Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School likely wants to avoid any SOL failures because it will show up in their school-wide statistics - and might affect accreditation and NCLB related stuff.

OP here...which I understand. I am just trying to figure out what's best for my kid bc DC is super sensitive and hard on himself despite us encouraging a growth mindset like a PP suggested.

I generally don’t care about SOLs, so wouldn’t be inclined to retake, but PP has a point that it might help his outlook long term. You know your kid best and whether that might be good for him.

Anonymous wrote:School likely wants to avoid any SOL failures because it will show up in their school-wide statistics - and might affect accreditation and NCLB related stuff.

OP here...which I understand. I am just trying to figure out what's best for my kid bc DC is super sensitive and hard on himself despite us encouraging a growth mindset like a PP suggested.

School likely wants to avoid any SOL failures because it will show up in their school-wide statistics - and might affect accreditation and NCLB related stuff.

My kid also failed it with a 398. It was the covid year right after schools opened. It was optional and we opted to take it. He passed math and reading. We did not have the options to retake that year. The school really gave up on teaching science when he was in 4th(the beginning of virtual) and barely did any the following year in 5th. I think it really just depends on your school and how well they taught the lessons. We didnt have a textbook or anything otherwise I would have him do some science to prepare. Anyway, he is now in 7th and in honors science and has an A. I wouldnt worry about it, but at least you have the options to retake. Perhaps he may recall some of the more difficult topics and you can brush up on them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The science SOL for 5th, 8th, and EOC HS are new this year and the scores seem lower than normal. For ES, the failure to pass doesn’t matter. You need to pass an EOC science SOL in HS. The school has to offer an expedited retake for those close to passing. It is up to you as a parent whether you want that for your child. FYI, the 8th grade science SOL covers 3 years of science.

What is new about the 5th grade SOL this year? Is it computer adaptive?

I’m confused as well, these SOLs are not new.

Why not look at the score report to see which topics need revision

Anonymous wrote:The science SOL for 5th, 8th, and EOC HS are new this year and the scores seem lower than normal. For ES, the failure to pass doesn’t matter. You need to pass an EOC science SOL in HS. The school has to offer an expedited retake for those close to passing. It is up to you as a parent whether you want that for your child. FYI, the 8th grade science SOL covers 3 years of science.

What is new about the 5th grade SOL this year? Is it computer adaptive?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got 515

How is this a helpful response to the OP?

It’s not. Op my kid failed one too. He’s not retaking it and I’m not telling him he failed. No point.

The science SOL for 5th, 8th, and EOC HS are new this year and the scores seem lower than normal. For ES, the failure to pass doesn’t matter. You need to pass an EOC science SOL in HS. The school has to offer an expedited retake for those close to passing. It is up to you as a parent whether you want that for your child. FYI, the 8th grade science SOL covers 3 years of science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never retake an SOL. It has absolutely no impact on the kid or their grades.

+1 it’s a complete waste of time too. The kid would have to miss more class to do a retake.

But, there’s no class to miss. The teaching was ALL finished before the SOLs. It’s waste time. Com now.

Anonymous wrote:I would never retake an SOL. It has absolutely no impact on the kid or their grades.

+1 it’s a complete waste of time too. The kid would have to miss more class to do a retake.

I would never retake an SOL. It has absolutely no impact on the kid or their grades.

My kid also failed the 5th grade science, which was a shock to everyone. We had him retake it and he got a 450-something, so he just had a weird morning the first time.

Now on 4th grade math, which is not his strong point, he got a 399, they drilled him and he got a….401 on the retake. I found it funny how his school thought some great thing had occurred, when essentially he got the exact same score.

Retake! It sets a growth mindset about trying again when you don’t quite make your goal. Not retaking it when you are this close to passing means setting the standard that giving up is okay even when you are basically guaranteed success if you try again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Heard that the 5th grade science treat was hard. It combined 4th and 5th grade content. I don’t think that was always done in the past so it sounds like a new test.

It’s been combined for years, but this is the SOL that students are more likely to fail in Elementary. The fail rate is like 10% more than the others.
-ES Teacher

Just want to say that this has not been my experience with the 4th grade VA History test (when it was administered as a traditional SOL) or the 5th grade science test. Scores have always been strong.

VA Studies is the easiest of all the SOLs. But the lower Science scores can be reviewed on VDOE or FCPS website if you want to look for yourself.