Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
SOL reform bill
()
Date: January 10, 2014 08:52AM
Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140110/NEWS/140119815/local-delegate-introduces-sol-reform-bill-in-general-assembly&template=fairfaxTimes
Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Dist. 45) introduced a bill this week to reduce the number of state Standards of Learning tests administered to students.
Under the proposed legislation, four of the SOL tests administered to county students would be replaced by project-based assessments. Currently, the state requires each student to take 34 exams between grades three and 11.
“SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests and all the practice tests, our schools have become testing sweatshops,” Krupicka said in a statement.
The bill aims to lessen the standardized testing burden, particularly for students in third through sixth grades. The exams nixed under HB498 include one elementary school science test, one elementary school social studies test and two middle school social studies tests.
High schools would also have the option of replacing science or social studies SOL tests with alternative assessment methods approved by the State Board of Education.
Coming at the start of this year’s General Assembly session, the proposed legislation represents one of the first overtures in a statewide push for standardized testing reform.
More than 50 of the 130 school boards across the state, including the Fairfax County School Board, have adopted resolutions calling for an overhaul of the current SOL assessment system.
“Assessments have their place and we need to know how our students and school systems are performing, but we can be smarter about how we do that,” Krupicka said. “Virginia was a leader in assessment reforms in the 1990s. It is time for us to be a leader again.”
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140110/NEWS/140119815/local-delegate-introduces-sol-reform-bill-in-general-assembly&template=fairfaxTimes
Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Dist. 45) introduced a bill this week to reduce the number of state Standards of Learning tests administered to students.
Under the proposed legislation, four of the SOL tests administered to county students would be replaced by project-based assessments. Currently, the state requires each student to take 34 exams between grades three and 11.
“SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests and all the practice tests, our schools have become testing sweatshops,” Krupicka said in a statement.
The bill aims to lessen the standardized testing burden, particularly for students in third through sixth grades. The exams nixed under HB498 include one elementary school science test, one elementary school social studies test and two middle school social studies tests.
High schools would also have the option of replacing science or social studies SOL tests with alternative assessment methods approved by the State Board of Education.
Coming at the start of this year’s General Assembly session, the proposed legislation represents one of the first overtures in a statewide push for standardized testing reform.
More than 50 of the 130 school boards across the state, including the Fairfax County School Board, have adopted resolutions calling for an overhaul of the current SOL assessment system.
“Assessments have their place and we need to know how our students and school systems are performing, but we can be smarter about how we do that,” Krupicka said. “Virginia was a leader in assessment reforms in the 1990s. It is time for us to be a leader again.”
Re: Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
????
()
Date: January 10, 2014 10:56AM
SOL reform bill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> “SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests
> and all the practice tests, our schools have
> become testing sweatshops,” Krupicka said in a
> statement.
Maybe if these kids had a good education they could pass the SOL tests.
-------------------------------------------------------
> “SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests
> and all the practice tests, our schools have
> become testing sweatshops,” Krupicka said in a
> statement.
Maybe if these kids had a good education they could pass the SOL tests.
Re: Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
other side is important
()
Date: January 10, 2014 06:21PM
Maybe if these kids would study and their parents would kick their butts, they could pass the SOL tests. It's no secret what the tests cover and there are online practice tests. It's not rocket science. It's a minimum standard---not an AP level test by any means.
Re: Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
demboyz
()
Date: January 10, 2014 07:34PM
other side is important Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe if these kids would study and their parents
> would kick their butts, they could pass the SOL
> tests. It's no secret what the tests cover and
> there are online practice tests. It's not rocket
> science. It's a minimum standard---not an AP
> level test by any means.
I believe you might fail the reading comprehension SOL:-). This proposal isn't related to the passing rate, but rather to the number of tests given. He is proposing that we reduce the typical SOL test, and practice tests, in order to increase instructional time, and perhaps have a different assessment replace the SOLs (like a research project etc).
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe if these kids would study and their parents
> would kick their butts, they could pass the SOL
> tests. It's no secret what the tests cover and
> there are online practice tests. It's not rocket
> science. It's a minimum standard---not an AP
> level test by any means.
I believe you might fail the reading comprehension SOL:-). This proposal isn't related to the passing rate, but rather to the number of tests given. He is proposing that we reduce the typical SOL test, and practice tests, in order to increase instructional time, and perhaps have a different assessment replace the SOLs (like a research project etc).
Revisiting our testing formulas
Posted by:
Revisiting our testing formulas
()
Date: January 21, 2014 07:45AM
Revisiting our testing formulas
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140117/OPINION/140119313/1065/revisiting-our-testing-formulas&template=fairfaxTimes
Over the years, many teachers, parents and school administrators have raised concerns about the number of standardized tests Virginia students must endure over their K-12 career. By the time this year’s high school seniors graduate, most will have taken more than 30 standardized tests.
