SWOC Archives -- May 2001 (#2) learn more than just what is on SOL tests, she takes advanced courses. Nevertheless, Qureshi said, she thinks the (sols) have improved teaching overall by http://lists.wayne.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0105&L=swoc&F=&S=&P=148
\doc\web\99\03\new0218.txt Feb 22, 1999 Arthur S News Tidbits If you look LIST OF SCHOOLS WHERE standards MATH HAS DESTROYED TEST SCORES For TEACHERS FEAR SOL tests ARE HARMING learning \clip\99\06\edclip08.txt http://www.arthurhu.com/99/03/new0219.txt
Mrs. Wilborne's SOL Testing Page Just One More Question Right Can Make You Pass the SOL Test! Language Artsstandards of learning for Third Grade Mathematics standards of learning for http://web.dps.k12.va.us/ParkAve/soltest.htm
Extractions: Start Your Own Homonyms List and Learn Homonym - One of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning Homophone - One of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or spelling Homograph - One of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or pronunciation Our third grade curriculum is based completely on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs). The SOLs are the curriculum. Please make yourself familiar with them and work to master each. In the spring, all third grade students will be tested on K-3 Standards of Learning. All fifth grade students will be tested on 4-5 SOLs.
VEA : Articles Archives : Detail standardized testing is a poor means of evaluating learning or teaching. teaching and testing higher levels of thinking such as application, http://www.veaweteach.org/articles_archives_detail.asp?ContentID=351
Teacher Resource Catalog - US History: Civics And Economics http//www.doe.virginia.gov/ VDOE/Superintendent/(sols)/home.shtml The Standardsof learning test blueprints serve as a guide to teachers, parents, http://teacherresourcecatalog.pwnet.org/civics_economics.html
Graduate School Of Education Position Paper on the standards of learning. News and Events Home improving theSOLs themselves, the SOL assessments, and how the test results are used. http://gse.gmu.edu/news/archivednews/positionpaper.htm
Extractions: We, the faculty of the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University believe that high and rigorous academic standards are essential to improving Virginia's schools. However, we also believe that the current State-led education reform movement centering on the Standards of Learning (SOLs) actualized through a sole reliance on high-stakes standardized testing is seriously flawed, and that the accreditation system for schools which relies on student performance on these questionable tests should be reconsidered. Rather than labeling schools as failures and creating an upheaval in local school divisions, the state's policymakers should set aside the current approach to accountability and engage in a more inclusive and public discussion of ways to improve the education of children in Virginia's schools through incentives and assistance. At stake are students and schools that must succeed if Virginia is to maintain the vibrant, intellectual environment for which it has historically been known.
American Prospect Online - ViewPrint One teacher s losing fight with highstakes, low-logic testing When standardsof learning ((sols)) first appeared in my Northern Virginia public-school http://www.prospect.org/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=7001
Standards Of Learning The goals of English education are to teach students to read and to prepare Through these standards, students will learn to acquire information from a http://www.knowledge.state.va.us/main/sol/solview.cfm?curriculum_abb=E/W
Va. Schools Pumping Up Kids For SOL Tests These kids were getting revved up to take their state standardized tests. the teachers and SOL man led them in a final cheer (sols), who s going to pass http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/11/AR2005051101968.
Extractions: var SA_Message="SACategory=" + 'education'; Hello Edit Profile Sign Out Sign In Register Now ... Subscribe to SEARCH: News Web var ie = document.getElementById?true:false; ie ? formSize=27 : formSize=24 ; document.write(''); Top 20 E-mailed Articles washingtonpost.com Education Print This Article ... E-Mail This Article Top News Education What is RSS? All RSS Feeds By Maria Glod Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May 12, 2005; Page B05 The children of Fairfax County's Bren Mar Park Elementary School marched around the building yesterday afternoon clapping and cheering just as loudly as they could. Their mascot in superhero garb that included a red cape and a lightning bolt across his chest led the parade. Filing into the gym, waving banners and yelling, "Let's go!" and "We are ready!" they might have been mistaken for pep rally participants psyching up for the big game. But the chants weren't about basketball or soccer. These kids were getting revved up to take their state standardized tests.
