Yorktown Spirit - March 2000 Contents Note from the PrincipalThe SOL: No Easy Answers President's Perspective SHORT Takes Coming Up Note from the Principal Editor's Note: The following article by Dr. Pasi was published in the current issue of Educational Leadership, and is reprinted for your information. The SOL: No Easy Answers Before the Virginia Board of Education adopted the new Standards of Learning (SOL), math teachers at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, taught the same topics that they teach now but in a different order. Teachers used explorations, labs, and group work in their classes, but they did not collaborate often. Most math teachers did not hesitate to spend more time on a concept that students found difficult to grasp, even if it meant that they might not have time to cover other topics. Since the board adopted the SOL, teachers more often use direct instruction instead of group activities to cover all of the new standards curriculum. Teachers now feel greater pressure to keep to a schedule; whether students grasp a concept or not, the class must move on. However, the increased demand for successful test results means that teachers collaborate more to learn from one anther's instructional strategies. A Mixed Bag Less time for certain types of creative, group activities but increased interest in professional collaborationthe Standards are a double-edged sword. Although much of the criticism of and praise for end-of-year tests has been expressed in black-and-white terms, the Standards are a mixed bag: neither a cure-all for education's shortcomings nor the disaster initially feared. But because the Standards are here to stay, the time for us to argue about their merits has passed. | |
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