The Problems of SOL Testing
Education is one of the most important tools that society possesses. The right implementation of this tool is one of the greatest ways of assuring the quality of life within a society. The ability to better ourselves, is one of the strongest inherit abilities of the human race. At its most basic definition, education is nothing more than the teaching of ideas. The early stages of schooling instill more attitude and social skills than knowledge. The younger stages of a person's life are usually the most definable years of their lives. As the age and skill level of the student increases, more education is based upon the interest of the student. For society to progress and excel, every generation must learn just a little more. Education is important and the ways that it is tested should show the most accurate measure of achievement. SOL's (Standards of Learning) is the testing I am going to explain, and why it should not be required in high school as a form of measurement of a students achievement.
First of all, what is SOL testing? SOL (Standards of Learning) Tests are prescribed tests in the state of Virginia that must be taken in order for students to attain credits required to graduate. SOL's are the minimum curriculum requirements for student achievement, so they say. This test is designed to test knowledge in subjects such as history, math, science, english and computer science. SOL's are required tests in the state of Virginia in order for a student to graduate.
According to the Virginia Board of Education, SOL test scores are the single best measure of students' and schools performance and should be the primary criteria for graduation and accreditation. But is this really true? According to fairtest.org, no standardized test can accurately measure a student's achievement. Multiple choice tests cannot truly assess critical thinking, problem solving, and application skills. The only real tests of knowledge are through essay questions and performance tests. I don't believe any single test should be used to make big decisions concerning students futures.
The Virginia Board of Education, according to fairtest.org, also believes that SOL's set reasonable targets for essential knowledge and skills all teachers must teach and students must learn.
While remaining strong in his beliefs and not backing down can be positive traits. It is Jackson inability to open his mind outside of his selfish politics that makes him a murky character in our nation’s history. Perhaps he didn’t realize his party, the Democrats, were leading the way toward Civil War by not truly making laws that were for the good of the north and south. A strong and wise leader learns when to accept that their ideas may not be the best way to guide a nation. They lead for the greater good for all involved and do not condone actions that would harm others through injustice. Andrew Jackson was an undesirable figure because of his dislike and ignorance towards Native Americans and the idea of slavery. Also his fear of the Second Bank of America kept him and his administration in the past. The country was moving on to a strong prosperous future, which required a truly democratic President who would be for all people and by all people. Harriet Tubman will be replacing Jackson on the 20 dollar bill in the next
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States and was, arguably, the president that caused the most controversy. History shows Andrew Jackson overused his power yet, despite this, he was still well liked by the common men that elected him. Andrew Jackson used more veto power than all of his predecessors combined. He used his law making and veto power according to how he wanted the government to be perceived. At the time, Andrew Jackson was admired by many people. His laws represented the common man and were in line with what the citizens of America wanted, regardless of the actual effect on the economy and government. Despite the voter views, Andrew Jackson only acted according to his wants and how he thought government should
My second argument to consider is the uselessness of the VCE exams. A study conducted by Charles Rooney, a member of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, states that, "[More than 275 colleges and universities across the United States, acting on the belief that "test scores do not equal merit," do not use the SAT or the ACT to make admissions decisions about some part or all of their freshmen.]" However, I believe the truest form of assessment comes from the classroom teachers who guide the students and their learning. The generalised tests like the Sacs throughout the year should give adequate information that a student has learnt the subject well. Teachers are capable of understanding and demonstrating which students require additional study time, and they can also gain awareness of what improvements are needed within the curriculum.
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence.
Consequently, due to a split attitude towards slavery in himself, the nation began splitting up between: pro-slavery and anti-slavery. The northern opponents of slavery known as abolitionists organized and began to bombard the nation and Congress with pleas and petitions to rid the republic of this great wrong, and the defenders of slavery responded with denunciations and with violence. Unlike previous presidents, who questioned the morality of slavery, Jackson was completely poised with the situation, and stated that his “conscientious was merely troubled by the scores of negro slaves that he owned” Thus, it is evident that even though Jackson was regarded as the “hero of the common man”, he also advocated for the evil institution of slavery by conquering the Native American land, in order to get cotton land for white Americans, which increased the demand for slavery in the later future, by ordering south postmasters to thwart the delivery of anti-slavery literature, and by ridiculing any talk of black
Andrew Jackson’s time as president marked a major historical shift for the United States. According to Jackson’s biographer James Partin, populist technocrat was not among the contradictions exhibited by his subject. In the eyes of the historians interviewed, advanced a more far-reaching role for the federal government was not one of Jackson’s key accomplishments. In addition to all the popularity, he gained, advocated more democracy in the realm of voting rights was not a reason Jackson remained controversial. Jackson was viewed during his lifetime as the most popular living president due to the fact that he resolved current issue that the people at that time were experiencing. He made executive decisions based on his personal beliefs and
Standardized tests cover certain material, which gives teachers something specific to teach. This is helpful, in that it allows teachers to know exactly what to teach. It also sets up a goal for the teachers, which is to get the students to pass. However, this process leaves something to be desired. Because the test is so important to the future of the students, teachers, and school, helping students to pass test becomes the most important part of their schooling. This restricts the educators from teaching students about things that are more important. College is usually next step for students after high school so it would seem logical that high school prepares them for college, but teachers are so busy preparing students for the test that they are not preparing them for the future. Consequently, students arrive at college ill-prepared, with shallow educations (Gitlin).
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
Standardized tests, such as the SAT and the SOL, have been implemented for many years now for individuals in grade school to take. The SOL’s, or Standards of Learning tests, are Virginia’s version of standardized tests that students are required to take in order to pass a class, evaluating their knowledge on a specific subject. SOL’s are mandatory for students to take as soon as they reach third grade. Additionally, the SAT is a test taken in the final years of high school that colleges look at when comparing students for post-secondary school. People concerned with student’s education can come to the common consensus that education is important and there should be some way to compare a student’s achievements to one another. However, the process
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
Anselm argues, in effect, that the existence of God is built into the very concept of God. He proceeds by a form of argument called reductio ad absurdum -- reduction to absurdity. He attempts to show that the position of the fool -- the non-believer who has said in his heart, "There is no God" -- is incoherent and leads to absurdity. (Cottingham, 1996: 246)
There are many various issues about the education system which are controversial today. One of these common issues nowadays are schools concentrating on raising standards to evaluate knowledge for students. Many students have been working extremely hard just to achieve higher scores on tests. However, asking students to do many difficult tasks in their studies, is really not helpful now, is it? That is why Alfie Kohn wrote the article, “Confusing Harder with Better”, showing his dissatisfaction with the current educational system. In the article, he complains against “raising the bar”, meaning since they raised standards, teachers are making students memorize facts for tests instead of engaging intellectually with them. In other words, with
When speaking about having test scores as an indication of a school’s competency, everything will be based on the school. The school will have to have something to base it on themselves in order to have the results. This is where it becomes unacceptable. The fact that the whole process puts the school in a jam will make the school fall to the employees for the work. This process leads to teacher evaluations. No one likes to be put under pressure in the classroom. To be put under pressure causes more stress than needed on the teachers behalf. How is a teacher supposed to make students perform proficiently on tests? There are many different cases that can cause a good student to have bad test results. Students may have a lack of determination. Determination is a big factor in attaining success and lack of determination can cause one to fail. Determination is something that cannot be taught nor forced on a student by their teacher. It is something they want to have in order to do good in scho...
For thousands of years the idea of God have been questioned and proposed by philosophers, scientists and scholars alike. Many have argued for and against its existence and it’s still a subject of heated
Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.