While it’s important to find measuring sticks for both teachers and students, requiring them to spend huge chunks of time cramming for standardized tests each year certainly isn’t optimal. Most veteran educators say preparing for standardized tests like the SOL take away precious class time and costs large school districts like Fairfax millions of dollars that would be better spent improving instruction.
Fortunately, test-related changes may be coming.
Last November, the Fairfax County School Board passed a resolution calling for testing reform, joining a growing movement in school boards across the state pushing for an overhaul of the Standards of Learning assessments. The resolution, which was approved unanimously, asked the state General Assembly and Board of Education to re-examine the assessment system, which currently requires each student to take 34 SOL exams between grades three and 11.
Picking up on that theme, Virginia Dels. Tag Greason (R-Loudoun) and Robert Krupicka Jr. (D-Alexandria) introduced bills last week that would cut the number of tests students would take from 34 to 26 while empowering local school boards to explore different ways of assessing student, teacher and school performance.
There are sure to be more than a few twists and turns on the long road to standardized test reform, but the ball moved forward last week.
“SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests and all the practice tests, our schools have become testing sweat shops.” Krupicka said in a statement. “Replacing selected SOL tests with authentic and project based assessments gives teachers flexibility in the classroom, allows the public to be sure content is being taught, while allowing for learning assessment that more accurately and comprehensively measure student learning.”
Krupicka’s statement adequately sums up dozens of conversations we’ve had with parents and teachers in Fairfax County over the past decade.
For many, one of the biggest knocks on the current system is that standardized tests don’t always measure learning accurately. Standardized tests, with their hit-or-miss multiple choice format, make it difficult for students to express themselves. More than a few educators — including those in Fairfax County — have advocated for assessments that are open-ended.
Another criticism is that the stakes are too high, creating a high-pressure school environment where fear often trumps learning. Nobody wins when the test score of a third-grade student can cost a teacher or administrator their job.
That pressure leads to other issues, including teachers who “teach to the test” and spend an inordinate amount of the 180-day school year studying for tests or actually taking them. It probably isn’t a stretch to say the average student in Fairfax County spends between 20 and 25 days a year taking tests. That’s too much.
At the end of the day, the world is changing. Sticking with a familiar strategy in a dynamic world might be easier, but it isn’t doing much for our students, teachers or school system.
We’re hopeful that the bills recently put forward by Dels. Greason and Krupicka actually get some traction in Richmond this month. Fairfax County’s 180,000-plus students would be better for it.
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140117/OPINION/140119313/1065/revisiting-our-testing-formulas&template=fairfaxTimes
Over the years, many teachers, parents and school administrators have raised concerns about the number of standardized tests Virginia students must endure over their K-12 career. By the time this year’s high school seniors graduate, most will have taken more than 30 standardized tests.
While it’s important to find measuring sticks for both teachers and students, requiring them to spend huge chunks of time cramming for standardized tests each year certainly isn’t optimal. Most veteran educators say preparing for standardized tests like the SOL take away precious class time and costs large school districts like Fairfax millions of dollars that would be better spent improving instruction.
Fortunately, test-related changes may be coming.
Last November, the Fairfax County School Board passed a resolution calling for testing reform, joining a growing movement in school boards across the state pushing for an overhaul of the Standards of Learning assessments. The resolution, which was approved unanimously, asked the state General Assembly and Board of Education to re-examine the assessment system, which currently requires each student to take 34 SOL exams between grades three and 11.
Picking up on that theme, Virginia Dels. Tag Greason (R-Loudoun) and Robert Krupicka Jr. (D-Alexandria) introduced bills last week that would cut the number of tests students would take from 34 to 26 while empowering local school boards to explore different ways of assessing student, teacher and school performance.
There are sure to be more than a few twists and turns on the long road to standardized test reform, but the ball moved forward last week.
“SOL tests have their purpose, but with 34 tests and all the practice tests, our schools have become testing sweat shops.” Krupicka said in a statement. “Replacing selected SOL tests with authentic and project based assessments gives teachers flexibility in the classroom, allows the public to be sure content is being taught, while allowing for learning assessment that more accurately and comprehensively measure student learning.”
Krupicka’s statement adequately sums up dozens of conversations we’ve had with parents and teachers in Fairfax County over the past decade.
