Standards of Learning; joint committees to study options for reducing number of assessments. (HJ41)
Introduced By
Del. Steve Landes (R-Weyers Cave) with support from co-patrons Del. Dickie Bell (R-Staunton), Del. Tag Greason (R-Potomac Falls), and Del. Chris Peace (R-Mechanicsville)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✗ |
Passed Committee |
☐ |
Passed House |
☐ |
Passed Senate |
Description
Study; joint committee to study options for reducing the number of Standards of Learning assessments; report. Establishes a joint committee of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health to gather information and develop recommendations on (i) the feasibility of reducing the number of SOL assessments administered to public school students in grades three through 11, (ii) which SOL assessments to eliminate and which SOL assessments to continue administering, and (iii) how best to use the remaining SOL assessments and the extra instructional time resulting from a reduction in the number of assessments administered to foster individualized student learning and measure student growth. Read the Bill »
Outcome
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 12/31/2013 | Committee |
| 12/31/2013 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/14 14101918D |
| 12/31/2013 | Referred to Committee on Rules |
| 01/28/2014 | Assigned Rules sub: Studies |
| 01/30/2014 | Subcommittee recommends striking from docket |
| 02/12/2014 | Left in Rules |
Comments
It would be beneficial to our student population to reduce the number of SOL test they take, especially in the elementary years. The curriculum is so stuffed with content that teachers skim the surface instead of teaching for mastery of content. The expectations to cover the multitude of topics causes good teachers to sacrifice quality instruction for rote memorization. To teacher properly students need time to explore the topic, use critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. Much instructional time is lost due to SOL tests and benchmark tests. Virginia requires twice the number of tests than the federal government does.
I have other opinions about curriculum content and executive functioning of the brain. Hopefully those issues could be resolved after this issue is taken care of.