There is a problem with the Reading SOL in Virginia. Reading comprehension is a very subjective area of learning. Many different opinions can be expressed for a single question and the SOL doesn't take this into account. If your answer doesn't comply with the test maker's opinion, you lose the entire point. This can be catastrophic for creative thinkers who have unique opinions. Because there is no way to justify your answer, an answer could be wrong based on the answer key but easily justified by the test taker.

This is easily remedied. If they allow justification on the reading SOL, much better scores could be achieved. A simple way to do this would be to place an optional text box for justificationat the bottom of each question. If the student gets a question wrong, and the system records that a justification has been typed, then a human can review the justification to see if it is justified well enough and give the person the point or half a point for that question.