WS scored top five in Virginia for SOL testing this past spring, but SOL testing at the end of the year comes as a burden for some and a joke for others.
“I do not believe the SOL is a good indicator of one’s knowledge, [so] I [do] not take it very seriously,” said junior Josh Chapman.
The test covers classroom topics, but because students can pull away with high scores, Passed Advanced scores by doing no studying or preparing, it must mean that Virginia’s “Standards of Learning” are not very high standards.
“It makes me pretty happy that our school is smart, smart enough to do that well,” said freshman Ulrich Tiago.
Even if the SOL standards are not as high as other standardized tests, Spartan students appreciate the fact that their peers did represent the great teachers who taught the knowledge needed for this test.
“Teachers teach [based] on the SOL rather than the material beyond it” said senior Colleen Dewing.
Another aspect to SOLs and standardized testing in general is the student’s belief that teachers focus too much on standardized tests and do not focus enough on the actual emphasis of the importance of material. Sometimes, the entirety of curriculum can seem as if it is just preparing a student for one 50 question test at the end of the school year rather. Students believe curriculum is meant to provide information and knowledge for a time in the future when it is needed.
Although some people believe that SOLs serve minimal purpose in the overall education of students in Virginia, the theme of the tests determines the curriculum VA students are given; therefore they have a large impact on the knowledge students obtain.
“It shows how good your teacher is based on how hard it seems for [the student],” Tiago said.
The SOL reflects the skill of Virginia teachers just as much, if not more, than the skill of the students taking the actual test. The spring of 2016 SOL results show that both WS teachers as well as WS students are excelling above other schools in our county and beyond that, the state.
It looks as if WS offers all of the necessary tools to scoring solid high scores on the standardized tests that are required of us.
“The scores [we] get depend on how much work [we] discipline ourselves to put into preparing [for the SOL],” said junior Molly Mohan.