VGA arrived in mail today

[Anonymous]

I have parents emailing with questions about the results. I know the letter says to talk to you child’s teacher for more information, but I know less than they do. They have the letter with the scores.

ES Teacher

[Anonymous]

Maybe I misunderstand the meaning of "adaptive" tests but I think when they say "6th grade math," that means the starting point. When they get enough questions correct, they are given 7th grade and so on. So many of the mistakes could be from the 7th grade math that hasn't been taught yet. Or even 8th grade math. Anyway, it is crazy to get scores with no explanation.

[Anonymous]

I know that third grade teachers were frustrated when they gave the tests and saw that the questions were taken from grade 3 SOLs. Of course, for math, the kids didn’t know the answers, because they hadn’t had that material yet.

It’s so dumb to make kids take tests when you know they haven’t yet learned the material, and it’s frustrating and upsetting for kids, especially for kids who feel that they are good at math and can’t do the problems presented. I’ve had so many kids cry while I reassure them that they haven’t learned it yet, and they are determined to figure it out with many sheets of scratch paper and much erasing, even when I say just guess and move on. All of this testing is not helping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that third grade teachers were frustrated when they gave the tests and saw that the questions were taken from grade 3 SOLs. Of course, for math, the kids didn’t know the answers, because they hadn’t had that material yet.

It’s so dumb to make kids take tests when you know they haven’t yet learned the material, and it’s frustrating and upsetting for kids, especially for kids who feel that they are good at math and can’t do the problems presented. I’ve had so many kids cry while I reassure them that they haven’t learned it yet, and they are determined to figure it out with many sheets of scratch paper and much erasing, even when I say just guess and move on. All of this testing is not helping.

Totally agree. I am a teacher and a parent of a 3rd grader. All this did was make him feel like a failure for absolutely no reason. The legislature voted unanimously to change the end of year SOL into this asinine VGA system 3x/yr (nit just post-COVID) and it infuriates me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who posted the link - for those asking questions, I highly recommend reading the text in addition to looking at the graph. The text provides a lot of context.

Thanks for posting the link.

I'm generally not one to complain about FCPS, but sending these scores with no context is really... not a great move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who posted the link - for those asking questions, I highly recommend reading the text in addition to looking at the graph. The text provides a lot of context.

Thanks for posting the link.

I'm generally not one to complain about FCPS, but sending these scores with no context is really... not a great move.

I am so burned by their behavior that it feels intentional. Probably just their incompetence, but it seems like they try to hide potential bad news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, they used to have a chart that showed what number of questions you had to get right in order to get a passing score of 400. This was before they changed them to computer adaptive tests. If you actually calculated the percentage that you needed to score in order to get a 400, it was around 60%. So, yes, the bar is low. These test are designed to show that you've learned the essential skills, not every, single, little thing that is taught in your math or reading class.

Re the SOL tests, in response to viewpoints such as these, they've been making them harder and harder.

I don't know what that means wrt the new VGA test though.

But the Nation’s Report Card still says VA has the easiest reading test in the nation as of 2019. 321 they lowered the score needed to pass reading, so it hasn’t gotten harder. VA is middle of the pack for rigor on the math test.

[Anonymous]

I found this November 18, 2021 VDOE YouTube training video for teachers helpful, especially around minutes 14:00 and 24:00.

Looks like there is a Parent Portal to access the Student Detail by Question (SDBQ) report from Pearson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYaUpCmb1Oc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, they used to have a chart that showed what number of questions you had to get right in order to get a passing score of 400. This was before they changed them to computer adaptive tests. If you actually calculated the percentage that you needed to score in order to get a 400, it was around 60%. So, yes, the bar is low. These test are designed to show that you've learned the essential skills, not every, single, little thing that is taught in your math or reading class.

Re the SOL tests, in response to viewpoints such as these, they've been making them harder and harder.

I don't know what that means wrt the new VGA test though.

But the Nation’s Report Card still says VA has the easiest reading test in the nation as of 2019. 321 they lowered the score needed to pass reading, so it hasn’t gotten harder. VA is middle of the pack for rigor on the math test.

