Teachers helping kids on SOL tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This does happen with some IEP kids. Remember some are dyslexic and some have very serious handicaps. One poor IEP kid in my daughter's class had to take the SOL 8 times before he passed.

I find this hard to believe.

A) Unless it's a class required for hs graduation that he originally took in 9th grade, there aren't even 8 opportunities to take it.
B) This should be private information: both his iep and his sol scores.

Kids with ieps don't get extra chances. They follow the same testing procedures everyone else does, just with minor accommodations (on paper vs. Computer, a pre-recorded audio of the test available while they take it, small group situation, etc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

It can also screw the next year's teacher. Teachers set goals based on last year's data that count towards the lion's share of their evaluation. If that data is falsified, teachers won't have accurate baseline data to work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

It can also screw the next year's teacher. Teachers set goals based on last year's data that count towards the lion's share of their evaluation. If that data is falsified, teachers won't have accurate baseline data to work with.

Every school I've worked at (admittedly only 3) has discouraged using sol data for goal setting, actually. It doesn't make sense to use 4th grade data as a baseline for 5th grade standards, or biology as a baseline for chemistry. Plus, often data isn't back in time for end of the year reflections and evaluations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

Ah, the ethics argument in defense of the "hair's on fire" hysteria some want to create and justify.

No parent worth her salt would be putting any real weight on SOL as far as it relates to hwe child's ability.

I'd argue there's nothing unethical about prompting a child to go back and reconsider an answer. In the end, it is the child figuring out the correct response.

And no one's sure this wasn't just a practice test anyone. Most SOLs are pro tired by someone other than the classroom teacher.

*proctored* by someone other than the classroom teacher.

And what parent would discount a child's entire school year worth of work and grades....in favor of one standardized test as a way of deciding whether or not to get the child help? Who does that????[/quote]

I don't know about parents but I can tell you that the IEP committee does that. My DC failed a couple of SOLs by a couple of points (basically, one question) last year in spite of an A- and B final grade in those classes and was placed in special ed this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

It can also screw the next year's teacher. Teachers set goals based on last year's data that count towards the lion's share of their evaluation. If that data is falsified, teachers won't have accurate baseline data to work with.

Every school I've worked at (admittedly only 3) has discouraged using sol data for goal setting, actually. It doesn't make sense to use 4th grade data as a baseline for 5th grade standards, or biology as a baseline for chemistry. Plus, often data isn't back in time for end of the year reflections and evaluations.

It will make the next teacher look bad if the student passed the year before but fails the following year. That next teacher will be responsible for teaching a child who now on paper appears to be having his/her needs met. If the student is allowed to fail, the school may determine if additional accommodations need to be put in place to help the student achieve testing success.

It's bad to help students for a plethora of reasons. As a teacher, I'd be very upset another teacher was inflating a student's ability and grades. My job could be on the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

It can also screw the next year's teacher. Teachers set goals based on last year's data that count towards the lion's share of their evaluation. If that data is falsified, teachers won't have accurate baseline data to work with.

Every school I've worked at (admittedly only 3) has discouraged using sol data for goal setting, actually. It doesn't make sense to use 4th grade data as a baseline for 5th grade standards, or biology as a baseline for chemistry. Plus, often data isn't back in time for end of the year reflections and evaluations.

It will make the next teacher look bad if the student passed the year before but fails the following year. That next teacher will be responsible for teaching a child who now on paper appears to be having his/her needs met. If the student is allowed to fail, the school may determine if additional accommodations need to be put in place to help the student achieve testing success.

It's bad to help students for a plethora of reasons. As a teacher, I'd be very upset another teacher was inflating a student's ability and grades. My job could be on the line.

I am fortunate that no school I've been at has ever used SOL scores as part of teacher evaluation, or as a baseline for students. (I was stressing about the kids' results last year, and my principal point blank said to me, "I do not tie student success on the SOLs to your performance. I know what you accomplish in the classroom.") I don't even get to see last year's SOL scores for this year's kids unless I go digging for it--it's not provided to me easily. We do give beginning of the year assessments of course, to see where kids are in September.

That being said, I 100% agree that helping students on exams is a bad idea, of course!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

Ah, the ethics argument in defense of the "hair's on fire" hysteria some want to create and justify.

No parent worth her salt would be putting any real weight on SOL as far as it relates to hwe child's ability.

I'd argue there's nothing unethical about prompting a child to go back and reconsider an answer. In the end, it is the child figuring out the correct response.