Extractions: Search Rethinking Schools Help Home Archive Volume 14, No.3 - Spring 2000 High-Stakes Testing Slights Multiculturalism By Makani Themba-Nixon As a parent active on a local school council, I've watched with apprehension as Virginia's high-stakes testing program has unfolded. But it was not until the day my third grade son, usually an enthusiastic student, came home sad and dejected that I realized my worst fears about the test were true. My son's class was studying explorers - his favorite subject - and he wanted to write a report on Matthew Henson, his favorite explorer. Henson, an African American, was the first man to set foot on the North Pole. He was a self-taught sailor and astronome rwho rose above the racism and prejudice of his day to become one of the most important explorers of the 20th century. Imagine my thrill as my son, without any urging on my part, went to the computer to do research on Henson. I was particularly pleased because after a tough first grade and difficulty reading throughout second grade, in third grade my son was at last learning that school could be fun.
Happy Teachers, High Test Scores? prepared this spring to take the Virginia standards of learning exams, Happy teachers, high test scores? Va. officials are weighing the effect of http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-52464sy0aug08,0,3771865.story?track=mostemaile
Intervention Guide Teachers and administrators will use the pretest results instructionally; Each item on the Virginia ARDT measures one standards of learning objective. http://www.accessardt.com/ardt/interpguide.htm
Extractions: This document is intended to help you interpret the information presented in the Virginia ARDT score report. The score report for the Virginia ARDT contains useful information regarding student performance on the assessment, but this information must be interpreted carefully. This guide will explain the information presented in the score report and help you interpret the scores. To assist in understanding potential student instructional needs, a more detailed analysis of student strengths and weaknesses is provided below the student scores. For each reporting category, the SOLs at the level which students showed strength and weakness are listed. The specific SOLs highlighted provide information on the student's strengths and weaknesses. Each strength or weakness listed may be based on only one or two test questions. Therefore the listing of SOLS should not be considered a checklist of mastery or insufficient skills. This list should be considered along with other student assessment information and should not be used solely to measure student needs. Additional factors, such as classroom work and class tests, should also be considered in the evaluation of student mastery of any single standard of learning.
New Page 3 Virginia standards of learning currently in effect for Virginia Public Schools . Teacher s Treasures. Virginia s Community of learning A curriculum, http://www.bristolvaschools.org/tdingus/Mrs. D's Favorite Sites.htm
Extractions: Mrs. D's Favorite Sites Virginia SOL Related Search Engines Teacher's Treasures Science ... Online Games Virginia SOL Related Virginia Standards of Learning currently in effect for Virginia Public Schools. This includes all subject areas and grade levels. Enhanced Scope and Sequence Includes: Units organized by topics from the original scope and sequence, essential knowledge and skills from the Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework, related Standards of Learning, and sample lesson plans containing: 2003 Released SOL Tests This includes all grade levels and subject areas except History and Social Science (see below). Virginia SOL Release of Spring 2003 History and Social Science Tests Ten released items for each of the history tests are available. Great place to get sample questions for practice.
Archives - Closing The Achievement Gap One teacher faulted the Flanagan tests for the questions and format. How dowe get them to learn English and pass (sols) by third grade? http://loper.org/~george/archives/2005/May/997.html
Extractions: Home "More than 45 years after integration, some activists argue that the lingering achievement gap between black and white students in Charlottesville schools reflects a lack of division-wide effort to provide a good education for all students. Teachers and administrators have implemented programs and provided resources to solve the problem, but the task continues to present challenges. For one man, the achievement gap is the result of black children being neglected. Race has become an issue at almost every recent School Board meeting, as the division in the audience is evident between supporters and detractors of the first black superintendent, Scottie Griffin, who recently resigned. Griffin has always been a vocal proponent of raising student achievement for all students, but just how many students are provided this opportunity has come into question. The need for more parental involvement has also raised concern. A lot has been done to provide an education for all children, but the numbers show that black children account for the majority of students in the division. They have also had the highest percentage of special education and free and reduced-price lunch populations, an indicator of poverty, for a decade. At the same time, the black students are poorly represented in the gifted student program.
