Talk:Standards of Learning

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[edit] 4 subject areas?

The article states: "...the Virginia Board of Education approved Standards of Learning in four core content areas - mathematics, science, English, and history and the social sciences - and in computer technology." Now, I'm not a mathematician, but those are not "4 core content areas" - there seem to be 6. History and social sciences go together, and form one core area. I'm not sure about the history, but from my experience "computer technology" isn't considered a core content area, either. So, the sentence "...the Virginia Board of Education approved Standards of Learning in four core content areas - mathematics; science; English; and history and the social sciences" would work much better, and thats what I've put in. If its not correct, please change! » K i G O E | talk 21:43, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

As someone who graduated from a VA high school, there was no "Computer technology" core at the time. AFAIK, there is only physical sciences, mathematics, English grammar, and social sciences. Then again, I graduated in 2003, and a whole new crop of people are in the schools now // 3R1C 15:38, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism?

I personally think we should do away with the whole criticism paragraph. This whole situation applies to any test, not just the SOL. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.191.141.208 (talk • contribs).

Here is the section that the user above was talking about. Note that the section did not cite any references, and it appears to be an opinion. — Chris53516 (Talk) 14:19, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

The SOL program, and its emphasis on testing, has come under intense criticism by both teachers and parents. Teachers complain that they are now in a situation of "teaching to the test" and are unable to answer questions not related to test matter. It is also, however, very unfair to the students of Virginia. Sometimes the students cannot pass all of the multiple ones they must take and this leads to failure to graduate or to attend a graduation ceremony. The student must take the class over. Situations have occurred where students who have made straight A's in a specific class fail that class's SOL test. If students do fail the SOL in a specific subject, they are given the option to re-take the SOL the following year.

I added a new paragraph and edited the first (it was poorly written). I think that the SOL entry does deserve a criticism section because it is under constant scrutiny and that people should be aware that passing an SOL should be a given, not a cause for celebration. Cmcfarland 03:27, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

The entire section lacks any references, and therefore is an opinion piece. If you would like to post your opinion online, consider using a blog or other tool, not Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a source for opinions or personal content. — Chris53516 (Talk) 18:31, 5 August 2007 (UTC)
Criticism for the SOLs in Virginia is widespread beyond personal opinion. We should make an effort to find references so that this can be addressed. Ian Burnet (talk) 03:42, 2 April 2008 (UTC)