what SOL stands for
Brent Finnegan -- May 10th, 2007
Schools are preparing to give students the SOL tests, and around 250 students in Harrisonburg “probably do not know enough English to read the SOL exam, which is being given statewide during the next three weeks.” From everything I’ve read and heard, Harrisonburg is not expected to meet federal accountability requirements this year. This may lead to federal sanctions.
Yesterday Dr. Ford was named Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, primarily for his “leadership in taking a stand against the No Child Left Behind testing standards.”
The only true way to “Take a Stand” on this issue is by changing the voting habits of Red America come 2008. Unless federal policy changes, no man can be left standing.
No Child Left Where?
I may be out of place to take a blurb from my site and refer you to what I believe is the first step to truly not leaving our children behind -
“We must recognize the high percentage of persons incarcerated with learning disabilities and realize that these learning disabilities can be identified earlier so that teachers can focus on particular education techniques that keep our children from feeling left behind. School is often the first real social structure for our children, which is completely independent from the family. On the average, we do not assess for learning disabilities until the third or fourth grade. This leaves a gap of years for these students to begin to identify themselves as different or outcasts, simply because they do not learn in the same fashion as others. If we do not recognize our young people’s need to for specialized training early, many will develop some type of modifying or deviant behavior which could have been easily prevented.”
http://www.rolesforsenate.com/uplifting_youth.html
-Maxine
This issue is exhausting.
Simply put, in my opinion, NCLB should be repealed. The Federal Government should provide block grants for education to states so that the state can decide where the money is spent.
Localities should be able to decide how the money is spent and voters should choose people that they trust to spend the money wisely. This pattern places voters in the most influencial position in the process.
NCLB has provided more road blocks than solutions to hiring qualified teachers, displays little proof that sol’s have created a better student, does nothing to address concerns raised by Mrs. Roles, does nothing to change the culture of eductation in households where parents need to be brought back into the process, has never been funded properly, and in the end it has no constitutional validity.
Sadly, the core problem in education, again in my opinion, lies in the lack of engagement and reinforcement of educational needs by parents. I don’t care how many laws are passed and tests administered, if parents aren’t reinforcing what happens in the classroom it’s all useless. Parents are the key and they have the control.
I don’t think many parents realize how important they are to the success or faliure of their children. Whether it’s a discipline issue or an educational challenge, parents hold the key to how engaged and responsive their children will be. If the student does not feel there are consequences for their actions or inactions at home there is nothing a teacher can do about it.
As I stated, this is an exhuasting issue and I have barely scratched the surface but, in my opinion, it is a better start to a productive conversation to find solutions to educational challenges than discussions that currently take place in Washington.
Maxine
I disagree with your assertion “On the average, we do not assess for learning disabilities until the third or fourth grade. ”
Having grown up as a Kindergarten teacher’s son, this information is completely incorrect. My mother currently has children with diagnosed learning disabilities and has seen fit to test other students in her class to ensure that their education is properly applied to their learning abilities. In fact, the system has turned a major left turn towards testing (not just for SOLs but also for things like learning disabilities) and uses a major portion of their time doing so, my opinion on that subject is grounds for future posts!
I do however believe that you are on the right track though, this being that you are willing to start at the root of a problem instead of simply throwing quick solutions like “Tough On Crime” at a problem.
David,
I am sorry to disagree so emphatically, but even though we have great teachers who recognize learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, as early as kindergarten, and while we have begun to use more tactile or kinesthetic teaching techniques in general, especially as we use computers, studies still reflect that actual diagnose of these learning disabilities by the required educational psychologist is not occurring till third or fourth grade. Recognition by a good teacher is different than actual diagnostic testing.
The problem that this brings is that consistency and funding can thereby be delayed. Also, under the current system without the professional diagnosis and IEP, provisions cannot be enforced for these individuals, such as how they are administered the standardized tests. Of course, that brings up another problem with SOL’s and ‘No Child Left Behind’.
I would also say that as we look at those in the Department of Juvenile Justice and Department of Corrections, many, if not most, have never been diagnosed and do not have an IEP. While the Department of Correctional Education has been doing a great job at making up for the delays in DJJ, where they are authorized and required to diagnose, until this past General Assembly Session, they had no statutory basis for doing the diagnosis for those in DOC. (That legislation goes into effect on July 1st.)
I am sure that you can agree that allowing so many youth to fall through the cracks until they are already involved with the criminal justice system is not acceptable.
-Maxine
I could not agree more. I think that we have similar views but have come to them from different angles.
Maxine Roles,
In elementry school….if a child is not going to pass that year,
when is the proper time to tell the parents?
Are you saying that parents aren’t notified immediately if their elementary school child is failing????
What is the rational behind that??
As a parent, I want to know everything about my kids education as it happens.