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a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: pissed off ()
Date: May 24, 2012 10:41AM

since we have a new math sol. and 95% of the results are already in and a overall 40% of student passed the sol a high school in FCPS will not have fully accreditation. If Virginia thinks they can keep the new harder sol it will mean in 3 years half of the teachers will lose their jobs. is not right! We still have the science sols to go and seems from the practice test and the ecart we might not even have 70% passing in that.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Eastcounty ()
Date: May 24, 2012 11:08AM

Where are you getting your info? My son hasn't received his SOL score for Algebra. He is in middle school but it was the same as the HS test.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: pta ()
Date: May 24, 2012 11:14AM

Eastcounty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where are you getting your info? My son hasn't
> received his SOL score for Algebra. He is in
> middle school but it was the same as the HS test.


email the teacher they know his score withing 12 hours after he took his test. The school was done with the math sol test on Wednesday at 2 pm. or call the school to do something to find out what he got. They are still about 50 students that need to retake because they where in the 375-399 range. but we need an Average of 70% passing in order to be fully accreditation

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Parental Opinion ()
Date: May 24, 2012 11:34AM

Eastcounty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where are you getting your info? My son hasn't
> received his SOL score for Algebra. He is in
> middle school but it was the same as the HS test.

Here's what Stone Middle School just said:

>>> "...You may have heard/read about the new Math Standards of Learning
>>> tests - the state has changed many of the standards at each grade level and
>>> upped cut scores in an effort to make the exams more rigorous. We are seeing
>>> some of that play out early on in our preliminary results, and I will send a
>>> more extensive KIT with some additional resources in the next week. Speaking
>>> of preliminary results, we will share them with students beginning next
>>> Tuesday in each core class if they took an online test. For any student
>>> taking a paper and pencil version, the scores come much later (usually some
>>> time in early July or even August). Preliminary results are just that, they
>>> can sometimes change a little after the state looks at all of the testing, so
>>> while they are nice to know, the official results will be mailed to you from
>>> the state in August..."

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Parental Opinion ()
Date: May 24, 2012 11:36AM

I should have noted that the Math tests are actively being given right now and will be tomorrow, too, so necessarily there are no results back yet.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: more rigorous-AMEN! ()
Date: May 24, 2012 12:04PM

Math SOLs set higher standard
Published 10:13pm Wednesday, May 23, 2012

By David M. Foster

Virginia schools are at the height of the testing season as students in grades 3-12 take Standards of Learning tests in English, mathematics, history and science. The SOLs, which have been a rite of spring since 1998, measure whether students and schools are meeting the commonwealth’s standards for academic achievement.

The mathematics SOL tests that students are taking this year are the first to reflect the increased rigor of the 2009 revision of the commonwealth’s mathematics standards. On the online versions of the new math SOLs, test takers have to demonstrate critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in ways not possible on traditional multiple-choice tests.

Technology-enhanced items on these tests mirror common classroom tasks, such as ordering information correctly, creating graphs from data, plotting points on a grid and highlighting features on a diagram. There also are open-ended, fill-in-the blank problems.

These innovative items make up about 15 percent of the total on each new math test. On online math tests in grades 3-5, the technology-enhanced problems are field-test items and won’t count toward a student’s score until next year.

The new math tests respond to the desire frequently expressed by teachers for tests that measure critical-thinking and problem-solving skills — as well as content knowledge. Indeed, in many of the newspaper articles and television reports this spring about the new tests, mathematics teachers stand out for their support for more challenging assessments to ensure that students fully understand what they have learned and can apply it in real-life situations.

As with all SOL assessments, Virginia classroom teachers participated in the development of the new mathematics tests and in the determination of pass/fail marks.

Are the new math SOLs more difficult than the tests students are accustomed to taking? The performance of the approximately 24,000 students who took Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II tests during December and January suggests they are. On average, the statewide pass rates on the three tests were 27 points below those of students who took the old end-of-course math SOLs during the same time period last school year.