And no one's sure this wasn't just a practice test anyone. Most SOLs are pro tired by someone other than the classroom teacher.

*proctored* by someone other than the classroom teacher.

And what parent would discount a child's entire school year worth of work and grades....in favor of one standardized test as a way of deciding whether or not to get the child help? Who does that????[/quote]

I don't know about parents but I can tell you that the IEP committee does that. My DC failed a couple of SOLs by a couple of points (basically, one question) last year in spite of an A- and B final grade in those classes and was placed in special ed this year.

You can't be placed in special ed based on SOL scores. Ever.

[Anonymous]

And what parent would discount a child's entire school year worth of work and grades....in favor of one standardized test as a way of deciding whether or not to get the child help? Who does

[b]I don't know about parents but I can tell you that the IEP committee does that. My DC failed a couple of SOLs by a couple of points (basically, one question) last year in spite of an A- and B final grade in those classes and was placed in special ed this year.



You can't be placed in special ed based on SOL scores. Ever.

THIS. And a child can't be placed in a special ed class or receive sped services w/o a parent's consent.

OP, what did you do??

[Anonymous]

Of course, the SOL standards here in VA keep rising to catch up to, not surpass the majority of states across the U.S. and Va. scores are not great anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let it go - all these tests mean so little in real life!!!!

My thought as well. Some people just need sonething to be outraged about. And I'll never understand this new culture of "Let's get someone fired".

In the grand scheme of things, no one wins or loses a thing because of the SOL. It's not attached to money, promotion, or hell even a grade. Sheeze!

Do you work for FCPS or another county?

Do you not have a professional code of ethics?

Teachers who cheat on SOLs are teaching students it's ok to cheat.

If the tests don't matter, why would teachers be cheating on them? They do matter.

For some parents, failing SOL scores mean the difference between getting their child help or letting their child slip through the cracks. If teachers inflate the scores, there is deception and falsifying of a student's academic Achievement or capability. It's happening all over Fairfax County. It's a numbers game and principals and regions need to look good and show they've reached their annual goals. These numbers are posted on the fcps website. Each school posts stats. It's easy to see which school inflates their numbers.

Don't you want to trust what teachers and schools report your child is achieving? One could argue all tests mean little in real life. If they ok with reporting inflated sol scores you should be skeptical of all grades reported by fcps.

OP was not out to get anyone fired. That was not the point of the original post.

Rethink your ethics.

It can also screw the next year's teacher. Teachers set goals based on last year's data that count towards the lion's share of their evaluation. If that data is falsified, teachers won't have accurate baseline data to work with.

Every school I've worked at (admittedly only 3) has discouraged using sol data for goal setting, actually. It doesn't make sense to use 4th grade data as a baseline for 5th grade standards, or biology as a baseline for chemistry. Plus, often data isn't back in time for end of the year reflections and evaluations.

It will make the next teacher look bad if the student passed the year before but fails the following year. That next teacher will be responsible for teaching a child who now on paper appears to be having his/her needs met. If the student is allowed to fail, the school may determine if additional accommodations need to be put in place to help the student achieve testing success.

It's bad to help students for a plethora of reasons. As a teacher, I'd be very upset another teacher was inflating a student's ability and grades. My job could be on the line.

I don't know about middle and high school, but that is not how elementary school works in Ffx county. We don't use the past year's sol's for anything. Most of the time, no one even knows the score (it's up to the principal to make that information available - or not). Additional accommodations are not available based on sol scores - because those scores mean nothing at all. Accommodations are only available for students with IEPs or who are ESOL and that determination is made based on county assessments and teacher recommendations, and in some cases a long testing process and a team of professionals. SOL's have no weight at all. The only thing a student might get is elementary sol remediation - several weeks of after school or summer classes that have been proven to reduce rather than improve performance on sols (and thus they have been phased out in many schools). SOL's are useless tests - they are poorly made and teachers never see them again after administration. They contain many errors and poorly worded questions. They have no merit at all as far as being useful assessments, nor are they normed or in any way scientifically tested, and therefore they really are not reliable enough to be used for anything important. Except, perhaps, teacher evaluations, although fairfax is doing its best to avoid that, thank god.

[Anonymous]

EMAIL THE VDOE
.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming it's not a practice test, your kid is right, it's cheating. They should be fired. If they are pressuring others (including the kids) to cheat, they should go to jail.

Troll.

Or moron. One or the other.