Juniors taking the English SOL have been studying, practicing and stressing about their SOL all year. This week, many juniors will be taking their SOLs, causing other student’s W2 classes to be three hours long on March 7. The SOLs test the student’s knowledge, but students’ scores also reflect on their teachers. This year, many English 11 and IB English 11 teachers have been going the extra mile to help their students review.

All English 11 teachers remediated students who were struggling to better prepare for the test, they also had many Atom Time meetings for other students in need. Despite the constant review sessions, some students just barely pass.

Students in most English 11 classes took diagnostic tests to see if they needed remediation. For some teachers, remediation was required if a student scored low enough.

“We did review packets of multiple choice questions,” junior Mindy Vo said. Vo was one of the students who received extra help.

Many of the teachers felt that they had done their best to prepare their students for the SOL test. ”

We can study with them as much as we want but, a big part of how they do is just their attitude going into the test,” English teacher Joy Korones said.

If they were given extra time, teachers said they would have provided students with more practice time. “I would have given them more multiple choice and essay prompts to do in class if time permitted,” English teacher Carmen Peek said.

Other teachers, including English teacher Niki Holmes, think that the test doesn’t fully test a student’s knowledge. “I think the writing portion is more sound, but the multiple choice does not reveal what students know,” Holmes said.

“It [SOL Test] tests obsolete skills on spelling and the reading passages are boring making it hard for student to focus,” Korones said. An example would be how the students are not tested on spelling. Korones explained how spelling has become an obsolete skill now that spell check is available for word documents and students have easy access online dictionaries.

Many IB Teachers did not do specific SOL practice as all curriculum for the SOL was already taught. IB English 11 student Jenny Ha says she did not practice much in her class.

“No , not really. It [The SOL] was mostly common sense,” Ha said. She says she plans on passing advanced.

Apart from their issue with the lack of preparation time or the content of the test , some of the teachers offer awards to students or classes who do well. “If the whole class passes I would probably let them have a class party,” Peek said. Korones agreed saying she would have a pizza party if all of her students passed. Although, not all will do this for their students. “Graduation is enough of a bonus,” English teacher Katherine Graham said.