But the experience of students in 20 of the schools that administered tests in December and January suggests the state Board of Education has not set the bar out of reach. Students found the new tests challenging but still achieved pass rates of 80 percent or higher.

“Having to think a little more and learn a little more and reason a little more is a good thing,” a math teacher at one of these schools said. “And if that is what the standards are asking us to do, I think that’s a good thing for us to be striving for.”

Today students require stronger skills to succeed in college and to compete in the increasingly technologically sophisticated work force. Educators, parents and business leaders alike know that we must do better in subjects like math if our graduates are to succeed in the global economy.

The case for raising standards also is apparent when achievement of Virginia students on the SOLs and the National Assessment of Educational Progress is compared. For example, during the 2010-2011 school year, 89 percent of fourth graders passed the state test, but only 46 percent met the minimum benchmark on the national math assessment.

School divisions have had three years to align instruction with the new standards. Retreating from these higher expectations would send a terrible message to students who are just now taking the tests and the teachers who have worked hard since 2009 to prepare them.

Virginia has raised the bar before, and students — with the help of the commonwealth’s outstanding teachers and instructional leaders — met the challenge and were better prepared for the future because of it.

I am confident that with time, support and the multiple opportunities for success provided under the SOL program, they will do so again.

David M. Foster of Arlington is the president of the state Board of Education.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: heaven forbid ()
Date: May 24, 2012 12:15PM

pissed off Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> since we have a new math sol. and 95% of the
> results are already in and a overall 40% of
> student passed the sol a high school in FCPS will
> not have fully accreditation. If Virginia thinks
> they can keep the new harder sol it will mean in 3
> years half of the teachers will lose their jobs.
> is not right! We still have the science sols to go
> and seems from the practice test and the ecart we
> might not even have 70% passing in that.

yeah, 'cuz heaven forbid we expect higher standards instead of forced mediocrity.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: OP is pathetic ()
Date: May 24, 2012 12:37PM

The case for raising standards also is apparent when achievement of Virginia students on the SOLs and the National Assessment of Educational Progress is compared.

For example, during the 2010-2011 school year, 89 percent of fourth graders passed the state test, but only 46 percent met the minimum benchmark on the national math assessment.


The science data is just as bad....get ready for falling scores....

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: waste ()
Date: May 24, 2012 02:16PM

I called and talked to VDOE this morning, I don't understand how this new math SOL was put in place with "imaginary community input" as usual. They got a group of (math) teachers together in the summer (which is when they do everything that they want to slip in unnoticed, like "best practices" which are the worst). The new SOL is horrible, taking 6 hours and a 40% pass rate in many schools. This will be a problem for everyone-students, parents, teachers, school systems, the state. Once again, read my lips : standardized testing does not improve intelligence or global competitiveness, in fact it has an inverse relationship. I asked what the pass rate is and he said 27 out of 50-but I remember last year a "400" was required to pass, how does this equate? (guess I'm not good at math, and hey didn't stop me from getting a Phd...)

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Rider ()
Date: May 24, 2012 03:56PM

Herndon Community,

Since we will begin SOL testing in the area of mathematics today I feel compelled to tell you about some notable changes on the three math SOL tests – Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. This year’s math SOL tests will reflect a new set of standards (adopted in 2009) as well as several test items that are “technology-enhanced” which require students to manipulate information on the computer rather than answer multiple-choice questions. Last year, when the social studies SOL tests were developed with a new set of standards, there was a notable decline in student pass rates throughout Fairfax County as well as the state.

Student performances from the new math SOLs taken this past fall also indicate a decline, one that is more significant. Of students who took the SOL for the first time, 49.2% of students passed the Algebra 1 SOL, down from 84.1% the previous year. In Geometry, 63% of first-time test-takers passed, lower than the 78.5% in 2010. Algebra II first-time test-takers passed at a rate of 84.5% in the fall of 2010, and only 53.7 in the fall of 2011.

