In the Commonwealth of Virginia all students from elementary school to high school are required to take a Standards of Learning Test. This test affects the education of every student. These effects are negative in almost all cases. The Standards of Learning test has been a topic of controversy ever since it was created.
Sol’s where created to test student’s on what they have learned, in present day they have lost their original purpose. Ivy Main also addresses this issue in her article “Who’s Afraid of Standards?’ ‘s he claims that the SOL has negative effects on the learning process. She also mentions some of the upsides to the test as well, such as the benefits of a stricter curriculum. She says that the SOL aides in keeping classes focused on the right thing, and keeps them away from filler activities that have little to do with the subject at hand. I feel that the SOL creates a negative learning experience with the tactics that teachers are forced to use in order to prepare for the test. I think that the SOL makes some students focus on material that is above their abilities, while at the same time forcing other students to repeat information they have already learned, or information that is below their level of performance.
I do feel that an analysis of education is a good idea for monitoring students. I also feel that keeping a check on the teachers and the material covered in class is important as well. However, I feel that the SOL is flawed in many ways and is not the answer the way it is administered now. The first problem is a thing referred to by Main as “fact drilling.” The SOL puts classes on a rigorous schedule in order to cover all the material for the test. This bombardment of facts allows little time for creativity, and leaves students uninterested in what they are learning about.
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Through educational history, various learning theories have been developed. How these theories relate to high-stakes standardized testing has a profound effect on schools in relation to accountability. Traditional learning models are based on two underlying assumptions, namely, decomposition and de contextualization. Yin (as cited in Gimps, 1994) maintains that standardized testing is built upon ...
Students are forced to memorize these facts rather than understanding concepts, and applying lessons to real life. I remember a very abrupt change in my classes when the SOL came into effect. Classes became much less interesting. Teachers also showed much less enthusiasm and became more stressed. They had to teach classes at a pace that took all the fun and creativity out of most of the learning process. Instead of taking information and being shown how we could apply it to real life, we had to move directly onto the next fact that we had to memorize.
All that a student had to do was remember facts long enough to pass the quiz that would be given the next class to ensure that we “learned” the material. This happened mainly in classes like history, where fact drilling is the most prevalent. Then I didn’t have to do anything else with these facts until the time of the SOL. Memorizing many facts might have helped our class average on the test but I still feel as if I didn’t really get much out of the mounds of information I had stored.
It was basically just useless information. Main explains that memorized facts by themselves doesn’t necessarily amount to an understanding of a subject as a whole. I agree with her on this completely. Another issue is that the SOL actually holds many students back. Teachers may have to go over some subjects again and again in order to bring up test scores. Well, what about the students who learned the information the first time? The SOL causes the brighter children to move at a dull slow pace that may be below their performance level.
This also can be blamed for causing a lack of interest in school. When I was in elementary school I was near the top of my class. I remember being extremely bored with my classes, such as math. Like many of the other advanced students, I found my math class repetitive, and slow-paced. Many of us were forced to study certain things over and over that we already had an understanding of. These would be things like certain science or math concepts.
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Main also discusses her daughter who had a similar problem with her classes that were below her performance level as a student. On the other side of the issue of performance levels lies another problem with the SOL. Once the students hit middle school they are divided into different class levels. Honors was the highest, then Z, then X, then Y. These classes were obviously taught in different manners to meet the needs of the different levels of students. Obviously my honors class would cover the materials for the SOL much faster than a Y level class.
It isn’t fair for a Y level student to be given the same test as the honors level students and be expected to perform at a similar level. For example, when I was a junior in high school we took the U. S. history SOL. About a fourth of the honors class failed this test. What chance does a Y level student have on this test? I feel that this is even more of a problem now with a recent change to the SOL.
Students are now required to pass these standardized, diagnostic tests in order to pass that class for the year. The test used to be strictly diagnostic and didn’t have anything to do with students’ grades. These students who are in Y level aren’t all there because they are bad students. Many of my personal friends in lower level classes tried as hard as they could to get good grades and usually did. However, because of certain learning disabilities, these students perform poorly on the SOL. Main seems to think that this kind of failure means only a sweeter victory if the student tries again and passes.
I often offered help to my friends in areas that they had trouble in. I was also in a program after school as a tutor where we offered help to my friends in areas that they had trouble in. While helping my friends, I found that the SOL created unhealthy amounts of stress for them. One of the students that came for help often, usually once a week, had trouble in algebra.
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Even after many sessions of tutoring, he was unable to pass the Algebra SOL. Many of them worried about passing the test because they knew its importance. The SOL also made them feel inadequate and created low self-esteem for many of them as well. I think that learning level should be taken into consideration, especially in cases of disability.
The SOL treats every student the same, and I find that to be unfair to students already labeled as less efficient. This aspect of the test should be rectified. I think the solution is either making different tests for different levels, or giving each level a different required score on the exam. Opposition to this would come from the school board, saying that the SOL is a necessary tool used in evaluating students, and teachers.
They feel that without the SOL too much time is wasted in class, and that it keeps classrooms focused on important material. They say that the SOL is used as a check on class effectiveness. They would argue that evaluation helps to promote higher performance. I agree that evaluation is a good idea. I also feel that a strong focus on required material has many benefits in education. However, I feel that the SOL should be replaced or refined.
Its methods are flawed and need t be changed in evaluation to give more attention to creativity and critical thinking. The way the SOL is now, it neglects the application of skills and over looks the importance of creativity. Obviously, creating a test that incorporates knowledge as well as understanding and application is no easy task. I would say that until the test has been ameliorated it shouldn’t carry the weight it does. As the test is now, if you don’t pass it you don’t graduate. If the SOL is still going to be used, it should go back to evaluation only rather than being an almighty test that determines graduation.
After being part of the educational system in Virginia, and experiencing education both before and after the SOL came into effect, I feel that most of the results are negative. I think that the SOL has done more harm than good to the students and teachers. I think that the SOL brought many practices that are detrimental to the school system. The solution to the problem will not be easily found. Obviously it will take a great deal of time to rectify the exam. A test used for examining progress should incorporate other necessary skills as to not promote poor teaching tactics.
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Poor teaching tactics clearly won’t help the learning process. I think most people would favor of a test that kept a check on progress without forcing the negative effects of the SOL on students. I think that more parents need to get involved if they wont to save their child’s education. More parents need to demand changes in the Standards of Learning test. Until the board of education feels more pressure to change the test, little change will actually be made.
