Search older threads concerning SOLs, studying for them, if the school cares, and what happens to your child if they don't pass one.

The SOLs will start to matter more as your child enters middle school. SOL scores can be used to determine class placement, and students who fail Math or Reading SOLs in middle school are likely to lose elective options, because schools may enroll them instead in extra math or Reading strategies classes so that they pass their SOLs the following year. Moreover, when your child starts taking high-school level math courses, which many students take in middle school, they must pass those SOLs in order to get needed credits toward their high-school diploma.

The sooner your child learns how to take these types of tests successfully, the better off they will be and the less stressed they will feel about them when the scores really start to matter.

SOLs seem to matter to the many parents who want to know if school A is better or worse than school B. Think about all of the people who live and die by GreatSchool.org ratings and pass advanced rates.

Anonymous wrote:

The only time I have seen SOLs matter was for math placement in 6th to 7th grade.

Yes, and even then they know the material or they don't. We have never done "extra" studying for SOLs.

I would (and did) have DC study for the 6th grade math SOl for the reason given above. Score is one of the factors that will determine placement in 7th grade math classes.

The only time I have seen SOLs matter was for math placement in 6th to 7th grade.

Yes, and even then they know the material or they don't. We have never done "extra" studying for SOLs.

The only time I have seen SOLs matter was for math placement in 6th to 7th grade.

We don't study for SOLs at home. The school cares about them, but I don't care about them.

My DC (4th grade) brought home a SOL study guide yesterday (on VA geography) and as she was reviewing it, it was clear she had forgotten pretty much everything she had learned in the beginning of the year. I'm hoping that some simple reviewing will refresh her memory but as my husband and I were looking over the material we were thinking why does this even matter? Do we really need to spend the next couple of weeks with her reviewing and quizzing her? Do the SOLs matter in the long run? Do they affect what classes she can take in high school? Also, is it our job at home to make sure she is prepared? I know we should help, but isn't it the teachers role to make sure she is prepared? And why in the world does she need to know things like... What body of water surrounds Lake Drummond? What are three examples of architecture that reflects different cultures in colonial times? Seriously WTH? (For the record, she is a good student, but she works really hard to do well and can be a stress case. She also did well on this unit in the beginning of the year.)