Elementary SOLs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do they withhold scores? Why are they secret?

I think: Partly so APS can spin the data into fancy presentations and let their PR team do their thing.

[Anonymous]

APS teacher here. We are told the scores are preliminary and ubtil the reports are released they are not final. So we aren’t supposed to share them. Only if the student can retake (375-399). Otherwise, pass or fail waits until summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. If they fail you find out same day. If pass, sometime in summer.

You find out right away IF they narrowly fail & can retake it. Not if they pass, or fail by a lot.

I found out this way. My kid is honor roll but narrowly failed the SOL. Principal called us to retake. Said no and asked for an IEP meeting. Maybe it was a bad test day or maybe my kid isn’t doing as well as the grades reflect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS teacher here. We are told the scores are preliminary and ubtil the reports are released they are not final. So we aren’t supposed to share them. Only if the student can retake (375-399). Otherwise, pass or fail waits until summer.

What do you mean they’re preliminary? Like, they can change?

Just be honest with people and give the scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS teacher here. We are told the scores are preliminary and ubtil the reports are released they are not final. So we aren’t supposed to share them. Only if the student can retake (375-399). Otherwise, pass or fail waits until summer.

What do you mean they’re preliminary? Like, they can change?

Just be honest with people and give the scores.

Yes the scores get scaled and some
Questions may be thrown out if a bunch of kids fail that question across the state. I’m
Not sure how long it takes to finalize.

[Anonymous]

At the middle school level in fccps the principal emailed out the scores. I really appreciated it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS teacher here. We are told the scores are preliminary and ubtil the reports are released they are not final. So we aren’t supposed to share them. Only if the student can retake (375-399). Otherwise, pass or fail waits until summer.

What do you mean they’re preliminary? Like, they can change?

Just be honest with people and give the scores.

Yes the scores get scaled and some
Questions may be thrown out if a bunch of kids fail that question across the state. I’m
Not sure how long it takes to finalize.

Why can other districts give scores quickly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS teacher here. We are told the scores are preliminary and ubtil the reports are released they are not final. So we aren’t supposed to share them. Only if the student can retake (375-399). Otherwise, pass or fail waits until summer.

What do you mean they’re preliminary? Like, they can change?

Just be honest with people and give the scores.

Yes the scores get scaled and some
Questions may be thrown out if a bunch of kids fail that question across the state. I’m
Not sure how long it takes to finalize.

Why can other districts give scores quickly?

I’m curious to know the results of those conditions… how often are questions actually thrown out? And what exactly happens in the “scale” process?

[Anonymous]

Every parent should be notified ASAP if their kid fails a SOL. Many parents will set up tutoring or testing over the summer so their kid is more likely to succeed the following year. By withholding the fail, you withhold important information that could be used to help students.

Even if scores could change, there's no reason to hold this data. The kid still got a low score, even if there is a small chance they could be bumped up to a low pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every parent should be notified ASAP if their kid fails a SOL. Many parents will set up tutoring or testing over the summer so their kid is more likely to succeed the following year. By withholding the fail, you withhold important information that could be used to help students.

Even if scores could change, there's no reason to hold this data. The kid still got a low score, even if there is a small chance they could be bumped up to a low pass.

Agree with this. My kid narrowly failed the SOLs last year and later in the summer we found out the specific standards they missed. We could have used the summer to focus on the weak areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every parent should be notified ASAP if their kid fails a SOL. Many parents will set up tutoring or testing over the summer so their kid is more likely to succeed the following year. By withholding the fail, you withhold important information that could be used to help students.

Even if scores could change, there's no reason to hold this data. The kid still got a low score, even if there is a small chance they could be bumped up to a low pass.

+1

It’s mind boggling that APS doesn’t do this. It’s common decency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every parent should be notified ASAP if their kid fails a SOL. Many parents will set up tutoring or testing over the summer so their kid is more likely to succeed the following year. By withholding the fail, you withhold important information that could be used to help students.

Even if scores could change, there's no reason to hold this data. The kid still got a low score, even if there is a small chance they could be bumped up to a low pass.

+1

It’s mind boggling that APS doesn’t do this. It’s common decency.

That’s why I think there’s got to be some institutional benefit for keeping them secret. (Like PR/shiny charts, like the PP said above.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the middle school level in fccps the principal emailed out the scores. I really appreciated it.

This was such a great surprise and relieved a ton of stress in my house! This is the first time they’ve done it this way in my years as an MEH parent.

[Anonymous]

My kid is in 2nd grade so SOLs start next year. Our principal's latest weekly email thanked parents for helping their kids prepare at home. How much time do kids typically spend preparing for SOLs outside of school hours, and are parents given guidance or materials to help with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in 2nd grade so SOLs start next year. Our principal's latest weekly email thanked parents for helping their kids prepare at home. How much time do kids typically spend preparing for SOLs outside of school hours, and are parents given guidance or materials to help with that?

In our case the principal means good night of sleep, breakfast, charged iPad.