Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far my dd, 9th grader has been notified that she has been notified about her sol scores for the two she. Has taken (Alg. II &a history), with 553 and 600.

Notified that she was notified? Not sure what that means, but those are great scores, congrats to her

I repeated a phrase. notiied that she had been was supposed to be deleted. The point was they gave the scores to HS students, and not just those that failed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The tests now are computerized. Within 1/10 of a second of a child hitting submit his or her score can be seen by those with the proper authorization since they have the code. At some schools, even the teachers have the access codes.

Teachers can see the scores through EDSL within a day or two of the test.

That is nice. In our school system teachers can't see the scores. We have to go through hoops or wait a week or two for an emailed list. I like your way better.

My DS is told his high school scores when the teachers know them. For some reason in elementary we aren't supposed to tell parents the scores.

Is there a way to look up SOL scores online? How are high schoolers being notified?

Anonymous wrote:
The tests now are computerized. Within 1/10 of a second of a child hitting submit his or her score can be seen by those with the proper authorization since they have the code. At some schools, even the teachers have the access codes.

Teachers can see the scores through EDSL within a day or two of the test.

The SOL score does not define the child. But it is a number that has value to a variety of stakeholders and it is important for parents to track because it is produced without any ability for rater bias to occur. The SOL score can help parents understand where their children are relative to their peers and the curriculum established by the state.

The tests now are computerized. Within 1/10 of a second of a child hitting submit his or her score can be seen by those with the proper authorization since they have the code. At some schools, even the teachers have the access codes.

Those parents/children who are learning they haven't passed most likely are in the 375-399 group. Many schools will now remediate with those children for the next few weeks before the retake to get the child over 400.

The stakes are high for the schools and for the community since the over-all pass rates for schools determine funding and freedom from restrictive regulations by the state. Additionally, the ratings on things like Great Schools depend heavily on them, which helps or hurts homeowners and business owners. At many elementary and middle school levels, scores on the SOLs may be used by administrators to determine class placement. Thus, achieving a passing score could be a great boon to your child. At our school, many children who don't pass are put into a remediation program for the next year and lose a special/elective.

If you are asked if your child can retake then you should consider it unless, as some prior posters have indicated, it will be too stressful for the child. For most children it should not be too stressful.

Anonymous wrote:I've never understood why parents object to their child retaking a test. If it is borderline, why wouldn't you be having a conference to discuss why this happened? They are easy tests. Couldn't this lead to more help during the end of the year and more help the following year? Also, why would you want your child to have a failing record if there was a chance they could pass the test?

Because my third grader with an IEP spent an hour crying on Sunday night about "the tests" and wound up puking. No one in my house is pushing him about the tests at all. No way am I making him go,through that again. We just had our IEP meeting with the school two weeks ago and they seemed to think he would pass, although it really depends on the day whether he gets high marks or 40% in general tests. I didn't realize that they get back to the parents so quickly, so either he passed or he bombed, I guess. They are not necessarily "easy", especially at the younger grades where it should be more facts and fewer concepts. On the sample tests they sent home some of the questions were so poorly written that I couldn't figure out what they were trying to ask.

In my day they wouldn't even tell us ahead of time about standardized tests - you would just show up one day and it would be "fill in the bubble sheets" day. I don't think they ever told our parents the scores, either.

My 11th grader was informed same day that "everyone passed" the SOL they took today. But, there was no indication of individual scores.

Anonymous wrote:So far my dd, 9th grader has been notified that she has been notified about her sol scores for the two she. Has taken (Alg. II &a history), with 553 and 600.

Notified that she was notified? Not sure what that means, but those are great scores, congrats to her

So far my dd, 9th grader has been notified that she has been notified about her sol scores for the two she. Has taken (Alg. II &a history), with 553 and 600.

Anonymous wrote:I've never understood why parents object to their child retaking a test. If it is borderline, why wouldn't you be having a conference to discuss why this happened? They are easy tests. Couldn't this lead to more help during the end of the year and more help the following year? Also, why would you want your child to have a failing record if there was a chance they could pass the test?

Well I can give you my story, maybe that will help you understand. The school will not give extra help to a child that passed the SOL, even if just borderline passed. To them, pass is pass. So no, they will not get help the following year.

My child floundered for years and I held meetings every single year to discuss my concerns. To them there was no problem because he was passing, never mind that their standards are very low and they will also say things like , "well, he's a boy they often read later or don't like writing".

He failed his reading SOL and they asked if he could retake it. I said no. At the next meeting I had leverage for getting him services and it was the ONLY way they finally listened to me and gave him an IEP. They could no longer say he was fine, that he was passing, etc. They did try to pull the well he was borderline on the SOL crap which is when I had to explain to them that a fail is a fail.

It is not only to help the school but to help the county pass as a whole.

I've never understood why parents object to their child retaking a test. If it is borderline, why wouldn't you be having a conference to discuss why this happened? They are easy tests. Couldn't this lead to more help during the end of the year and more help the following year? Also, why would you want your child to have a failing record if there was a chance they could pass the test?

I believe the thinking is that the student has a better chance of passing when they are in the 375-399 range if they retake right away because they are very recently familiar with the test and how it works. Not that they would get the same questions but a big part of passing, especially for third graders who have never taken a SOL before, is understanding how the test works. Practice tests help, but taking the actual test helps more.

So is the school at fault for trying to increase its pass rate since that's how they're evaluated? If the student is really close like a 399 and could potentially pass the next time is the school wrong for recommending a retake?