Why do some parents dislike the SOLs so very much?

[Anonymous]

Have any of you actually READ the tests?

READ the practice items. Read the released tests (though none of the released tests yet reflect the new "rigor" of the past two years.)

I challenge you to read the Grade 3 Reading sample test and believe that this is a valuable and valid measure of a 3rd grade child's reading ability or the quality of a 3rd grade teacher:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

(Scroll down to Grade 3 reading practice items. The link will open in a new window. The guide, with answers, is in a .pdf on the same row.)

This whole discussion is really totally moot unless you have some sense of the content and tasks in the tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all feel about VA getting rid of the writing test in 5th grade. Now there isn't a writing test till 8th grade? Your child won't have an actual writing test for 9 years of schooling.

Um. Every time your child's teacher assesses his or her writing, it's an actual writing test. You don't need a private for-profit company to assign a meaningless writing assignment to your child and have people hired off Craigslist to score it in order to have something count as a "writing test".

Umm. My child's teacher barely teaches writing and it was the same the year before that and the year before that. Maybe one three word assessment once a month and of course the number grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you actually READ the tests?

READ the practice items. Read the released tests (though none of the released tests yet reflect the new "rigor" of the past two years.)

I challenge you to read the Grade 3 Reading sample test and believe that this is a valuable and valid measure of a 3rd grade child's reading ability or the quality of a 3rd grade teacher:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

(Scroll down to Grade 3 reading practice items. The link will open in a new window. The guide, with answers, is in a .pdf on the same row.)

This whole discussion is really totally moot unless you have some sense of the content and tasks in the tests.

I don't think it's a good indicator of a child's teacher, but yes, I think it's fine as a basic standard for learning.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons they did away with the writing test was because it was time consuming and teachers were complaining the test was given too early. It's a standardized test similar to an IOWA test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you actually READ the tests?

READ the practice items. Read the released tests (though none of the released tests yet reflect the new "rigor" of the past two years.)

I challenge you to read the Grade 3 Reading sample test and believe that this is a valuable and valid measure of a 3rd grade child's reading ability or the quality of a 3rd grade teacher:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

(Scroll down to Grade 3 reading practice items. The link will open in a new window. The guide, with answers, is in a .pdf on the same row.)

This whole discussion is really totally moot unless you have some sense of the content and tasks in the tests.

I don't think it's a good indicator of a child's teacher, but yes, I think it's fine as a basic standard for learning.

One that you are ok with teacher's wasting weeks of time prepping for? My daughter's science teacher (8th grade) had been prepping them for weeks, including Saturday sessions.

[Anonymous]

No, not weeks, but when parents advocate that more than one year be covered in an SOL test, they run the risk of that teacher having to review more than one year's worth of material. Here's a teacher complaining about that very thing.

As a teacher, this really frustrates me. Not just the fact that you encouraged your daughter to blow off her review guides, but that you think SOLs are more a test for how "good" a teacher is. I teach 8th grade science, and the science VA SOL in 8th grade tests 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science. I give review packets because these kids are being tested on science they haven't seen for 3 years (and may never have seen it, depending on how high a priority science was in their ES). It is frustrating in the extreme when students do not do them-while we go over them in class, I do not have the time to re-teach 2 additional years worth of science. When kids blow off these reviews, yes, it does affect their overall score, and then parents like you see lower marks, and assume it is the teacher's fault. That is not fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you actually READ the tests?

READ the practice items. Read the released tests (though none of the released tests yet reflect the new "rigor" of the past two years.)

I challenge you to read the Grade 3 Reading sample test and believe that this is a valuable and valid measure of a 3rd grade child's reading ability or the quality of a 3rd grade teacher:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

(Scroll down to Grade 3 reading practice items. The link will open in a new window. The guide, with answers, is in a .pdf on the same row.)

This whole discussion is really totally moot unless you have some sense of the content and tasks in the tests.

I don't think it's a good indicator of a child's teacher, but yes, I think it's fine as a basic standard for learning.

Did you actually read the passages and the questions? Did you get the right answers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have any of you actually READ the tests?

READ the practice items. Read the released tests (though none of the released tests yet reflect the new "rigor" of the past two years.)

I challenge you to read the Grade 3 Reading sample test and believe that this is a valuable and valid measure of a 3rd grade child's reading ability or the quality of a 3rd grade teacher:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/

(Scroll down to Grade 3 reading practice items. The link will open in a new window. The guide, with answers, is in a .pdf on the same row.)

This whole discussion is really totally moot unless you have some sense of the content and tasks in the tests.

I don't think it's a good indicator of a child's teacher, but yes, I think it's fine as a basic standard for learning.

Did you actually read the passages and the questions? Did you get the right answers?

Yes, I did and actually one of my children is a 3rd grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It stresses my kid out. And it's not really a test about her and what she's learned. It's a test of the school and how they did. Why should she have to get all worried and worked up about it?

So if your child got passed advanced on every SOL test, it would only be due to the school and not your child, right? Would you tell her that she got passed advanced at all?

I've been proud of her scores and shared them with her. But I don't understand your point. These tests aren't for us to validate how well she's learning. We already know that based on her grades. Uncle Sam wants these tests. Why should I allow the govt to decide to give my kid a test she would rather not take? It doesn't actually teach her anything - it actually detracts from classroom time that could be spent more productively, How is the SOL good for my child? If she'd rather not take it, why force her?

What if your child would rather not do her homework or turn it in? What if she would rather not take the end of unit test? FCPS is not a child driven educational model. Do you spend all day doing whatever you want to do all day? That is a privilege only for the rich.

As her parent, I decide what she must do and what she doesn't have to do. Homework and school work tests are required by the school and by me. No she doesn't do what she wants all day.

Homework (a reasonable amount) and classroom tests are an integral part of her learning. SOLs are not.