SOL Season

SOL season is officially in high gear. Unlike when I was in grade school (in the same state in which I teach), SOLs are no longer administered in the paper-pencil format (accept for those students that require it through accommodations), but instead through the use of computers. With this new format of testing being in place for the past 5 years, at least, you would think that all of the kinks would have been worked out. WRONG!! It never fails that EVERY year there is some type of malfunction with our testing program that prevents the test from being administered or the testing window to be delayed/rescheduled. While our higher-ups might see this as a minor fail, for our students with disabilities this is a major setback.

Many of my students with disabilities suffer from test anxiety, and when prepping for a test and getting your emotions in check, only to be thrown a curveball in the form of mal-, or in this case, non-functioning technology all motivation and focus is lost. How do we rectify this issue? Is the fault in the technology or in the students? Some say the students but I say the technology. Even as an adult, when spending a large amount of time prepping for a presentation or a very important meeting only to be told the audience has changed or you are required to present on a different topic, even we get flustered. So why do we think that the same will not happen to our students? And in some cases at a higher degree?

Is it unfair to present these students, who experience these struggles, with the option to take their assessments using the traditional paper-pencil format? Are we so stuck in “technology-driven instruction” that we neglect the student? If there is a drive for differentiation and meeting the needs of our students then why is this not considered as a feasible option? Not just for our students with disabilities but for ALL students?

How do we ensure that technology is functioning properly? How do we ensure that our students do not, for lack of better words, freak out?! Can either of these concerns be fully rectified?

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Looking to read up more on the correlation between technology and test anxiety? Check out “The Effects of Online Formative and Summative Assessment on Test Anxiety and Performance” by Jerrell C. Cassady and Betty E. Gridley