Can you provide the link? I found something different on their website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, they used to have a chart that showed what number of questions you had to get right in order to get a passing score of 400. This was before they changed them to computer adaptive tests. If you actually calculated the percentage that you needed to score in order to get a 400, it was around 60%. So, yes, the bar is low. These test are designed to show that you've learned the essential skills, not every, single, little thing that is taught in your math or reading class.

Re the SOL tests, in response to viewpoints such as these, they've been making them harder and harder.

I don't know what that means wrt the new VGA test though.

But the Nation’s Report Card still says VA has the easiest reading test in the nation as of 2019. 321 they lowered the score needed to pass reading, so it hasn’t gotten harder. VA is middle of the pack for rigor on the math test.

Can you provide the link? I found something different on their website.

https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/statemapping/

Curious what you found. I find it embarrassing to see V A hanging out way below basic like in this graph (grade 4 or 8 reading): https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/statemappingtool/#/subject-grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had the same question and found this by googling:

https://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/parent-resources/fall-2021-vertical-scaled-scores-math.pdf

Sorry, I posted the wrong link. This one was much more useful: https://p9cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_340140/File/Accountability/Testing/A%20Guide%20to%20Understanding%20the%20Fall%202021%20Virginia%20Growth%20Assessment.pdf

There's a vertical scaled scores reading on the DoE site as well: https://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/parent-resources/fall-2021-vertical-scaled-scores-reading.pdf

The links imply that grade 3 and 4 are tested on grade 3 content, but the paper sitting in front of me says "Tested Curriculum: Grade 2-3". Also, grades 3 & 4 have the same passing scores and supposedly they're using this to suggest who needs extra help, and that's bonkers. If it's truly the same test, it seems impossible to be valid for both 3rd & 4th because a year makes a heck of a difference at these ages.

For what it's worth, my 3rd grader is comfortably in the "needs additional support" range on VGA, despite a ~90th percentile iReady score and being placed in advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, they used to have a chart that showed what number of questions you had to get right in order to get a passing score of 400. This was before they changed them to computer adaptive tests. If you actually calculated the percentage that you needed to score in order to get a 400, it was around 60%. So, yes, the bar is low. These test are designed to show that you've learned the essential skills, not every, single, little thing that is taught in your math or reading class.

Re the SOL tests, in response to viewpoints such as these, they've been making them harder and harder.

I don't know what that means wrt the new VGA test though.

But the Nation’s Report Card still says VA has the easiest reading test in the nation as of 2019. 321 they lowered the score needed to pass reading, so it hasn’t gotten harder. VA is middle of the pack for rigor on the math test.

Can you provide the link? I found something different on their website.

https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/statemapping/

Curious what you found. I find it embarrassing to see V A hanging out way below basic like in this graph (grade 4 or 8 reading): https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/statemappingtool/#/subject-grade

The report isn't about rigor. It's about alignment/mapping, and since VA explicitly didn't adopt Common Core, it's not surprising that the SOLs are not well aligned.

As for the actual NAEP scores, they're good. Better than CA, worse than MA.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/states/scores/?grade=4

[Anonymous]

Did all FCPS kids take the VGA? I haven’t heard anything about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that third grade teachers were frustrated when they gave the tests and saw that the questions were taken from grade 3 SOLs. Of course, for math, the kids didn’t know the answers, because they hadn’t had that material yet.

It’s so dumb to make kids take tests when you know they haven’t yet learned the material, and it’s frustrating and upsetting for kids, especially for kids who feel that they are good at math and can’t do the problems presented. I’ve had so many kids cry while I reassure them that they haven’t learned it yet, and they are determined to figure it out with many sheets of scratch paper and much erasing, even when I say just guess and move on. All of this testing is not helping.

the IReady test has been doing this for years. It frustrates the students.

[Anonymous]

So, I have read the links. I believe I am to understand that if my kid’s scaled scores are above the low proficient score for the grade (in the helpful link from a PP), they are doing ok with the grade’s content?