I don't care at all, but I do encourage my children to try hard with every test they take. It is good low-stakes practice for tests that actually matter in the future.

You will now. Other thread - SOL soon to count 10% final grade.

Normally I don't care. Just pass. However I admit I feel proud when they do exceptionally well. My DS scored the highest in his high school in Geometry during the COVID online year (not sure his teacher was supposed to tell me), and just now my 11th grader told me she got a perfect score on the writing SOL. We've had some bad years too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well if you've been skipping them, you're going to wish you hadn't, since the scores will be 10% of your kids' final course grades starting year after next.

Anyone know how this will affect older HS students who already have the verified credit for that subject? Ie: at our HS you don't have to take a Math SOL any more if you pass Algebra 1 and get the verified credit. I'm hoping this will still be true. Right now SOLs are given concurrently with APs and it would be WAY too much testing for AP kids to be forced to take SOL's too.

If they’ve already taken the course they already have the final grade.

Anonymous wrote:Well if you've been skipping them, you're going to wish you hadn't, since the scores will be 10% of your kids' final course grades starting year after next.

Anyone know how this will affect older HS students who already have the verified credit for that subject? Ie: at our HS you don't have to take a Math SOL any more if you pass Algebra 1 and get the verified credit. I'm hoping this will still be true. Right now SOLs are given concurrently with APs and it would be WAY too much testing for AP kids to be forced to take SOL's too.

Well if you've been skipping them, you're going to wish you hadn't, since the scores will be 10% of your kids' final course grades starting year after next.

Virginia overhauls SOL testing to boost student achievement
New law will tie test scores to final grades, shift test timing, and give parents clearer results.

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/virginia-overhauls-sol-testing-to-boost-student-achievement/article_0158599a-4298-42ae-a277-c17e3ff3bf6c.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Anonymous wrote:People actually do these? I thought everyone skipped them.

Lots of parents talk about skipping them but very few do. we use them as practice for taking tests and that is about it. DS has passed advanced every year, he is in 7th grade, so we are not blowing them off. We don't do any prep outside of what they do at school. We tell him to not stress out about them because they don't directly affect him. I know how they work for the school but I find the state wide testing ridiculous and a waste of time. He does well on them without us caring so I suppose that is good for the school.

My ES child has 1 SOL score up in parentvue. The other test is later this week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People actually do these? I thought everyone skipped them.

In the last 15 years that I’ve taught elementary school, I’ve had two kids opt out out of the SOL (with the exception of the 2021 SOLs).

+1. I'm also a teacher and very few kids are opted out. I think we had one in our entire school this year and none in previous years with the exception of the Covid year.

Anonymous wrote:“Some may, but many take hours to complete the test. They are distracted, unable to concentrate, exhibit difficulty attending to the task repeatedly of taking 50 questions, have extreme anxiety and a sense of overwhelm, struggle to focus for long periods of time, rush through or guess to just get it over with, etc. There are real problems that surface with some kids when it comes to standardized testing.”

So would you say the kids taking the test should get a good nights sleep and be well fed the day of their test?

Yes, of course, kids should sleep and eat.

Anonymous wrote:People actually do these? I thought everyone skipped them.

In the last 15 years that I’ve taught elementary school, I’ve had two kids opt out out of the SOL (with the exception of the 2021 SOLs).

“Some may, but many take hours to complete the test. They are distracted, unable to concentrate, exhibit difficulty attending to the task repeatedly of taking 50 questions, have extreme anxiety and a sense of overwhelm, struggle to focus for long periods of time, rush through or guess to just get it over with, etc. There are real problems that surface with some kids when it comes to standardized testing.”

So would you say the kids taking the test should get a good nights sleep and be well fed the day of their test?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OPT OUT

If enough parents did this perhaps we could show that SOLs are a colossal waste of time and resources.

Also: opt out for the horrible Risky Behaviors Survey, too (can’t recall what it is actually called) but kids now skew the results by purposely answering that they do it all daily!

My DC in 4th grade came home after taking g this survey to ask all sorts of questions about sex, drugs and abuse. Nice work FCPS.

Sounds like you should homeschool

PP and in retrospect I just about did: began tutoring all about 4th, then all switched to pro tutors and SAT prep in HS.

We should have sent all to private schools.

People actually do these? I thought everyone skipped them.