Do you allow SOL retakes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

I might be in the opposite position. At a non title 1 school where everybody is "above average". No, I would not have my child re-take. If the school cannot educate my kid, they are doing something wrong and that needs to be acknowledged.

[Anonymous]

Someone mentioned earlier that if you say no to a retake in ES, the kid doesn’t even have to know they didn’t pass... is this true or would their teacher/principal talk to them about it? Do they see their scores some other way? Or is it 100% possible they’ll never have to know and stress out about it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone mentioned earlier that if you say no to a retake in ES, the kid doesn’t even have to know they didn’t pass... is this true or would their teacher/principal talk to them about it? Do they see their scores some other way? Or is it 100% possible they’ll never have to know and stress out about it

The teacher is not supposed to tell them, but some do anyway.

[Anonymous]

They may figure it our since those who don't pass get remediation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone mentioned earlier that if you say no to a retake in ES, the kid doesn’t even have to know they didn’t pass... is this true or would their teacher/principal talk to them about it? Do they see their scores some other way? Or is it 100% possible they’ll never have to know and stress out about it

Our ES puts a copy of the score report in the envelope with the final report card. So unless your kid is one of the rare few not tearing into that thing on the bus on the way home, they're probably going to find out.

As far as whether I'd allow a retake, I have. My younger kid missed passing her first ever SOL (math) by one question. I knew that she was more than capable of passing, and that she'd be devastated to learn she'd failed (yeah, my kid is one of the ones who opens the report card on the bus). Sure enough, her score increased significantly on the retake and that was without remediation. If that benefits the school, great, but my only motivation was my kid feeling confident in her abilities and the retake accomplished that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

I might be in the opposite position. At a non title 1 school where everybody is "above average". No, I would not have my child re-take. If the school cannot educate my kid, they are doing something wrong and that needs to be acknowledged.

Unfortunately not all students take it seriously or take their time. Their score might not actually reflect what they know and have been taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

I might be in the opposite position. At a non title 1 school where everybody is "above average". No, I would not have my child re-take. If the school cannot educate my kid, they are doing something wrong and that needs to be acknowledged.

This. I send the form back in with a no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

I might be in the opposite position. At a non title 1 school where everybody is "above average". No, I would not have my child re-take. If the school cannot educate my kid, they are doing something wrong and that needs to be acknowledged.

Unfortunately not all students take it seriously or take their time. Their score might not actually reflect what they know and have been taught.

+1

[Anonymous]

I teach grade 3. Exactly half of the parents returned the letter with a “no”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our ES has us sign a form in advance of testing saying if we will allow our student to take an SOL retake if they qualify (miss it by only a little.) I always say no because I don’t want my child missing instructional time just to boost the school’s pass rate. If my child didn’t pass, well then she didn’t pass.

Do others actually allow retakes? If so, why?

No. If my child fails the SOL that means the school is failing my child. No retake.

[Anonymous]

In HS, some of the SOL's are a barrier to earned credit - and enough fails = a different, or harder path, to a HS diploma. I know many who are posting are discussing 3rd-5th grade SOLs- I have no opinion on that - but in HS, I'd say definitely re-take. It's not just placement, but an extra class that would possibly have to be retaken that is "removed" if the student passes on the second try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long does these tests take? I teach in MD so nobody is allowed to retake PARCC in ES or MS. It takes forever just to take it once.

I’m sure it depends on a variety of things. We split reading and math over two days. I’d say maybe 1.5 hours each.

MS reading takes my students a minimum of two hours, with most finishing in 2.5 or three hours. Some students need closer to four or five hours, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

Would you feel differently at a school with high scores?

Probably not, because I see myself as part of a community, and for now taking and reporting SOL scores is part of what the community does. What OP said:

Anonymous wrote:I always say no because I don’t want my child missing instructional time just to boost the school’s pass rate. If my child didn’t pass, well then she didn’t pass.

is both privilege in action and a classic free rider situation. My guess is that OP has no concerns about her school's overall ranking suffering because her kid didn't pass, so she isn't going to make her kid miss instructional time in order to retake the test. She gets the benefit of a school that passes and a kid that doesn't miss class. I'm not that kind of person.

Wait, I'm a bad person for not forcing my kid to sit through a retake of the standardized test that the school didn't adequately prepare them for the first time? Sorry, no. Standardized tests are generally pointless bullshit, and I wouldn't make my kid sit through them the first time, were that an option.

I see all sorts of batshit moralizing here, but asserting superiority over SOL retakes may be a new record.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, SOL pass rates figure into teacher evaluations. If you like your kid's teacher and would like to see him/her succeed, you might consider allowing your kid to retake the test. It is so disappointing to see kids zoom through a test carelessly when you KNOW that they could do so much better if they took their time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed the 5th grade reading SOL by a couple of points, retook it, and passed. It didn't seem to be a big deal. He's a smart kid (got advanced pass on the math), just messed up the reading test for some reason. They only offered retakes to the kids who they thought would pass, I think, not to the kids who failed by a lot--those kids went to summer school and then retook the test at the end of the summer. I think he ended up with 450 on reading, which is still not great but whatever.

Should add--we go to a Title 1 school. They need every passing grade they can get. I can live with my kid sitting through another test if it means the school looks a little better, and a passing grade is accurately reflective of his actual knowledge/performance.

Would you feel differently at a school with high scores?

Probably not, because I see myself as part of a community, and for now taking and reporting SOL scores is part of what the community does. What OP said:

Anonymous wrote:I always say no because I don’t want my child missing instructional time just to boost the school’s pass rate. If my child didn’t pass, well then she didn’t pass.

is both privilege in action and a classic free rider situation. My guess is that OP has no concerns about her school's overall ranking suffering because her kid didn't pass, so she isn't going to make her kid miss instructional time in order to retake the test. She gets the benefit of a school that passes and a kid that doesn't miss class. I'm not that kind of person.

Wait, I'm a bad person for not forcing my kid to sit through a retake of the standardized test that the school didn't adequately prepare them for the first time? Sorry, no. Standardized tests are generally pointless bullshit, and I wouldn't make my kid sit through them the first time, were that an option.

I see all sorts of batshit moralizing here, but asserting superiority over SOL retakes may be a new record.

No, the whole system is bad, as some schools are labeled "failing" based on SOL scores, but not the schools where people say "the school failed to adequately prepare my child" or where people believe their school did a great job because of high SOL scores. But if THOSE schools started to "fail," which would affect property values, I bet parents would suddenly start caring about things like retakes a whole lot.