The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) in the areas of English, mathematics, history, social science, and science are intended “to set reasonable targets and expectations for what teachers are expected to teach and students are expected to learn” (see the Virginia SOL Technical Manual, May 2000, page 1). The SOL assessments measure students’ achievement of the Standards of Learning, adopted by the Board of Education in 1995, in the areas of English, mathematics, history/social science, and science at grades 3, 5, 8, and selected high school courses and technology at grades 5 and 8.

Merit’s Language Arts and Math software programs correlate to Virginia’s Standards of Learning and can help students prepare for the SOL assessments. The content and format of Merit’s programs can help students develop and strengthen their test-taking skills as well as their reading, writing and math skills.

Merit reading software has been proven -- through rigorous, scientifically based research -- to increase both student reading comprehension and standardized test scores. Merit research study findings reveal that education software is an effective tool to improve test scores and academic performance.



Published: January 2005