Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) (Updated October 2023)

The New Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) is designed to evaluate the performance of students with significant cognitive disabilities instructed on academic standards that have been reduced in complexity and depth. This content is derived from the Standards of Learning (SOL) and is referred to as the Virginia Essentialized Standards of Learning (VESOL). Eligible students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8 and high school participating in the new VAAP online assessment will be assessed on VESOL in the content areas of reading, mathematics, and science.

Note: Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year and for eligible elementary and middle school students participating in VAAP, school divisions will collect student work to compile collections of evidence, score the collections of evidence using the existing VAAP scoring rubric and addendum, and report student performance to parents in elementary and middle school history/social science and grade 8 writing. The collections of evidence are to be based on the Aligned Standards of Learning (ASOL) for these content areas and levels.

• Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP)
• VAAP Learner Characteristics Inventory
• Teacher Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (Word)
• VAAP Participation Criteria Form (Word)
• VAAP Participation Criteria and the Determination of Significant Cognitive Disabilities (Word)
• VAAP Test Plan Template (Word)
• VESOL Instructional Resources for Reading, Mathematics and Science
• New! Sample Integrated Lesson Plans for Virginia Essentialized Standards of Learning (VESOL)
• Student Participation in the VAAP Resources
• ASOL Resources for Writing and History/Social Science