How do you feel about the Virginia SOLs? DO you feel that they help students? Or do you feel that they don't really evaluate how smart students are? Are you for the SOLs? Or against the SOLs?
2007-06-17 10:14:17 · 2 answers · asked by Big Blue 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Standards & Testing
I'm a Virginian. I think that the SOLs are good in that they help measure whether a student has adequate knowledge of some of the high school classes that they have taken. The tests aren't that hard, so students should be able to pass them. Therefore, it is appropriate to not allow students to graduate if they cannot pass their SOLs. Also, if a teacher has a bunch of students failing the SOL in the subject that the teacher teaches, the teacher can get in trouble for not being a better teacher.
There are also a lot of cons. Teachers have to emphasize the SOLs a lot in their classes, which means that entire lessons have to be planned around the SOLs. We need to be doing better than just "teaching to the test" because the tests themselves don't actually reflect all that we students need to know. On the contrary, the tests are far too easy. I would say that we should throw out of the SOLs in favor of different tests. For example, perhaps Virginia could force students to take the ACT in high school, as well as some SAT Subject tests, in order to demonstrate good knowledge of subjects and basic skills like reading, writing, math, and scientific reasoning.
2007-06-17 11:20:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to live in Virginia and I think that they help on some level but no program is perfect. I don't feel that they can accurately evaluate how smart the students are, no.
2007-06-17 17:18:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