We wanted to share this information with you so that you might understand a possible decline from our traditionally strong performances on math SOL tests. Our teachers have been preparing students to meet the 2009 standards, and student mastery of those standards should result in continued strong performance. You can view narrated demonstrations of the new test items, online SOL practice tests, and grade level content reviews to help their children prepare for the tests by visiting http://www.fcps.edu/is/news/mathsol.shtml. Students test better when they are prepared physically and emotionally.

Sincerely,

William L. Bates
Principal, Herndon High School

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Rider ()
Date: May 24, 2012 04:01PM

So Herndon sends out a notice the same day that testing is supposed to start, suggesting that parents help their students prepare for the test? Yep, that makes a lot of sense.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: FAIL! ()
Date: May 24, 2012 04:11PM

I had to hire a tutor since my kids math teacher was on boring bit*h. FCPS suck! Thanks Jack!

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Thanks Jack too ()
Date: May 24, 2012 04:34PM

I've had to hire a tutor this year as well (surprise, surprise). My son is in PreCalc and the teacher is a joke. She has no math degree and can only work the problems like a monkey---no conceptual basis whatsoever. My son knows the math better than she does now and he tried to explain a problem to her and she said he was wrong. He was right. She told him to sit down and shut up (and he is not a discipline problem kind of kid). We tried to talk to her at the beginning of the year, but she is very defensive. She's a train wreck. He was getting low grades from her and suddenly he has an "A". She said he could not take Calculus next year and suddenly now he can. We heard that the Calculus teachers are bad, so we're pulling him out of math altogether and hope he gets someone decent in college (should he decide he needs math).

He's not a "dumb kid". He was given extra math in grade school because he tested high in math back then.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: Reality ()
Date: May 24, 2012 06:29PM

The problem with higher level math teacher's is that the few people in this country that truely understand how to properly solve and teach these levels of math can get paid much for in other workplace fields. Why would someone who excels in mathmatics take a starting salary around $40,000/year when they could make much more in another field with a lot of the same course work. Now don't get me wrong, there are several higher level math teachers out their who are great, but there are not enough of them to fill all of the teaching positions.

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Re: a FCPS will not meet school accreditation
Posted by: math ()
Date: May 24, 2012 07:57PM

Thanks Jack too Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've had to hire a tutor this year as well
> (surprise, surprise). My son is in PreCalc and
> the teacher is a joke. She has no math degree and
> can only work the problems like a monkey---no
> conceptual basis whatsoever. My son knows the
> math better than she does now and he tried to
> explain a problem to her and she said he was
> wrong. He was right. She told him to sit down
> and shut up (and he is not a discipline problem
> kind of kid). We tried to talk to her at the
> beginning of the year, but she is very defensive.
> She's a train wreck. He was getting low grades
> from her and suddenly he has an "A". She said he
> could not take Calculus next year and suddenly now
> he can. We heard that the Calculus teachers are
> bad, so we're pulling him out of math altogether
> and hope he gets someone decent in college (should
> he decide he needs math).
>
> He's not a "dumb kid". He was given extra math in
> grade school because he tested high in math back
> then.

you finally see the light. math has been an issue for YEARS despite everyone's delusion about FCPS being the greatest school system since sliced bread. we kept waiting for them to teach multiplication and fractions - couldn't get off place value. you described our 6th grade math teacher - xeroxed problem sheets with errors and told kids the wrong way of solving. when confronted about the sequence of lessons, teacher indicated that the program of study dictated the curriculum. not sure who writes the program of study but it needs remediation. the parents taught their kids that year as many were cpa's and engineers. the only good math teacher was the middle school teacher who was a former high school teacher who knew where the hs goal was supposed to be and prepared the students accordingly. the high school pre-calc teacher was from uva and could not get the material across to the students. it is about time that sol standards were raised. our students don't have a chance to make it in engineering the way it is now. that is why so many go into liberal arts - nothing wrong with it - but the shortage is in engineering and we are slipping behind other countries.

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