SOL screwup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, it was Spanish so mix of grades and teacher didn’t realize he was one of the kids supposed to be at the SOL. It was when he went to his next class, which was for his grade, that someone noticed him.

He is in 8th grade but this is his first year in this school and he’s only been going there since March (so maybe been there in person 12-14 times?). He doesn’t really know how things work or his way around since everything is so regimented and there are no assemblies and everyone wears masks etc. But sure, blame my kid for not knowing what to do or where to go for something he’s literally never done, when the school employs a testing coordinator and about 20 counselors and administrators.

Not the PP, but also confused. I'm just not sure I understand why your son knew to go to a class but didn't know to ask the teacher. You told him he was going to the SOL testing site for tht day but he just went to class? And didn't say anything for an hour?

Did someone tell him to go to class?

This is definitely not in the DC area if it’s true. There are not groups of some kids taking SOL‘s and some kids not where they go to their regular class. What an administrative nightmare that would be! Those not taking SOL‘s are all watching a movie together, etc.

Its APS. This is from one of the eight million emails they sent us:

"Testing Days for Hybrid Students

Students enrolled in the hybrid instructional model should attend school, like a normal school day. We do not have a modified testing schedule this school year and students are expected to attend their normally scheduled classes once testing is complete."

I don't know why it is so hard to believe that a middle school kid would walk into school and slip through the cracks. That is my complaint. The school has been obsessed with sending the parents emails and calling us constantly about the SOLs, but none of the communications said anything about what would happen once the kids got to school -- there was nothing about "go to X classroom" or "go to entrance 6 and look for the signs" or whatever, and no adult in the building seemed to recognize that he was an 8th grader who should have been in testing. The 6th and 7th graders did not have SOL testing that day (they do different grades on different days, I assume because they must use the auditorium or gym or something) so there were lots of other hybrid kids in the building going to classes.

In elementary he just went to school and took the SOL, I guess I assumed it would be the same in middle school and the students would not be responsible for getting themselves to the test location. It's not the SATs. It never occurred to me to tell my son to raise his hand or ask someone about it because I figured the school would be ALL OVER IT -- they have been bombarding us with phone calls and emails for weeks and weeks. That is why I am so annoyed. They kept haranging me with reminders, but apparently didn't tell us anything useful other than the DAY, and then managed to have a system that missed my kid so now he is supposed to do a makeup the third week of June which is the dumbest thing ever.

I'm with you, OP. The other high and mighty posters here just come to this forum to make themselves feel better by tearing everyone else down and calling other people's kids stupid.
I've always been annoyed by all the hype they send out, and pressure they put on the kids, about SOLs. And given how much they do, they should be making sure the students know the time and location of their exam. If it's the parent or student's responsibility to know it going into the building, then they'd provide that information to the parents--along with all the other things they task the parents with to make sure their child is ready for the exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry--it's definitely frustrating when reality doesn't match expectations.

This is a really good lesson though. Middle school expects kids to take more responsibility for themselves than elementary school does, and next year in high school it will be 10x more on your son to figure things out. He doesn't have to have all the answers, but at 14 years old he should have the skill set to ask questions when he's confused or doesn't understand what to do. This could have all been solved if he had just asked his Spanish teacher where he should be for the SOL instead of waiting for someone to notice he was missing, track him down, take him to the testing room, etc.

You say it's not fair that they expected him to know where to go, but...somehow all the other kids knew. What's different there? If half the kids were missing, I'd say you have a case, but if he was one of just a few who got confused, I'd really work on his self advocacy or 9th grade is going to be a big struggle.

I don't think it's too much to think that first period teachers teaching a mixed-grade class might ask if anyone's supposed to be taking an SOL. Those teachers surely know SOL testing is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing all these judgy posters would be so chill towards the school if it had been their kid who was there on time on testing day and somehow missed the test because they ended up in the wrong classroom.

+1000!!!
I'm sure none of the ever advocated (or needed to advocate) for anything on behalf of their probably-perfect children.

[Anonymous]

A middle schooler should have known what room to got to, but it sucks the teachers did not go the extra step to ensure the kids were in the right place.

[Anonymous]

So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

+1 A kid in 8th grade btw. It isn't like this is some little kid in 2nd grade. It is a 14 year old kid who willfully didn't do what he was supposed to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Based on OP's posts, it doesn't sound like the kid forgot, it sounds like he didn't realize he was supposed to go straight to a different testing room, and instead thought he would be directed by a class teacher at the appropriate time. I was one of the highly skeptical posters, but with OP coming back to answer questions, I'm back in the camp of understanding how this could have happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Based on OP's posts, it doesn't sound like the kid forgot, it sounds like he didn't realize he was supposed to go straight to a different testing room, and instead thought he would be directed by a class teacher at the appropriate time. I was one of the highly skeptical posters, but with OP coming back to answer questions, I'm back in the camp of understanding how this could have happened.

I question this. He's 8th grade. That means he's in the last year of MS. He's been doing these every year for the last 6 years including 3 at the current school. Unless they completely changed how they administer the tests at his school, how could he not know how this works? He's done this before, so why would he wait until 2nd period to figure out that he's missed the class. If he went to his home room, by the time they called first period, shouldn't he have figured out that he should already be in the SOL test and actually spoken up to ask a teacher what the deal was? As pointed out, he's 14, not 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

OP said she did remind the kid, made sure iPad was charged and everything in the original post. And didn’t say the kid blamed anyone, it was the mom complaining about the school admins.

