Please advise: DD failed SOLs again this year (reading & math) - WHat do we do?

[Anonymous]

We are in Fairfax County. DD is i6th grader do failed her math and reading SOLs for the third year in a row. She has an iep for visual learning disability. My school told us she would be on grade level and pass 6th grade with her Iep. My husband is very angry. I am very sad. My daughter is very sad because she knows she failed and said no other classmates failed.

What do we do? Teacher told us she would go to middle school and have help with her iep. We do not believe she is ready because she has not been learning in elementary school enough to pass her sol tests.

There is no summer school for my daughter. My school says she does not need summer school at our iep meeting.

She has never passed her reading or math SOLs. This tells me she will not pass in upper grades when classes are more difficult.

I don't know what to do. School is almost over. Should I keep her in grade six for another year?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you DD struggles with the format of the test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you DD struggles with the format of the test?

She is able to test with extra time in a quiet room. She took the test with traditional booklet not on the computer. Is there additional format that I do not know about? She will need to learn this format if she is to pass SOL and graduate high school. It is expected a highschool student pass SOL to graduate in our county schools.

[Anonymous]

Would she do better if the tests were read to her? My DC has all assessments read to him. He has dyslexia. He also has dysgraphia and has a scribe for all written assessments too. This includes the SOL.

[Anonymous]

What format of classes is she set to take in 7th grade? Self contained/team taught/gen ed?

[Anonymous]

OP - Do you work with a Vision Therapist through your public schools to be sure your daughter is getting the right supports as mentioned in the classroom and expecially for testing? If Fairfax county is saying they do not have such services, then have you also contacted the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Virginia to see if they could send a consultant to evaluate your daughter and what interventions, especially in testing, might work best for her.

It sounds as if she is in the general education setting, but do you know how she is doing in terms of the work she is covering with her classmates. In other words, does she know the material or does she have a teacher(s) just sort of moving her along. If you feel she does not know it, then I would go for retention to give her another year to master not only material, but also testing with perhaps the new accommodations. I think she would need to use them all the time to become comfortable with them at SOL time.

The other thing you might get some information on is alternate testing for students with disabilities in Virginia. I believe I have read there may be other ways to demonstrate one's knowledge of material, but just not sure. Again the DBVI ought to be dealing with others with vision limitations and similar issues so they are probably at the state level your best resource to even know what is out there.

[Anonymous]

OP-just because she can't pass a standardized test, it does not mean your child is not ready to go to 7th grade.

What is her DRA level?

[Anonymous]

OP - This is a follow-up:

1- If your daughter has a visual impairment, does she then use assistive technology in learning and in testing all the time so that she is familiar with it in an SOL testing situation?

2- Does she have or need access to books on tape to learn and master the language arts skills? I would think using a scribe for all written tests would be of great assistance to her, but she needs to have practice in learning to take advantage of this accommodation.

3- While she is in the sixth grade classroom, are you sure the skills she has been working on are at the sixth grade level in math?

4- Similarly,do you know her solid reading comprehension level because you are correct as grade level material increases in quantity and higher skills, she will be left behind?

You need to get a handle on what her skills levels are, what accommodations she has AND WHETHER IT IS THE LACK OF APPROPRIATE TESTING ACCOMMODATIONS OR DEFICITS IN SKILLS KNOWLEDGE THAT IS LEADING TO HER FAILURE. If it is skills level, then you would have reason to request retention, especially with no summer program. Is there any way you could afford a tutor to work with her who then could also provide current information to you on how she really is doing in learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Do you work with a Vision Therapist through your public schools to be sure your daughter is getting the right supports as mentioned in the classroom and expecially for testing? If Fairfax county is saying they do not have such services, then have you also contacted the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Virginia to see if they could send a consultant to evaluate your daughter and what interventions, especially in testing, might work best for her.

It sounds as if she is in the general education setting, but do you know how she is doing in terms of the work she is covering with her classmates. In other words, does she know the material or does she have a teacher(s) just sort of moving her along. If you feel she does not know it, then I would go for retention to give her another year to master not only material, but also testing with perhaps the new accommodations. I think she would need to use them all the time to become comfortable with them at SOL time.

The other thing you might get some information on is alternate testing for students with disabilities in Virginia. I believe I have read there may be other ways to demonstrate one's knowledge of material, but just not sure. Again the DBVI ought to be dealing with others with vision limitations and similar issues so they are probably at the state level your best resource to even know what is out there.

Nope, not available.
There used to be an alternative portfolio assessment called the VGLA that special education students could take to show mastery of the standards, but when many students started passing with that assessment, it was pulled. Now it's only available to the lowest level ESOL students in reading and to special education students in science and social studies.

Then there was a modified multiple-choice SOL called the VMAST that was great for many special education students. It covered the same standards, but had fewer questions, more visual supports and things like fewer answer choices. It was pulled last year because...kids were showing success.

The only other assessment is the VAAP, which is a portfolio assessment for students with significant cognitive issues. If you have an IQ below 70, you can take it. But if you're above that, you have to take the regular SOL.

