We are approaching the Spring 2012 non-writing SOL testing administration. Goochland County will conduct SOL testing beginning on May 1, 2012 to June 1, 2012. The elementary schools will start, then the middle school, then the high school will round out the schedule. The testing schedule is available by click on this link.

Alternate assessments are included with SOL testing. These alternate assessments are based on a body of evidence, that will be submitted and scored by local educators and Pearson. If your son or daughter participates in an alternate assessment, you will receive scoring reports in the summer.

The alternate assessment collection of evidence is due to central office on the following dates

VGLA: April 16, 2012
VAAP: April 25, 2012
VSEP: May 11, 2012

Please feel free to contact me or your child’s guidance counselor if you have any questions.

March 5th through the 7th will be the window for the Spring 2012 writing administration. The tests consists of two parts – the multiple choice and the short paper (essay). The multiple choice portion will be administered first, on either March 5th or 6th. The short paper (essay) portion will be administered on Wednesday, March 7th.

If you have any questions regarding the Spring 2012 Writing administration, please do not hesitate to contact me at slacy@glnd.k12.va.us or 804-556-5610.

2011 Fall Non-Writing

It may sound weird, but this week marks the end of our 2011 Fall Non-Writing administration. The state testing window extends until the end of February.

**NOTE : For those students who took the 2009 EOC math tests, your results will not be available until the middle of February.

2011 OLSAT Results

The 2011 OLSAT results are in! Elementary guidance counselors should be sending correspondance home soon (if they have not already!) regarding your 2nd and 5th grade student’s OLSAT results. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the elementary school guidance counselor, or me.

On December 13th and 14th, Goochland High School students will participate in fall SOL non-writing testing. This testing is done primarily for high school students who were unsuccessful at passing an SOL in the previous spring administration (retesters), transfer students, and seniors. The following subjects will be administered:

• Reading
• World History I and II
• Virginia and US History
• Algebra I  (both 2001 and 2009 versions)
• Geometry
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Earth Science

If you have any questions regarding fall non-writing SOLs, please feel free to contact me.

The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) will be administered to students in grade 2 and 5 during the week of November 14th through the 18th. Letters will be sent home from the elementary school guidance counselor indicating the exact testing date.

The OLSAT is designed to measure abstract thinking and reasoning ability. To find out more about the OLSAT, check out the OLSAT page.

On September 13, 2011, I gave an AYP and accreditation presentation to the School Board. The presentation was equipped with information describing AYP and accreditation, and how these mandates related to Goochland County Public Schools. I also shared AYP data for Goochland County (2002-2003 to present) and the state, and accreditation data (2004-2005 to present).

Attached are both the presentation and the data.

Please feel free to ask ANY questions you may have regarding both AYP an accreditation.

AYP and Accreditation Presentation

AYP Data

AYP for GCPS and the State

Accreditation Data

The Fall 2011 SOL writing window is October 17, 2011 to October 19, 2011.

This test administration is designed to accommodate the following students:

• Students who will complete grade 8 English in the fall.
• Students who will complete high school English that covers grade 9-11 English SOL in the fall.
• Students who previously passed the course but failed the test, which is needed for verified credit (retest).
• Term graduates: a term graduate is a students who is pursuing a standard or advanced studies diploma who are scheduled to graduate by August 31, 2012.
• Students who are returning to only take the writing test to earn verified credit.

If you have any questions regarding the fall 2011 writing SOL, please feel free to contact me.

On July 18, 2011, the Virginia Department of Education released the preliminary adequate yearly progress (AYP) detail reports to all of the Virginia public schools’ superintendents. Achieving AYP is a requirement under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (or as we know it the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). Under the Act, states are required to set annual objectives for increasing student achievement. In order for a school and the school district to make AYP, indicators must be met in math, reading, and an other academic indicator, based on SOL and alternate assessment scores. In all, there are 29 indicators that must be met. Failure to meet all 29 benchmarks may result in the school or the school district not making AYP.

The annual measurable objectives (or what we like to call benchmarks) for each subject area are as follows:

1. Reading – 86%*

2. Math – 85%*

3. Attendance – 95%**

4. History – 70%**

5. Science – 70%**

6. Writing – 70%**

7. Federal Graduation Index (FGI) – 80%**

*The annual measurable objectives go up every year. Last year they were: reading – 81% and math – 79%.

**These subjects/indicators are called other academic indicators. Each school and the school district were able to pick the indicator at the beginning of the school year. For AYP, only the ONE that the school/district chose has to have scores that either met or showed improvement.

On August 11, 2011, the Virginia Department of Education officially released the 2011-2012 AYP ratings for the state, each school district in the state, and all the schools within those districts. The state results  were put into a press release from the state superintendent, Dr. P. Wright.

The results for Goochland County Public Schools are as follows:

Byrd Elementary School – Did not make AYP

Goochland Elementary School – Made AYP

Randolph Elementary School – Made AYP

Goochland Middle School – Did not Make AYP

Goochland High School – Made AYP

More data will be posted to the county’s website that will explain SOL scores and AYP ratings.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Summer 2011 SOL Testing

The summer SOL testing schedule is as follows:

SOL Writing – July 18th through Jul 20th

SOL Non-Writing – July 25th through July 28th