Putting off rich curriculum means putting off reading proficiency
Recently, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell proposed and the General Assembly approved a bill that allows elementary schools to apply for waivers from high-stakes science and social studies testing (aka SOLs) for third graders. So far this testing season, approximately twenty-five public elementary schools have availed themselves of this waiver. The idea is that before struggling readers can learn content they have to master reading comprehension.
Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Education Javaid Siddiqui thinks this is a good idea:
Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Education Javaid Siddiqui thinks this is a good idea:
The law, which expires in 2015, is a kind of a pilot program, Siddiqi said. He said that schools with low reading pass rates often have low pass rates in social studies and science because the two are connected. “It’s not about what they know,” Siddiqi said. “They are struggling with comprehension.”On the one hand, I am all for reducing standardized testing in Virginia. I also acknowledge that the the intention