And to OPs point, why send all those emails and voice messages and NOT walk through exactly what they are supposed to do? It seems like the school is trying to make sure the kids and parents don’t miss in person school on SOL days. So why not provide all of the information, like where to go once they get there, if they expect kids to be handling it on their own?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Since OP purposely made sure her child was well-fed and well-rested per the school's instructions to parents, she apparently did remind her child by doing so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A middle schooler should have known what room to got to, but it sucks the teachers did not go the extra step to ensure the kids were in the right place.

This. This wraps it up very succinctly. Unbelievable the amount of analysis this has gotten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Based on OP's posts, it doesn't sound like the kid forgot, it sounds like he didn't realize he was supposed to go straight to a different testing room, and instead thought he would be directed by a class teacher at the appropriate time. I was one of the highly skeptical posters, but with OP coming back to answer questions, I'm back in the camp of understanding how this could have happened.

I question this. He's 8th grade. That means he's in the last year of MS. He's been doing these every year for the last 6 years including 3 at the current school. Unless they completely changed how they administer the tests at his school, how could he not know how this works? He's done this before, so why would he wait until 2nd period to figure out that he's missed the class. If he went to his home room, by the time they called first period, shouldn't he have figured out that he should already be in the SOL test and actually spoken up to ask a teacher what the deal was? As pointed out, he's 14, not 6.

OP said this is his first year at the school. If he previously went to a school that handled SOLs differently (which could very well be another APS school), or moved from another state and therefore has never taken an SOL at all, he might not have past experience to fall back on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry--it's definitely frustrating when reality doesn't match expectations.

This is a really good lesson though. Middle school expects kids to take more responsibility for themselves than elementary school does, and next year in high school it will be 10x more on your son to figure things out. He doesn't have to have all the answers, but at 14 years old he should have the skill set to ask questions when he's confused or doesn't understand what to do. This could have all been solved if he had just asked his Spanish teacher where he should be for the SOL instead of waiting for someone to notice he was missing, track him down, take him to the testing room, etc.

You say it's not fair that they expected him to know where to go, but...somehow all the other kids knew. What's different there? If half the kids were missing, I'd say you have a case, but if he was one of just a few who got confused, I'd really work on his self advocacy or 9th grade is going to be a big struggle.

I don't think it's too much to think that first period teachers teaching a mixed-grade class might ask if anyone's supposed to be taking an SOL. Those teachers surely know SOL testing is going on.

Then you don’t have a kid in high school. Right now there are AP, IB and SOLs going on. No, I don’t ask if anyone should be in a test. I will mention it if it’s in the attendance program but usually it’s not. The kids need to go to their testing location on the day of testing. 9th grade is only a year away. He had another chance to take it or OP can opt him out. No one cares about middle school SOLs unless this was for a high school course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Based on OP's posts, it doesn't sound like the kid forgot, it sounds like he didn't realize he was supposed to go straight to a different testing room, and instead thought he would be directed by a class teacher at the appropriate time. I was one of the highly skeptical posters, but with OP coming back to answer questions, I'm back in the camp of understanding how this could have happened.

I question this. He's 8th grade. That means he's in the last year of MS. He's been doing these every year for the last 6 years including 3 at the current school. Unless they completely changed how they administer the tests at his school, how could he not know how this works? He's done this before, so why would he wait until 2nd period to figure out that he's missed the class. If he went to his home room, by the time they called first period, shouldn't he have figured out that he should already be in the SOL test and actually spoken up to ask a teacher what the deal was? As pointed out, he's 14, not 6.

Do you have a kid in middle school? Ours (APS) does not start the day with “home room.” They start with their first period class 2x a week and their second period class the other two days. TA is in the middle of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So classic. OP admits she has been getting bombarded with messages on her land line and cell, plus text messages and emails. She doesn't bother to remind the kid either yesterday or this morning, the kid doesn't remember themselves, ignores any reminders that they've been getting in class, on the way into the building (most schools are posting a sign or note at the front door reminding kids that have SOLs to report to their testing room or even listing the testing rooms). Neither parent nor student could get him to the test without teachers and admins handholding him when they have hundreds of students, some in SOLs and some not in SOLs and don't always know which ones are and are not supposed to be there. This is the point of the barrage of reminders that OP clearly ignored and didn't bother to pass on to her child.

And yet, somehow, this is the teacher and admins fault. If your child can't handle stuff like this without handholding, he's going to be in trouble in high school, college and the work force. This is how we end up with young employees who blame everyone else when they can't succeed in life without someone walking them through exactly what they're supposed to do.

Based on OP's posts, it doesn't sound like the kid forgot, it sounds like he didn't realize he was supposed to go straight to a different testing room, and instead thought he would be directed by a class teacher at the appropriate time. I was one of the highly skeptical posters, but with OP coming back to answer questions, I'm back in the camp of understanding how this could have happened.

I question this. He's 8th grade. That means he's in the last year of MS. He's been doing these every year for the last 6 years including 3 at the current school. Unless they completely changed how they administer the tests at his school, how could he not know how this works? He's done this before, so why would he wait until 2nd period to figure out that he's missed the class. If he went to his home room, by the time they called first period, shouldn't he have figured out that he should already be in the SOL test and actually spoken up to ask a teacher what the deal was? As pointed out, he's 14, not 6.

Do you have a kid in middle school? Ours (APS) does not start the day with “home room.” They start with their first period class 2x a week and their second period class the other two days. TA is in the middle of the day.

That’s how it works in our APS middle school too. PP is probably an elementary school parent who doesn’t know what she’s talking about.