Teachers, parents, and other people interested in education in Virginia- I found some interesting information when I looked into the bill that reduced SOLs. Local school systems have to come up with alternative assessments for the test that were eliminated. At first, this sounds like a negative, because do we really need more tests BUT when you read the law it says these tests must meet the following guidelines: Such guidelines shall (1) incorporate options for age-appropriate, authentic performance assessments and portfolios with rubrics and other methodologies designed to ensure that students are making adequate academic progress in the subject area and that the Standards of Learning content is being taught; (2) permit and encourage integrated assessments that include multiple subject areas; and (3) emphasize collaboration between teachers to administer and substantiate the assessments and the professional development of teachers to enable them to make the best use of alternative assessments. It sounds like localities will be mandated to create better assessments, at least for the tests that were eliminated. Now if only we could get them to do it for reading and math, too! I sincerely hope that Fluvanna plans to truly include teachers in the development of these alternative tests, rather than tell teachers what it needs to look like but just make them do the work.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 01:18:25 +0000
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