Skip to main content

Virginia School Consortium for Learning

Assessment Bank Overview

VaSCL’s Balanced Assessment services support member divisions with a comprehensive approach to high-quality, standards-aligned assessment. This work includes:

  • Free Assessment Bank
    A robust, SOL-aligned assessment bank is available at no cost to member divisions. It includes field-tested test items and performance tasks grounded in best learning practices.
  • Assessment Workgroups
    Educators and leaders from member divisions can join professional workgroups to deepen assessment literacy. These collaborative teams design, test, and refine assessments for inclusion in the bank, building capacity across Virginia.
  • Leadership Development
    Workgroup members develop the skills to lead balanced assessment efforts within their own divisions—using the VaSCL model to support formative, summative, and intervention practices through professional learning communities.
Virginia Assessment Collaborative
In the 2025–2026 school year, the VaSCL Assessment Collaborative expands assessment literacy and improve practice statewide. At the heart of this initiative is a commitment to Caring Assessment Practices—shifting classroom culture through learner-centered assessment. Key shifts include:
  • Reframing Assessment Language and Purpose
    Help students build confidence and see assessment as a tool for learning, not a label of ability.
  • Student Engagement in the Assessment Cycle
    Involve students in setting goals, giving and receiving feedback, and codesigning assessment experiences that promote agency, growth, and belonging.
  • Improved Outcomes
    Foster significant growth through use of both SOL assessments and performance tasks to foster learning over grading.
  • Rigor with Purpose
    Deepen students' thinking and durable skill development by aligning revised SOL-aligned assessments with real-world competencies, conceptual understanding, and knowledge.

What is the Assessment Bank?

The VaSCL Assessment Bank offers exclusive access to over 10,000 items—including multiple-choice, constructed response, and technology-enhanced questions—alongside 175+ performance tasks with rubrics. All materials are aligned with the newly revised Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) across core content areas.

Designed to support instruction, differentiation, and intervention, the bank empowers educators to:

  • Conduct quick checks for individual and group progress toward standards mastery.
  • Build balanced unit assessments that address both knowledge and skill.
  • Ensure assessments meet the rigor required by each SOL standard.
Access and Integration
VaSCL member divisions can access the assessment bank through platforms including:
  • Performance Matters
  • Mastery Connect
  • Edulastic
  • Renaissance
For divisions not using these systems, materials are also available via Google Drive. Performance tasks are shared through a dedicated Google Site, and can be integrated into most virtual learning and student information systems.

What Are Assessment Workgroups?

VaSCL’s Balanced Assessment Workgroups build educator capacity to design and implement high-quality assessment practices across all content areas. In partnership with the Virginia Department of Education, VaSCL supports state and local efforts to rethink and improve assessment systems.

Workgroup members engage in professional learning while collaboratively developing a diverse bank of assessment items aligned to the Virginia Standards of Learning. These tools support daily classroom decisions, inform instruction, and guide broader decisions around grading, placement, and curriculum.

The Consortium Core Goal: empower educators to use assessment to deepen and extend learning for all students—ensuring every assessment is purposeful, aligned, and impactful.

How Are Assessment Workgroups Formed?

How Do Workgroups Function?

2025-2026 Work Group Meeting Schedule

  • September 24, 2025:
    New Members Only
    Virtual Workshop

    "Introduction to the Assesment Workgroup”
    Please choose one either 9:00 - 11:30 AM or 1:00 - 3:30 PM

  • September 25, 2025:
    In-Person Meeting
    Holiday Inn
    Charlottesville, VA

    9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    * lunch will be provided.

  • January 22, 2025:
    In-Person Meeting
    Holiday Inn
    Charlottesville, VA

    9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
    *lunch will be provided.

  • TBD:

    Virtual meetings to be determined based on needs of each workgroup.

Member Benefits

Educators who join VaSCL’s Balanced Assessment Workgroups gain:

  • Ongoing professional learning in a statewide community of practice
  • Collaboration with instructional leaders to address challenges and share strategies
  • Opportunities to design authentic assessments aligned to best practices and SOL standards

Member divisions consistently support participation, recognizing the high value of this experience for teachers, curriculum leaders, and instructional specialists across Virginia.

VaSCL Memos of Understanding with Assessment Platforms

VaSCL maintains Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with key assessment platforms to support member access and reduce costs:
  • Performance Matters (PowerSchool):
    VaSCL members receive discounted annual contract pricing.
  • Mastery Connect, Renaissance, and Edulastic:
    Members can access the VaSCL Assessment Bank within each platform.
  • For more information, contact:

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Assessment Coordinator
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Executive Director

Contact for More Information

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Assessment Coordinator (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)