Kuliso
Here's something we see constantly in Virginia classrooms: a student who can reason through a math problem fluently — in Spanish, in Vietnamese, in Arabic — completely locks up when the same problem is presented in English on a SOL test. Teachers look at the score and assume there's a learning gap. There usually isn't. There's a language gap. And those are very different problems with very different solutions.
This distinction matters enormously. If you treat a language barrier as a knowledge gap, you end up remediating things the student already knows. Instead, you need to close the language barrier — which is exactly what these four strategies are designed to do.
Why SOL Tests Hit Multilingual Students Harder
SOL test items carry a hidden language burden that goes beyond vocabulary. A fifth-grade math SOL might include phrases like "evaluate the expression" or "determine the relationship between the quantities." These are academic English phrases — not everyday English — and they require a specific kind of comprehension that develops slowly, even for students who are otherwise conversational in English.
Add time pressure, unfamiliar question formats, and the stress of a high-stakes assessment, and you've created conditions where a student's best knowledge gets buried under language complexity.
The goal isn't to make tests easier for ELL students. The goal is to build the scaffolds that let them show what they know.
4 Strategies for SOL Success with Multilingual Students
Pre-teach the Vocabulary — Before the Test, Not During
Academic language on SOL tests includes heavy domain-specific vocabulary. Pre-teaching these terms — in context, with visual supports — gives students a fighting chance at comprehension before they even open the test booklet.
- Build a pre-test vocabulary list: pull terms from released SOL items and your curriculum guides
- Use word walls, visual glossaries, and cognate charts (English / home language)
- Teach words in context: don't define "variable" in isolation — show it in an equation, then in a word problem
- Repeat exposure: introduce terms 1–2 weeks before the test, then revisit daily
Leverage Native Language as a Scaffold, Not a Crutch
The research is consistent: students who are allowed to process new content in their home language first develop stronger understanding of that content in English. The key is the transfer — practice in L1, demonstrate in L2.
- Allow students to read and annotate problems in their home language first
- Have students solve problems in their home language, then translate the reasoning process (not the answer)
- Use bilingual glossaries during practice — not during the actual SOL test, but as a training tool
- Pair ELL students strategically: native-language partner for problem-solving, English-only partner for test simulation
Practice in L1, Test in L2 — Then Debrief in Both
This is one of the highest-leverage moves for SOL preparation. Run practice assessments entirely in the student's home language (or with bilingual supports), then do a focused debrief session that bridges to English terminology. Students build conceptual confidence without the language barrier — and then learn to map that confidence onto English phrasing.
- Use translated practice tests or bilingual practice platforms during preparation phase
- After practice, explicitly map L1 concepts to L2 vocabulary: "In English, we call this a variable — remember when we solved for x in your language?"
- Build a personal glossary with the student: key terms in English + home language + simple visual example
- Simulate SOL conditions in English only in the final week before testing — so the language shift isn't a shock on test day
Use Language-Modified Released Items for Practice
VDOE releases SOL items from prior years — and these are gold for ELL preparation. Use them in two modes:
- For comprehension practice: Work through released items with students, teaching them to identify the language-heavy parts of each question stem
- For test-taking strategy: Train students to strip away unnecessary language complexity and identify what the question is actually asking
- Create a "question stem cheat sheet" — a reference card showing common academic phrases and what they mean in plain language (e.g., "evaluate" = "find the value of")
- Practice with released items under timed conditions in the final 2 weeks so students feel comfortable with the format
How Kuliso's SOL Practice Engine Helps
Kuliso's SOL Practice Engine was built with multilingual learners in mind. It includes language scaffolding at the item level — vocabulary supports, translated practice options, and an interface that lets students build confidence before being measured under English-only conditions.
It also generates targeted practice based on student performance data, so you're not practicing everything — you're practicing exactly what each student needs. For ELL students, that means targeting the specific language-heavy SOL items where comprehension breaks down, not the content they've already mastered.
Think of it as another tool in your kit — not a replacement for good teaching.
One more detail worth knowing: Virginia SOL assessments for grades 3–8 math and reading are computer adaptive tests (CAT) — the difficulty of each question adjusts in real time based on the student's previous answers. NWEA MAP Growth uses the same format. Kuliso's adaptive engine works the same way, so by the time students face these assessments, the mechanic itself isn't unfamiliar. See how Kuliso aligns with CAT-format assessments →
Ready to try it with your students?
Kuliso's SOL Practice Engine gives multilingual students structured, adaptive test prep — including native language scaffolding and language-modified practice items.
Try Kuliso's SOL Practice Engine → See pricing