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From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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Virginia--Calls Needed Immediately
to Expand Year-End Assessment Options
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
It's time for Virginia homeschoolers to have more options for year-end
assessments! Delegate Scott Lingamfelter's House Bill 1183 will solve
problems families in many areas have faced with superintendents
arbitrarily rejecting adequate year-end assessments. The bill creates
three vibrant new options that many families will welcome--options
already available in other states.
The bill's first public hearing is Monday, January 21 (a federal
holiday) at 5 p.m. Your help is urgently needed. The hearing is
before the Students and Day Care subcommittee of the House Education
Committee.
ACTION REQUESTED
On Monday, please call the delegates listed below if you live in their
district. Use our legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox
to see who your delegate is.
Your message can be as simple as "Please support H.B. 1183. It will
give families more year-end options, reduce arbitrary and inconsistent
local actions, and help the children who can best show their progress
some way other than a standardized test."
Chairman: Fralin, William H., Jr. 17th R
(804) 698-1017
Athey, Clifford L., Jr. 18th R
(804) 698-1018
Ebbin, Adam P. 49th D
(804) 698-1049
Gilbert, C. Todd 15th R
(804) 698-1015
Landes, R. Steven 25th R
(804) 698-1025
Massie, James P. "Jimmie", III 72nd R
(804) 698-1072
Morrissey, Joseph D. 74th D
(804) 698-1074
Pogge, Brenda L. 96th R
(804) 698-1096
Shannon, Stephen C. 35th D
(804) 698-1035
Tyler, Roslyn C. 75th D
(804) 698-1075
BACKGROUND
Last year we saw a dramatic surge in unreasonable rejections of
perfectly good assessments. Assessments with basically identical
essential content that had been accepted previously were being
rejected. New demands were being made. There was tremendous
uncertainty because superintendents kept changing the rules.
Unfortunately, Virginia law currently gives only one clear option: a
standardized test. Anything else a family submits can be rejected at
the whim of the superintendent. Many other states give families
several clear choices, providing much-needed flexibility.
House Bill 1183 will give parents three new options:
1. A letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person
employed as a teacher in a private school in Virginia, or a person
with a master's degree or higher in the field of education, stating
that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth
and progress;
2. A portfolio containing a sample of the child's work from each
quarter in math and language arts that demonstrates the child is
achieving an adequate level of annual educational growth and progress;
3. A report card or transcript from a private school in Virginia,
college, community college, or college distance learning program, or
home education correspondence school.
There are many reasons families might not want to use standardized
tests. Standardized test results do not accurately reflect the
progress of some children. For others, scoring at the 20th percentile
could be an excellent score for them individually, but the law
currently considers any score below 23rd percentile to be failing.
Thank you for standing with us for freedom.
Sincerely Yours,
Scott Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney
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Fax: (540) 338-2733
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