For many, one of the biggest knocks on the current system is that standardized tests don’t always measure learning accurately. Standardized tests, with their hit-or-miss multiple choice format, make it difficult for students to express themselves. More than a few educators — including those in Fairfax County — have advocated for assessments that are open-ended.
Another criticism is that the stakes are too high, creating a high-pressure school environment where fear often trumps learning. Nobody wins when the test score of a third-grade student can cost a teacher or administrator their job.
That pressure leads to other issues, including teachers who “teach to the test” and spend an inordinate amount of the 180-day school year studying for tests or actually taking them. It probably isn’t a stretch to say the average student in Fairfax County spends between 20 and 25 days a year taking tests. That’s too much.
At the end of the day, the world is changing. Sticking with a familiar strategy in a dynamic world might be easier, but it isn’t doing much for our students, teachers or school system.
We’re hopeful that the bills recently put forward by Dels. Greason and Krupicka actually get some traction in Richmond this month. Fairfax County’s 180,000-plus students would be better for it.
Re: Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
Joe Commuter
()
Date: February 05, 2014 03:46PM
Seems like this is getting more traction. Anyone think they will actually reform the SOL testing?
Re: Local delegate introduces SOL reform bill in General Assembly
Posted by:
Sloppy Drunk
()
Date: February 05, 2014 04:00PM
that would be amazing. i know some smart kids that don't learn shit in school. they do all the work and listen in class, they just have almost none of the knowledge that i would consider common place when i was in school, before SOLs.
SOL reform gains momentum in General Assembly
Posted by:
PXwMT
()
Date: February 07, 2014 07:01AM
SOL reform gains momentum in General Assembly
Legislators look to balance short- and long-term changes
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140206/NEWS/140209573/1117/sol-reform-gains-momentum-in-general-assembly&template=fairfaxTimes
While standardized testing reform has met with broad support from both chambers in the Virginia General Assembly, the means to that end is still up in the air.
State legislators are juggling short-term and long-term options for overhauling the Standards of Learning system. Yet while the number of bills shows the groundswell of support for this reform that has built over the past year, it also leaves lawmakers with a lot of options to slog through.
Approximately 20 bills have been introduced between the Senate and House of Delegates proposing changes big and small to the SOL assessment system, according to Michael Molloy, the director of government relations for the Fairfax County school system. The system currently requires each student to take 34 SOL exams from grades three to 11.
Some of the proposed legislation would provide immediate relief for the issue of overtesting. For example, one bill passed in the Senate would reduce tests for elementary school students starting next school year.
“The short-term approach is focused just on outright elimination of some tests,” Molloy said. “There’s no real discussion about changing the standards themselves, just the assessments that are attached.”
Other bills try another tack, aiming to review and change the underlying structure of the SOL assessments.
For example, Senate Bill 636 passed that body 37-2 on Tuesday. Under that proposal, the state Board of Education would to review the Standards of Learning assessments and develop a more comprehensive plan to reduce the number of tests by 25 percent by the 2015-16 school year.
Seeing that much of the bills for reform remained in these separate boxes, several delegates decided to fix the issue. Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Dist. 45) teamed up with several more representatives to consolidate several short-term and long-term reform ideas into one bill. Krupicka represents portions of Fairfax and Arlington counties, as well as most of Alexandria City.
“We really wanted to not only reduce tests but to think about what happens when these tests go away,” Krupicka said. “What do you do? How will we start rethinking tests over time? This starts us on that path.”
House Bill 930 would reduce the number of SOL tests for elementary and middle school students from 22 to 17, starting in the next school year.
It also includes steps toward a more radical overhaul of the standardized testing system.
First, it directs school districts to develop “authentic assessments” to give in place of the standardized tests. These assessments would focus more on critical thinking and problem solving, and could be project- or performance-based.
Second, the bill calls for the creation of a “Standards of Learning Innovation Committee,” to start researching changes to the current SOLs and to recommend alternative assessment models. According to Krupicka, the “authentic assessments” would ideally serve as a sandbox to test new, innovative practices.
“We want to take a longer view and make sure we’re being smart about how we do this,” Krupicka said.
HB 930 now stands as one of the more high-profile SOL reform bills moving forward in the General Assembly.
It passed out of Education Committee on a unanimous vote on Wednesday. A vote is expected in the full House of Delegates early next week, Krupicka said. More than 60 delegates already have signed on as co-sponsors.
“I think it’s probably on track to being a unanimous vote out of the House of Delegates,” Krupicka said. “I think it’s really close, at least.”
As with many of the SOL reform bills, HB 930 has attracted wide bipartisan support.
“I know there’s a lot of interest in the Senate as well,” said Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-Dist.67). “I would say there’s a good chance that a bill is going to get to the governor’s desk.”
