the reason to take the SOL's is with respect to placement of classes in 6th grade, in particular math. If your child is advanced in math, it is a lot harder to get into the advanced math class without an SOL score from elementary. Last year the SOL was canceled, and they used the math inventory score to make placements. They state that they consider a variety of factors, not just scores, for placement but from what I've heard and experienced as a parent, that is incorrect. I believe they usually just default to looking at the test scores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ONLY reason for your 5th grader to take this test is if for some reason you want her to "practice" taking them.

I opted out my 4th and 7th graders - both of our schools encouraged it.

Yes your school encouraged it because they are expecting a lower pass rate this year and that looks bad for the schools. In my opinion the schools need to know where there are shortcomings. The only good reason to opt out (in my opinion) would be because you are 100% virtual and don’t want the risk of sending kids in for a test that means nothing for the individual kid. I may find that decision irrational, but I don’t know your medical situation.

I don't care why the schools encouraged it. I think SOL's are dumb in a regular year but they get twitchy when you opt out then. Happy to have an easy out. Especially with all the other extra testing (MAP, DRA, DSA, etc.) Enough!

Anonymous wrote:The ONLY reason for your 5th grader to take this test is if for some reason you want her to "practice" taking them.

I opted out my 4th and 7th graders - both of our schools encouraged it.

Yes your school encouraged it because they are expecting a lower pass rate this year and that looks bad for the schools. In my opinion the schools need to know where there are shortcomings. The only good reason to opt out (in my opinion) would be because you are 100% virtual and don’t want the risk of sending kids in for a test that means nothing for the individual kid. I may find that decision irrational, but I don’t know your medical situation.

I view the tests as good practice for my kids. Test taking is a skill. Learning to manage the nerves that go with test taking is a skill. So I don't opt mine out.

I would opt out. So many kids arent taking it - won't mean anything this year.

At the elementary level they don't mean anything for the student except if your student does not pass, it signals they might need extra help next year in math or reading. Which isn't a bad thing. It could also mean they are simply a poor test taker, have a hard time remembering things they might have learned earlier this year, rush, etc. It could mean a lot of things!

Don't stress about it but it might be a good baseline. You won't get scores until this summer and you don't need to mention them to your child either way but it might be a good comparison for next year. If you don't make a huge deal about it, it's really nothing to worry about and good practice for middle and high school. The tests are relatively short. Take less than an hour to complete each section and there are 2 sections for each reading and math.

The ONLY reason for your 5th grader to take this test is if for some reason you want her to "practice" taking them.

I opted out my 4th and 7th graders - both of our schools encouraged it.

You can ALWAYS opt out of the SOLs in the lower grades. There are no consequences for the children. The only reason we didn't opt out for my 5th grader, is because they didn't do it last year, she remembers nothing whatsoever about it, and the 6th grade ones do matter. About 1/3rd of her class is skipping it this year.

I don't think the SOL's count in anyway this year. I would consider opting out if my kid really struggled with remote learning, and/or is anxious about standardized tests, as putting them through the test will not result in any change in teaching. We ultimately decided to let our kid take the SOL's on the theory that they were good practice and our kid would not be horribly stressed out about them.

Are there reasons to opt out of an SOL for a 5th grader? Any downsides or upsides one way or another?