VGA scores - “At risk”

[Anonymous]

I’m an APS teacher and we are also so confused about the vga benchmarks. If the tests for fall and winter are different content, how can the vertical score benchmarks be the same? And it doesn’t make sense that kids that are deemed “proficient” and “on track to pass” the SOL on the new nwea map are super low and at risk on the vga. Especially if these same kids got 425+ on the previous year SOL and have never had any issues meeting standards or passing other benchmark tests. It’s too much conflicting information and they keep changing the assessment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an APS teacher and we are also so confused about the vga benchmarks. If the tests for fall and winter are different content, how can the vertical score benchmarks be the same? And it doesn’t make sense that kids that are deemed “proficient” and “on track to pass” the SOL on the new nwea map are super low and at risk on the vga. Especially if these same kids got 425+ on the previous year SOL and have never had any issues meeting standards or passing other benchmark tests. It’s too much conflicting information and they keep changing the assessment.

I thought the fall test was basically whether they had the skills to learn the upcoming grade's material (i.e., they knew the prior year's content) and the winter assessment is progress towards the spring SOL knowledge. You can't compare those scores.

[Anonymous]

Correct. We know they shouldn’t be comparable. But the benchmarks are the same according to vdoe. They haven’t changed from fall to winter in terms of the 3 categories of scores and the actual score benchmarks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct. We know they shouldn’t be comparable. But the benchmarks are the same according to vdoe. They haven’t changed from fall to winter in terms of the 3 categories of scores and the actual score benchmarks.

This makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

They shouldn’t be comparable, yet parents are literally given a graph showing how much the score changed from fall to winter…..

[Anonymous]

My kid is in APS second grade, so I think these SOL and VGA tests start next year, but I haven't heard anything about them. I'm trying to get a sense of how much they matter: what's at stake, what downstream decisions depend on the scores? Thanks for humoring such a basic, clueless question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in APS second grade, so I think these SOL and VGA tests start next year, but I haven't heard anything about them. I'm trying to get a sense of how much they matter: what's at stake, what downstream decisions depend on the scores? Thanks for humoring such a basic, clueless question.

They don’t really matter except they can identify an at risk kid who needs intervention. What matters most is passing the SOL at the end of the year, and meeting Dibels and map benchmarks. And in 3rd even the first vga is based on grade level material since there are no 2nd grade SOL tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in APS second grade, so I think these SOL and VGA tests start next year, but I haven't heard anything about them. I'm trying to get a sense of how much they matter: what's at stake, what downstream decisions depend on the scores? Thanks for humoring such a basic, clueless question.

They don’t really matter except they can identify an at risk kid who needs intervention. What matters most is passing the SOL at the end of the year, and meeting Dibels and map benchmarks. And in 3rd even the first vga is based on grade level material since there are no 2nd grade SOL tests.

DP. And really, passing the SOL at the elementary level only matters for the school, not the individual child, with the exception that the 5th grade math SOL informs 6th grade math placement. Seeing your kid’s SOL score might be informative, but nothing “happens” if they fail in elementary. In fact, parents are free to opt their kids out of SOLs.

In high school, though, students must pass some SOLs to graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They shouldn’t be comparable, yet parents are literally given a graph showing how much the score changed from fall to winter…..

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

So bottom line I should not worry if my kids score fell and they are now at risk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So bottom line I should not worry if my kids score fell and they are now at risk?

I would ask the teacher at the conferences coming up this month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So bottom line I should not worry if my kids score fell and they are now at risk?

I wouldn't worry about scores falling, but would absolutely bring up at the conference if a kid drops into the at risk category.

[Anonymous]

I just came onto DCUM to post this same question... glad I am not the only one. My 7th grader is showing as "at risk" even though she has an A in her pre-algebra class and doesn't seem to be struggling. Oddly, her fall score on the APS report chart also showed "at risk" but nobody at Swanson ever flagged that to us.

I guess an alternative interpretation is that APS is behind other Virginia school districts in where they should be on the content for the year (i.e., other school districts have already covered more VGA-tested material, and therefore those kids are getting higher scores). That's not good either.

[Anonymous]

Sounds terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just came onto DCUM to post this same question... glad I am not the only one. My 7th grader is showing as "at risk" even though she has an A in her pre-algebra class and doesn't seem to be struggling. Oddly, her fall score on the APS report chart also showed "at risk" but nobody at Swanson ever flagged that to us.

I guess an alternative interpretation is that APS is behind other Virginia school districts in where they should be on the content for the year (i.e., other school districts have already covered more VGA-tested material, and therefore those kids are getting higher scores). That's not good either.

At risk for the 7th grade VGA or for the 8th grade VGA? If she took the 8th grade version she might be at grade level for a 7th grader.