The Standards Of Learning Testing Essay examples

Standards of Learning Testing, or SOL Testing, is used in the state of Virginia to measure whether or not a student meets the minimum requirement for what they should know in core subjects in school like Math, Science, History, and English. These tests are not accurate because it does not measure the amount of knowledge that a student has on a particular subject but the amount of the material the students can apply on test day. Students begin taking SOL’s in the third grade and over the course of their school career they may take approximately 34 different tests that are required for a student to pass by meeting the minimum passing score. Children start taking SOLs in the third grade and review four years worth of core subject material and take a 50-60-question test. That test for each core subject dictates how much time is spent on a particular subject and what is taught or reviewed over the course of the school year. In essence the entire school year starting in the third grade revolves around SOL Testing. When the tests are taken there may be a week or two that is not filled with learning but the time in class may be used to watch movies, hang out with friends, or in High school that extra time may be used to study for exams. Third Graders are 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds that have not yet been exposed to that kind of test taking environment and so they are taught how to take the test before they are taught the material. Year after year of taking this kind of test…