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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Virginia may stop requiring some 3rd grade SOLs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Virginia may stop requiring some 3rd grade SOLs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Virginia may stop requiring some 3rd grade SOLs

The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would require that third graders take the Standards of Learning exams only in math and English, meaning they would no longer have to to take history and science SOLs.

Is that a good idea or a bad one?

The bill, SB 185, would scale back the standardized testing regime for third graders in order to allow them to have more concentrated time learning to read and do math. It awaits a vote in the House.

The idea to cut back on required SOLs in third grade comes from a study that was commissioned last year by the legislation’s sponsor, Sen