The movement for testing reform in Virginia started surging during the gubernatorial campaign, LeMunyon said. Both candidates started calling for changes. By November, more than 50 school boards across the state, including Fairfax County, passed a resolution calling on the General Assembly to re-examine the assessment system.
This state push mirrors an even larger national swing away from standardized testing. For example, in 2012, a large number of Texas school districts adopted resolutions urging test reform. Fairfax County schools Superintendent Karen Garza supported such a resolution as superintendent in Lubbock, Tex., before joining the Fairfax school system last summer. In July 2013, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed reform legislation into law.
“You saw a real groundswell build,” Krupicka said. “And a lot of that groundswell was driven by parents worried about overtesting. They were concerned that we were moving away from the type of instruction they wanted to see.”
Legislators look to balance short- and long-term changes
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140206/NEWS/140209573/1117/sol-reform-gains-momentum-in-general-assembly&template=fairfaxTimes
While standardized testing reform has met with broad support from both chambers in the Virginia General Assembly, the means to that end is still up in the air.
State legislators are juggling short-term and long-term options for overhauling the Standards of Learning system. Yet while the number of bills shows the groundswell of support for this reform that has built over the past year, it also leaves lawmakers with a lot of options to slog through.
Approximately 20 bills have been introduced between the Senate and House of Delegates proposing changes big and small to the SOL assessment system, according to Michael Molloy, the director of government relations for the Fairfax County school system. The system currently requires each student to take 34 SOL exams from grades three to 11.
Some of the proposed legislation would provide immediate relief for the issue of overtesting. For example, one bill passed in the Senate would reduce tests for elementary school students starting next school year.
“The short-term approach is focused just on outright elimination of some tests,” Molloy said. “There’s no real discussion about changing the standards themselves, just the assessments that are attached.”
Other bills try another tack, aiming to review and change the underlying structure of the SOL assessments.
For example, Senate Bill 636 passed that body 37-2 on Tuesday. Under that proposal, the state Board of Education would to review the Standards of Learning assessments and develop a more comprehensive plan to reduce the number of tests by 25 percent by the 2015-16 school year.
Seeing that much of the bills for reform remained in these separate boxes, several delegates decided to fix the issue. Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Dist. 45) teamed up with several more representatives to consolidate several short-term and long-term reform ideas into one bill. Krupicka represents portions of Fairfax and Arlington counties, as well as most of Alexandria City.
“We really wanted to not only reduce tests but to think about what happens when these tests go away,” Krupicka said. “What do you do? How will we start rethinking tests over time? This starts us on that path.”
House Bill 930 would reduce the number of SOL tests for elementary and middle school students from 22 to 17, starting in the next school year.
It also includes steps toward a more radical overhaul of the standardized testing system.
First, it directs school districts to develop “authentic assessments” to give in place of the standardized tests. These assessments would focus more on critical thinking and problem solving, and could be project- or performance-based.
Second, the bill calls for the creation of a “Standards of Learning Innovation Committee,” to start researching changes to the current SOLs and to recommend alternative assessment models. According to Krupicka, the “authentic assessments” would ideally serve as a sandbox to test new, innovative practices.
“We want to take a longer view and make sure we’re being smart about how we do this,” Krupicka said.
HB 930 now stands as one of the more high-profile SOL reform bills moving forward in the General Assembly.
It passed out of Education Committee on a unanimous vote on Wednesday. A vote is expected in the full House of Delegates early next week, Krupicka said. More than 60 delegates already have signed on as co-sponsors.
“I think it’s probably on track to being a unanimous vote out of the House of Delegates,” Krupicka said. “I think it’s really close, at least.”
As with many of the SOL reform bills, HB 930 has attracted wide bipartisan support.
“I know there’s a lot of interest in the Senate as well,” said Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-Dist.67). “I would say there’s a good chance that a bill is going to get to the governor’s desk.”
The movement for testing reform in Virginia started surging during the gubernatorial campaign, LeMunyon said. Both candidates started calling for changes. By November, more than 50 school boards across the state, including Fairfax County, passed a resolution calling on the General Assembly to re-examine the assessment system.
This state push mirrors an even larger national swing away from standardized testing. For example, in 2012, a large number of Texas school districts adopted resolutions urging test reform. Fairfax County schools Superintendent Karen Garza supported such a resolution as superintendent in Lubbock, Tex., before joining the Fairfax school system last summer. In July 2013, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed reform legislation into law.
“You saw a real groundswell build,” Krupicka said. “And a lot of that groundswell was driven by parents worried about overtesting. They were concerned that we were moving away from the type of instruction they wanted to see.”