. Note this test level may be different for Reading and Mathematics based on your student's math course enrollment.
2. Reference the Reading and Mathematics targets for an idea of how your student's VGA scores relate to expectations for end-of-year SOLs.

REFERENCE ONLY - SOL End-of-Year Proficiency Targets for Vertical Scaled Scores (revised 3/16/23)

FCPS streamlines families’ access to student academic information through our division’s Student Information System (SIS) ParentVUE. By providing academic records all within this system, families have fewer logins to keep track of and can view information for all of their children in the same session. FCPS staff are in the process of building direct access to VGA score reports and VGA test history within SIS ParentVUE. This access is expected to be in place for school year 2023-24. In the meantime, VGA score reports are available in paper format delivered via U.S. Mail.

FCPS does not use the state parent portal because of accessibility limitations and our division effort to streamline parent reporting through SIS secure access whenever possible.

The VDOE Parent & Caregiver Resources for Virginia Assessments webpage provides additional information about the design and purpose of growth assessments and computer adaptive testing.