Lauren Mullen Dr.

Carr 12 September 2013 EDUC 406-02 SOL Test Reflection Assignment For this assignment I took a Spring 2011 Grade 5 Science released SOL and a Spring 2007 Grade 5 US History to 1877 released SOL. Although I passed each SOL, there was a marginal difference in my scores for the two. On the first test I only answered one question incorrectly, meaning that I passed advanced on the 5th Grade Science SOL, which I did not expect at allscience was not (and is not) a confident area for me. The second test I took was a different story. I missed eight questions! I was quite disappointed in my score for the history SOL.

Spring 2011
Reporting Category

Grade 5
Total Number of Questions

Science
Number of Questions Answered Correctly 10 10

Spring 2007 Reporting Category

Grade 5 Total Number of Questions 6 7

US History to 1877 Number of Questions Answered Correctly 5 5

Scientific Investigation Force, Motion, Energy, and Matter Life Processes and Living Systems Earth/Space Systems and Cycles Score

10 10

10

10

10

Raw 39

Scaled 553

Exploration to Revolution Revolution to the New Nation Westward Expansion and the Civil War Era Geography Civics and Economics Score

10

8 9 Raw 32

6 7 Scaled 451

From the charts above you can see that I only have one area that could be considered weak in science. The question I answered incorrectly was under the category Earth/Space

Systems and Cycles. After checking the answers for the test I scrolled back to the question to see what question it was and why I answered it incorrectly. The question asked which of the Earths layers was the thinnest. I then realized that I probably could not name the layers of the Earth no matter how hard I tried. I feel that had there been more questions about this narrow topic under Earth/Space Systems and Cycles I would have done poorly in this category. As far as the other categories go, I answered everything correctly. I would not go so far as to say that this means they are a strength of minethere were a few questions I was not confident that I had the correct answer to. My weaknesses in history are significantly more obvious than those in science, as shown by the chart. I would consider any area that I missed more than two questions in to be a weak area, and that is nearly every category. I was also sure to star the questions on my answer sheet that I had absolutely no clue about so that I could make sure to go back and review them. There were some that I guessed on that I answered correctly through using test taking skills like process of elimination, and some simply by chanceif I were to mark the questions that I guessed the answer to as incorrect I would only have passed this SOL by two questions. I feel that is unacceptable for a teacher to nearly fail an SOL that I expect my students to pass. I intend to review each category and relearn everything about Virginia History (and not just to 1877). I did not feel confident in any of the categories, and was slightly panicked that I did not know the answers to some questions. My eyes were definitely opened a little more and I know now that there is much that I need to review before Student Teaching. The VDOE website has numerous resources for me to utilize, including the Curriculum Framework. I think that this tool is a great one for educators of any grade, because it spells out exactly what students (and teachers) need to know and what should be taught. In addition to that, I feel that this would be a good time to start familiarizing myself with different online

resources that are available to teachers. I have decided to join more online organizations that have free resources for teachers. I already use ReadWriteThink.com, and I am sure there are other websites out there that are geared specifically towards science, history, or math. I also feel that I need to take more time to read. I should be reading things that my students are reading, even if it means picking up a book on a fourth grade reading level. Hopefully through reading I can relearn some of the things I am forgetting about the 5th grade. Finally, I will retake these SOLs and familiarize myself with them as much as possible. I believe that the best way to prepare someone else is to be fully prepared yourself, and when it comes to SOL questions I was not prepared. I have already saved some of the other released tests to my computer and I am going to look to see what other areas of weaknesses I haveI do not feel that I would do any better on any of the other history SOLs.