The SOLs are the problem. They combine the huffing and blowing of conservatives, who want measurable fact-based standards, with the wheedling of liberals, who want “inclusion.” The result trains kids away from argument and reason and towards empty memorization.
Bad standards aren’t the entire problem, but incoherent social studies standards are the norm and reinforce older patterns of bad text writing. Go read the entire blog entry for more.
You have no idea how funny that blog entry is to someone who knows “SOL” as describing an unfortunate situation rather than bureaucratic documents that, in some cases, put students in that situation.