So to recap, special education students are screwed. The state has set up an assessment system designed to make them fail.
Yes, OP, your husband should be very angry. But not at the school and not at FCPS. He should be mad and so should you at the idiots in Richmond who think it's appropriate and moral to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Do you work with a Vision Therapist through your public schools to be sure your daughter is getting the right supports as mentioned in the classroom and expecially for testing? If Fairfax county is saying they do not have such services, then have you also contacted the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Virginia to see if they could send a consultant to evaluate your daughter and what interventions, especially in testing, might work best for her.

It sounds as if she is in the general education setting, but do you know how she is doing in terms of the work she is covering with her classmates. In other words, does she know the material or does she have a teacher(s) just sort of moving her along. If you feel she does not know it, then I would go for retention to give her another year to master not only material, but also testing with perhaps the new accommodations. I think she would need to use them all the time to become comfortable with them at SOL time.

The other thing you might get some information on is alternate testing for students with disabilities in Virginia. I believe I have read there may be other ways to demonstrate one's knowledge of material, but just not sure. Again the DBVI ought to be dealing with others with vision limitations and similar issues so they are probably at the state level your best resource to even know what is out there.

We had this same question regarding our DD who was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 6th grade.
She was passing everything at school but the teachers were also doing their best to "move her along," which we realized wasn't going to be sustainable in middle school. We ended up taking DD to a Mathnasium to get her evaluated. Their assessment showed that while she was passing Math at school that her math skills were very lacking. They pretty much overhauled her. It took us a year to get her back on track. She did have a 504 in 7th grade but it was very helpful to have an outside, more objective party to confirm that she does/does not know the material. Her grades in 7th grade came out lower than what her actual ability is but I'm okay with it because now I know she knows the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Do you work with a Vision Therapist through your public schools to be sure your daughter is getting the right supports as mentioned in the classroom and expecially for testing? If Fairfax county is saying they do not have such services, then have you also contacted the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Virginia to see if they could send a consultant to evaluate your daughter and what interventions, especially in testing, might work best for her.

It sounds as if she is in the general education setting, but do you know how she is doing in terms of the work she is covering with her classmates. In other words, does she know the material or does she have a teacher(s) just sort of moving her along. If you feel she does not know it, then I would go for retention to give her another year to master not only material, but also testing with perhaps the new accommodations. I think she would need to use them all the time to become comfortable with them at SOL time.

The other thing you might get some information on is alternate testing for students with disabilities in Virginia. I believe I have read there may be other ways to demonstrate one's knowledge of material, but just not sure. Again the DBVI ought to be dealing with others with vision limitations and similar issues so they are probably at the state level your best resource to even know what is out there.

Thank you for the replies and suggestions. Her visual difficulties are processing I the brain. Her eyes and vision are ok. We have her tested at our eye doctor yearly. It is a learning disability.

My daughter is in a regular classroom and a helper comes in to help students with their iep goals. We tried to get her in a special reading class but they said her helper would work with her. This ,add us mad because we know reading is hard for her and now she hates reading. We think she has dislexia but the school says she has visual processing learning disability.

Yes. We think the school has been pushing her through because in other schools children are held back when they fail their exams. She tries very hard so I don't know how to help her. We do not have a tutor for her, but I try to help her at home. Money is not available for a tutor.

[Anonymous]

I would keep her in 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would keep her in 6th grade.

Great, what a lovely way to make her feel like crap. Make her watch all her friends move on to middle school while she stays behind. Yeah, that will do wonders for her self-esteem and make her feel great about learning and school.

[Anonymous]

OP - Even if money is tight, is there any way that you could get her tested privately by a reading specialist to see if she does have dyslexia. This would be a specific diagnosis and would need specific interventions. The school division seems to want to keep her in the "inclusion model" because it is cheaper than having her even go out to a resource room for language arts and math or placed in a self-contained room for those core subjects. I really think you could use an advocate who knows the ins and outs of the system oua re dealing with to get your daughter better services. See if there are any parent resource centers in your area.

Does anyone know of any advocate that takes on some cases on a sliding fee scale up in the area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP - Even if money is tight, is there any way that you could get her tested privately by a reading specialist to see if she does have dyslexia. This would be a specific diagnosis and would need specific interventions. The school division seems to want to keep her in the "inclusion model" because it is cheaper than having her even go out to a resource room for language arts and math or placed in a self-contained room for those core subjects. I really think you could use an advocate who knows the ins and outs of the system oua re dealing with to get your daughter better services. See if there are any parent resource centers in your area.

Does anyone know of any advocate that takes on some cases on a sliding fee scale up in the area?

Teacher here: The "division" doesn't write IEPs. Teachers work with parents to write an IEP. We do not consider costs when writing an IEP. We are required by law to provide the least restrictive environment first, and if there's data to support pulling the student into a more restrictive setting such as a resource room, then we do it. Please don't insult the hardworking, caring teachers who are doing their best to provide what each student needs.