State of Our Schools Update: Manassas SOL Scores Rise in Reading, Math and Science

Virginia has released the 2025-26 Standards of Learning results, and Manassas City Public Schools improved in reading, mathematics and science.

Division-wide reading pass rates rose from 55% to 57%, mathematics from 57% to 59%, and science from 48% to 52%.

The results provide the first academic update since the Manassas Journal established its State of Our Schools baseline in August, allowing readers to see how the division changed from one testing year to the next.

The results do not, by themselves, explain why performance changed. They also are not the same as Virginia’s broader school-accountability results, which are expected in October.

2-Minute Brief

MANASSAS CITY: Reading increased from 55% to 57%, mathematics from 57% to 59%, and science from 48% to 52%.

YEAR-TO-YEAR CHANGE: That represents increases of 2 percentage points in reading, 2 points in mathematics and 4 points in science.

WHY THIS IS AN UPDATE: These are the first new academic results since the Journal established its State of Our Schools baseline in August.

REGIONAL CONTEXT: Manassas remains below Virginia’s statewide pass rates and the larger Northern Virginia school divisions included in the Journal’s August comparison.

WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN: An SOL pass rate is the percentage of tested students who met Virginia’s passing standard. Division-wide figures combine results from multiple grades and applicable high school course tests.

WHAT THE NUMBERS DO NOT SHOW: The results show what changed, but they do not by themselves explain why performance rose or fell.

WHAT CHANGES NEXT: Beginning in 2026-27, Virginia is phasing in higher standards for reading and mathematics. That will affect how future results should be compared with earlier years.

WHAT’S NEXT: Virginia plans to release its broader school accountability results in October. Those results use several measures, not SOL pass rates alone.

What Changed in Manassas

Manassas City’s year-to-year results are:

Subject	2024-25	2025-26	Change
Reading	55%	57%	+2 points
Mathematics	57%	59%	+2
Science	48%	52%	+4

These are percentage-point changes. Moving from 55% to 57%, for example, is an increase of two percentage points.

The largest increase was in science, where the division-wide pass rate rose four points, from 48% to 52%.

How Manassas Compares Regionally

The Journal used a regional comparison in August to place Manassas results alongside nearby school divisions and the statewide results.

Here are the updated 2025-26 pass rates:

School division	Reading	Mathematics	Science
Loudoun County	83%	82%	80%
Fairfax County	80%	80%	76%
Prince William County	73%	74%	74%
Virginia	74%	73%	71%
Manassas Park City	58%	58%	55%
Manassas City	57%	59%	52%

The figures come from the Virginia Department of Education, Virginia School Quality Profiles and the school divisions’ published 2025-26 results.

The table provides context, not a ranking. School divisions differ in enrollment, student populations and other characteristics. The comparison answers a narrower question: using the same state testing system, what percentage of tested students met Virginia’s passing standard?

For additional local context, Manassas Park’s reading pass rate increased from 57% to 58% and mathematics increased from 56% to 58%. Science moved from 56% to 55%.

What Is an SOL Pass Rate?

SOL stands for Standards of Learning.

Virginia sets standards for what students are expected to know in subjects including reading, mathematics and science. State assessments measure student performance against those standards.

A pass rate is the percentage of students who took the applicable assessment and earned a score meeting the state’s passing standard.

The division-wide figure is a broad measure. It combines results from several grades and, at the high school level, applicable end-of-course tests. VDOE also reports results by individual school, test and student group.

That is why a 59% division-wide mathematics pass rate does not mean every school or grade in Manassas had a 59% pass rate.

Virginia Is Changing the Standard

The 2025-26 results are the last before Virginia begins changing the passing standards for most reading and mathematics SOL tests.

Beginning in 2026-27, Virginia will phase in higher score requirements over several years.

During that transition, the state will also use a temporary “pass/approaching” category for some students who meet the current passing standard but have not yet reached the new proficiency level.

In plain language, next year’s results will not be directly comparable with this year’s numbers without considering the change in scoring standards.

SOL Scores Are Not the Same as School Accountability Results

Another set of school results is expected in October.

Virginia plans to release the 2025-26 School Performance and Support Framework, or SPSF, results. The framework combines several measures of school performance rather than relying on SOL pass rates alone. Measures vary by school level and can include academic mastery, growth in reading and mathematics, readiness and graduation.

The two measurements answer different questions:

SOL pass rate: What percentage of tested students met Virginia’s passing standard?

School Performance and Support Framework: How did an individual school perform across the broader set of measures used by the state?

Virginia has also changed two of the framework’s category names for the fall 2026 release. “Off Track” becomes “Approaching Expectations,” and “On Track” becomes “Meets Expectations.”

The Manassas Journal will report those results separately when they are released.