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Shakera Vaughan
May 9, 2015
Research Paper (Distant Learning)
What is the best way to measure student performance?
High school is the place many middle school kids dread, many current students hate, and
many college students reminisce on. It can be either the best or worst four years of your life. The
Standards of Learning are a public school standardized testing program used by the Virginia
education system. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for core subjects in grades
k-12. Many people will argue that tests are solely based off of memorization, others would say
that its all about how well a person can take a test. Regardless of the opinion, there are facts and
faults in almost every argument, but there is one question I am attempting to answer; what is the
most effective way to measure student performance?
I am so intrigued about the Standards of Learning in Virginia because this previous
summer I had the opportunity to intern in the governors office, more specifically with the
Honorable Secretary of Education Anne Holton. Not only was it a really unique experience, it
was also one of the most informative involvements I have ever been a part of. One of the biggest
project I had to help put together was the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee which
focused on reforming Virginias current system and it helped jumpstart creative thinking about
the future of the SOLs. The committee is guided by a commitment to inspire, engage, and
personalize learning for every student in the Commonwealth. The committees focus is to ensure
Virginia has an accountability system that is fair, balanced, and supportive of the vision that the
Commonwealth prepares students for success beyond their high school year.

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As a current high school student, I have seen firsthand how stressed out my peers can get
right around test time. I have noticed that as that dreadful day approaches, slowly but surely, the
teachers start to teach by the test. That means that instead of trying to truly educate us on that
specific topic, they would just tell us what to memorize and study. Knowing that a high school is
classified as a good or bad school based of how high their student score on a test that is
approximately one and a half hours. Students must score at least Passing (400+) in order to
pass the test. Scoring over 500 is considered Advanced/Proficient. From experiencing three
different high schools I can speak on how different schools have different aims. My first High
School (Albemarle High School) was considered a really good school. There ultimate aim was to
get everyone to score an Advanced on the test. The next high school was Armstrong where all
they pushed for was just a regular Passing so that they wouldnt lose their accreditation. Now,
Open high school is already considered a good specialty high school, therefore they dont really
push for good scores, the good scores just kind of happens. All in all, SOLs can make and break
a school and the credentials behind it.
The committee loved the fact that they had an actual high school interns outlook on the
whole matter. Throughout the entire process Ive come to know that there are four core principles
the Innovation committee cherished. The first one is that the state accountability system should
acknowledge the accreditation benchmarks and should recognize individual student growth. The
second one is that alternative opportunities for students to demonstrate college and career
readiness in order to meet graduation requirements should be provided. Doing so will foster
innovation and creativity in the classroom and better align students skills with workforce needs.
The third core principle is as the standards of learning are revised, they should reflect the nature
and complexity of the knowledge and skills needed for students to participate in the global

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community. The timeline should account for sufficient time for new content and skills to be
added to the curriculum before their addition in the state tests used for accountability. The last
and final core principle is that the state accountability system should allow for a balance between
alternative assessments and the existing assessments that comprise the state assessment system,
allowing flexibility within school districts (Standards).
In order to take the first step in making changes to Virginias testing system, the SOL
Innovation committee suggest that the Board of Education and the General Assembly revise the
Standards of accreditation to add accreditation ratings which 1) recognize the progress of schools
that do not meet the accreditation benchmarks but have significantly improved their pass rates,
and which 2) recognize schools that did not meet accreditation benchmarks but have established
significant growth for the majority of students. Kohn Alfie suggest, schools that have not met
the 70% or 75% pass rate benchmark required for full accreditation but have demonstrated
significant improvement in their pass rates might be rated provisionally accredited or significant
progress demonstrated. (Kohn, 2) In other words, schools that have not improved their overall
pass rates but have demonstrated growth on the statewide reading and/or mathematics tests for a
majority of their students might receive a rating of ; provisionally accredited, significant student
growth. The Board of education should develop guidelines to ensure transparency, consistency,
and effectiveness. If those needs are met then the method they develop can activiely help the
already existing system.
We know that the typical multiple-choice and essay based tests arent the only way, or
even the best way, to measure a students understanding and abilities. There are multiple different
ways we can go about to measure student performance. One of the methods is already being
incorporated by many states and that method is, performance-based assessments into their

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standardized tests or adding assessment vehicles such as student portfolios and presentations as
additional measures of student understanding. Like Linda Darling- Hammond says in her
assessment article, other countries such as, Singapore, England, and Canada have already
utilized the practice of replacing multiple-choice exams with more performance based testing
such as traditional and digital portfolio systems in order to look at an in-depth picture of the
student. (Darling, 5) This suggestion and approach was the most strategic and individualized
method I have come across. It was centered on each student and did not categorize a bunch. This
was my personal favorite and I do believe this would be the most effective approach.
These rigorous multiple forms of assessments require students to apply what theyre
learning to real world responsibilities. These include standards-based projects and assignments
that require students to apply their skills to clearly distinct rubrics or criteria to facilitate a fair
and consistent evaluation of students work and opportunities for students to benefit from the
feedback of teachers, peers, and outside experts. They give a more detailed picture for each
personalized student that is more than a one-time test score. With these formative and overall
summative types of assessments come the ability to give students immediate feedback versus a
test that can take weeks to receive your results. This method helps with using the results to help
establish learning goals, also exemplified in the following image.

