Use of SOL alternatives a growing concern

The number of elementary and middle school students using an alternative to the Standards of Learning has skyrocketed since it was introduced in 2005, but the assessment's popularity hasn't translated to the high school level.

The gap between the two is so drastic, it has caught the attention of educators and has parents and advocates worried that older students aren't getting the help they need.

Last school year, 47,146 alternative-assessment portfolios to help meet SOL requirements were assembled for students in grades three through eight, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Education. On the high school level, only 331 such assessments were used.

The alternative assessments are for students who physically, cognitively or emotionally can't take the SOLs.

"At some point, given the similar participation criteria for these assessments, you would expect to see a correlation in participation" between the lower grades and high school, said Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Department of Education.

State educators are monitoring closely the use of the alternative assessments, which are new enough that trend data are just starting to show educators what extra guidance to provide.

"As we look forward to changes in our assessment program, we're going to be looking very closely at the participation criteria in general to make sure that it's clear under what circumstances students would be in each of those assessments," said Shelley Loving-Ryder, assistant superintendent for assessment and reporting for the state education department.

During the 2007-08 school year, 35,962 Virginia Grade Level Alternative assessments -- VGLAs -- were collected from students in grades three through eight.

That same year, the high school equivalent, the Virginia Substitute Evaluation Program -- VSEP -- was used 253 times.

Both programs assess students through a portfolio of work collected throughout the year, rather than relying on results from single SOL tests. But there's a big difference in how the process works.

"With the VGLAs, you make the determination [that a student needs it] and you start collecting data," said Harley Tomey, director of special education for Richmond Public Schools. "With the VSEP, when you make the decision, you have to submit a plan, and it has to be approved [by the state]."

In practice, that means a teacher has to come up with a plan for the entire school year and get the state to sign off on it before any material can be collected.

The other drawback, Tomey said, is that the VSEP works against school systems in meeting federal accountability standards.

"The part that is an issue, and I think the state knows this, is that if you have a student who participates in the VSEP, when you calculate for [Adequate Yearly Progress] purposes, those scores count as if they didn't pass," he said.

"There have been so few, [the state] can't demonstrate that it's equitable to the SOL assessment, so the feds have said you can't count them when you calculate AYP," he said. "So that creates for school systems a real disincentive."

With school systems aiming for federally mandated 100 percent AYP pass rates by 2014, no one wants to take a zero, even on a single test from a single student. The AYP system doesn't leave a margin of error. A school fails if it misses on any of the 29 parts of the standard.

"They count for accreditation but not for AYP purposes," Tomey said of the VSEP. "Think about it. That'll explain why people don't take it as option No. 1."

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The bottom line on testing is identifying the best way to teach and evaluate students, advocates say.

"It is tantamount to an admission that AYP matters more than the students," said Carol A.O. Wolf, who served six years on the Richmond School Board and recently analyzed the VGLA and VSEP data along with John Butcher, a former chemist and retired state bureaucrat who often delves into Richmond-related government issues on his blog, crankytaxpayer.org.

State education officials acknowledge the situation that school systems face, and there are consequences in particular for Title I schools, which get federal money to help children in high-poverty areas, that don't make AYP.

If those schools don't make AYP for two or more consecutive years in the same subject area, they could have to offer students the opportunity to transfer to a school -- at school-system cost -- within the system that is not identified for improvement.

"Nevertheless, you have to look at the needs of the students," said Pyle, the education department spokesman. "That's why the VSEP was created."

State officials are keeping a close eye on the evolution of both alternative assessments.

They are monitoring how systems are using the tests -- which are relatively new -- to find trends. They are beefing up assistance to school systems on identifying students who need the assessments after seeing the yawning gap between the number of VGLA collections and VSEPs.

The use of VGLA collections has skyrocketed from 2,031 in 2004. Since VGLAs are subject-specific, one student can count for multiple assessments.

"Last year, as we began to examine the data, we did become concerned in the increase in the number of collections," Loving-Ryder said.

Loving-Ryder and H. Douglas Cox, assistant superintendent in the division of special education for the state, have contacted local test directors and special-education directors and pledged technical assistance to make sure schools are using the eligibility criteria properly.

They are in the process of building that technical-assistance system. The decision on whether students take the SOL or need an alternative assessment is made during school-level meetings to write an Individualized Education Program -- something spelling out the unique needs and goals of every special-education student. The team has criteria to consider when assigning an assessment.

A major difference between the two assessments is that the VGLA is graded at the system level and the high school assessment is sent to the state for grading.

The VSEP is considered a high-stakes test, meaning it allows students who complete required high school courses to earn the verified credit needed to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma. Without the credits, the best a student can earn is a modified diploma.

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State and local officials point out that both assessment processes are relatively new and that not all nuances have been worked out.

"You're not looking at 20 years of the use of VSEP or VGLA in a public school system," said Wyllys VanDerwerker, president of the Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education.

That organization has not analyzed the numbers, but VanDerwerker, who works as a special-education director in Virginia, said he's supportive of the test as one of the alternatives for special-education students.

"I am, as a professional and as VCASE president, supportive of opportunities that the state has made available to us to make sure that kids that have disabilities that prohibit them from accessing multiple choice tests, that they have another method of demonstrating their proficiency on the SOL," he said.

"That's something to be very excited about."

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.