Private Schools May Have To Bite The Bullet On Testing Chief among their concerns is a fear that (sols) and similar tests in New tougherstandards for teacher training could also extend to private schools. http://www.virginiabusiness.com/magazine/yr2001/feb01/school.html
Extractions: by Brett Lieberman Pressure is also coming from parents worried about how their private-school children will do on SOL tests if they switch to public schools, says Robinson, headmaster and founder of Millwood. "We have to ensure that our curriculum will integrate whatever our students want to do afterwards." Yet, by doing so, private schools risk ceding control over their curricula and diminishing the quality that set them apart from public schools and attracted students in the first place. John Katzman, president of the Princeton Review, a leading college prep firm, says private schools would have to spend more time "pounding away" at standardized material to the point at which they will have "sucked all the life out of school," he says. "They will not be independent schools if they take those tests because they will be in the same boat as everyone else." Even so, Katzman’s test-preparation firm, perhaps best known for its SAT preparation courses, has tailored its product line to meet the SOL challenge. It offers online programs to Virginia school districts to help students get ready for the exams. Still, he regards the tests as flawed and more rooted in scoring political points and ideology rather than improving schools. "This isn’t about accountability and education. At this point it’s about `Learning what I say you will learn.’ Every kid in Virginia will learn the same things."
Appomattox County Public Schools Mathematics standards of learning Teacher Resource Guide; English standards oflearning Virginia standards of learning Assessments Test Blueprints http://www.appomattox.k12.va.us/acps/acps_secondarypage_template.aspx?pn=Curricu
Virginia Sol, Virginia NCS Mentor A training tool to help teachers prepare students for the SOL writingtest. Division of Instruction standards of learning Index http://creekin.net/k23860-n253-virginia-sol-virginia.html
Citzenship In The Digital Age recently received testing information on the social studies standards ofLearning ((sols)) Sometimes state standards, such as the (sols) in Virginia, http://www.knowledgeway.org/works/citizenship/admingroup.html
Extractions: The purpose of the Administrator Focus Group session was to gain a greater understanding of their views on the current environment in which schools are operating, the ideal environment for undertaking a collaborative effort, and the potential challenges and opportunities in undertaking this project. A summary of the findings follows below. Current Environment The following essential themes emerged during the discussion of the current environment in which schools are operating: Key measures for success: Standards of Learning, not technological ability Performing up to state standards is a major concern for administrators. The administrators from Virginia, in particular, recently received testing information on the social studies Standards of Learning (SOLs) that indicated low performance. There was consensus among participants that performance on the SOLs would have to be addressed before any other initiatives are considered. Other districts, such as DC, use different tests that should also be reviewed, such as the Stanford-9. Sometimes state standards, such as the SOLs in Virginia, and other initiatives, such as technology integration, are seen as competing priorities within the schools. Administrators found this very frustrating. However, there was some agreement that technology might be used to help performance on the SOLs by using computers for drill exercises on social studies state test materials. These types of drills apparently are available for other subject areas.
The Truth About SOLs TRUTH NO single standardized test can fully and accurately measure student knowledge and skills all teachers must teach and students must learn. http://www.fairtest.org/arn/The Truth About SOLs.htm
Extractions: The Virginia Board of Education says that: The SOL program will improve public education by holding everyone to high standards through high-stakes testing. TRUTH: It is a common, but untrue, assumption that high-stakes testing produces improved learning and student achievement. Test scores rise, in large part, because of more focus on expected test content and more familiarity with the tests. The SOL program will narrow instruction and undermine education quality as teachers are forced to teach to the tests and short-change the rest of the curriculum simply to raise test scores. Low-income, minority, limited English, and special needs students are especially subject to getting drill and test practice instead of rich and varied education programs. They are at higher risk of being denied diplomas or dropping out in frustration before reaching12th grade. High standards cannot be maintained and education improved for all simply by raising the stakes for students. SOL test scores are the single best measure of students' and schools'performance and should be the primary criteria for graduation and accreditation.
NAESP : One Size Does Not Fit All Legislators seem to feel that standardized tests are such a good reflection ofwhat children This test is written and scored by teachers. More Measures http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=155&action=print
