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David
Blount, Editor
The second piece of the state’s education reform efforts
is assessment. The groundwork for the Virginia Standards of
Learning (SOL) Tests dates to 1996, following approval of
revised Standards of Learning (the first prong) in the content
areas of English, math, science and history. Development of
tests based on the revised SOL learning objectives began in
early 1996, the year in which the General Assembly first appropriated
funds to develop the testing program. Educators from all over
Virginia participated in this process, and in the spring of
1997, the tests for students in grades 3, 5, 8 and in certain
high school courses, were field tested for the first time.
Following review of the test data and some additional, limited
field testing, the SOL tests officially were administered
for first time in Spring 1998. The Board of Education (BOE)
then directed eight standard setting committees to recommend
pass scores on each of the SOL tests, and in Fall 1998, the
BOE, after receiving those recommendations, established both
proficient and advanced pass scores for each of the 27 tests.
Near the end of this process, during the 1998 General Assembly,
the legislature approved provisions to phase-out the Literacy
Passport Test (LPT), which had been established in the mid-1980s
as the basic skills tests that all students were required
to pass to graduate from high school. Also in 1998, the legislature
approved HB 431 (a recommendation of the Commission on the
Future of Public Education), which, among other things, required
the BOE to conduct a regular analysis and validation process
for the SOL assessments. Responding to concerns about the
timing of the tests, the legislature, in 1999, appropriated
$3.3 million to enable SOL tests to be scored faster so they
could be administered closer to the end of the school year
(thus allowing more instructional time prior to test-taking).
In 2000, the legislature fine-tuned the testing program by
requiring the BOE 1) to make SOL tests publicly available
following their administration, as long as test security is
not compromised; 2) to allow local school boards to administer
certain SOL tests at different times, depending on when the
course it taught; and 3) to consult with school superintendents
in developing a timetable for administering SOL tests. The
legislature also authorized, and funded pilot programs for,
the BOE to develop electronic tests and a remediation test
bank.
One closely-watched legislative activity this year has been
the continued work of the Commission on Educational Accountability,
which took on an extensive 16-point charge when established
in 1999. Among the issues the Commission must address are
the following: 1) review the Standards of Accreditation and
its accountability mechanisms; 2) monitor the implementation
of the Standards of Learning and its assessments; 3) examine
the effect of state testing requirements on students who transfer
into Virginia public schools; 4) examine the effect on students
of the failure to obtain a high school diploma; 5) develop
recommendations for ways to increase the capacity of schools,
teachers, and students to meet increasingly rigorous academic
standards; and 5) study the impact of the SOL and SOA on urban
and small rural school and educationally at-risk students.
Additionally, a special task force of the Commission was created
in 2000 to examine the need for alternative assessments for
special education students. An Accountability Advisory Committee,
established in 1999 by the Board of Education and composed
of education, parent, business and government representatives,
continues to advise the BOE on SOL implementation, the SOL
testing program, and the Standards of Accreditation. Any future
legislative changes to the testing program likely would be
based on recommendations or findings of these groups.
1998 – HB 356, HB 409, HB 431, HB 602, SB 120,
SB 356
1999 – HB 2477
2000 – HB 489, HB 631, HB 767, HB 801, HB 873,
HB 956, HB 1019, HB 1020, HB 1484, SB 224, SB 318, SB 706
Kentucky, which approved the comprehensive Kentucky Education
Reform Act in 1990, continues to finetune that program. In
the past several years, a new testing program and new accountability
formula for determining which schools qualify for assistance
or rewards have been approved and funded.
In late 2000, Congress approved a $90 million increase to
the School Accountability Program, which, under Title I, provides
funding to schools needing improvement. Federal funding for
the program now totals more than $220 million.
http://141.104.22.210/VDOE/PolicyPub/EduReform/
http://www.sreb.org/main/LegAction/legrept/legreptindex.asp
Click here for a policy issue briefing on “High
Stakes Testing.”
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