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They also to allow teachers to directly intervene, to change course when assessments show that a
particular lesson or strategy isnt necessarily being helpful for a specific student or students or to
offer new challenges for students whove mastered a concept. It provides more learning
opportunities and ensures success. This is another method that I have found to be effective as
well.
Assessment is made out as the heart and brain of education. One test that is restricted by a
time limit will not effectively measure something else that takes a while to develop and/or gain.
Teachers and parents use test scores to measure a students academic strengths and weaknesses,
communities rely on these scores to judge the quality of their educational system and quality of
their schools in the district. State and federal lawmakers use these same metrics to determine
whether public schools are up to par. Over the years, in Virginia, the accreditation of the school
has relied heavily on the results of the Standards of Learning and in my opinion I believe that
that is unfair and misleading. Testing forms the foundation of the educational assessment and
represents a promise to high academic standards and also helps contribute to school
accountability. You cant show where youre going unless you know where you are and James
Popman exemplifies this by reminding us that You have to be able to understand where you are
to get better. Unfortunately, when the financial aid and emotional stakes associated with
standardized tests are pretty disproportionately high, this goal gets distorted (Popman 21).
Teachers begin teaching by the test simply to raise scores, usually jeopardizing more meaningful
learning activities and when the tests are too narrowly measured or arent properly affiliated to
standards, they provide little to no concrete information that teachers and schools can use to
improve teaching and learning for individual students and their educational needs.

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The general requests of today's reality require each student to have the ability to realize
numerous abilities. An information based, exceedingly innovative economy request that students
learn how to master higher real world abilities and that they find themselves able to see the
connections among a various amount of ideas. Generally, these capacities, examination, and
assessment will be the abilities of an educated twenty first native and they are the sorts of
aptitudes that aren't measured by our present high-stakes test. Also, abilities, for example,
cooperation, coordinated effort, and good character- characteristics that aren't measured by a
regular state sanctioned test- are progressively increasing and showing more significance in
today's general public. Organizations are continually searching for workers with "relationship
building abilities" and the capacity to coexist well with others to execute collaboration. These are
this present reality abilities that students genuinely ought to be adapting keeping in mind the end
goal to live in a developing aggressive society. Many supporters of the Standards of Learning
will try and say that this was a great outcome of No child left behind. They would say that these
specific tests level the playing field and provide state legislatures and administration to
measure/see how each individual student is performing. Not only are standardized test effective,
they also create a common national measure that more reliable measure that is comparable to all
students. Some supporters even go as far as to say that without these standardized test for high
school students, colleges would have to raise their grade point average standards to make up for
the gap that was created after eliminating standardized tests. The overall main point of the
supporters is that standardized tests are everywhere and they will always be everywhere. Theyre
not just in grade school, they are in college, graduate school, and you even have to take some if
you want to go in specific professions. They see standardized tests as the ruler to measuring a
students ability to perform.

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What I have to say to that is, with standardized tests come the belittling of a individuals
capability. These type of tests, especially in Virginia, hinder not only the students but also the
teachers. Students cant fully learn the wide range that specific subject has to offer with a heavy
weight over our head. The teachers are greatly limited by the outline of the test. The main
problem is that they teach by the test because so much is weighed by these specific test. The
teachers also are restricted and do not have the opportunity to make connections and broaden
their horizon. All in all the best way to measure a students performance is to look at the
individuals capabilities and unique qualities through a cumulative digital portfolio created over
time, not just the numeric score they receive a strict structured test.

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Works Cited
Darling-Hammond, Linda. How Should We Measure Student Learning? Five Keys to
Comprehensive Assessment. Edutopia. George Lucas Education Foundation, 25 Mar.
2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Kohn, Alfie. "Standardized Testing and Its Victims." Alfie Kohn. Education Weekly, 27 Sept.
2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. 11.
Popham, James. "Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality?" ASCD. Learn.
Teach. Lead. Educational Leadership, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
"Standards of Learning Innovation Committee Draft Meeting Minutes." Full Committee
Meeting.
Virginia.gov. Virginia Department of Education, 6 July 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.