It is not unusual to have children with psychiatric illnesses in the mix, and then it might even have some children who are gifted and some who are just well adjusted youngsters trying to get an education. The classroom just does not look like it did some years ago when, for the most part, children with severe problems did not attend school at all, dropped out, attended special schools, or stayed at home and learned what they could from the family. It is unrealistic for the community to expect one teacher to take a classroom of thirty students and teach them all that they need to know to pass standardized tests such as the SOL assessment. They must have much smaller classes, more training and in many cases teacher assistants. I believe the SOLs can be taught to many children, but conditions must be conducive to learning.
Children learn at different rates.
Therefore it is very difficult for one teacher to pace student learning when each child is at a different place in the learning conundrum. We need to be realistic. Teachers are constantly being asked to substitute during their duty bells. There is a shortage of substitutes, but teachers should not have to pick up the slack for free. This saves the system a great deal of money enough money that no one seems to be in a whirlwind of a hurry to pay substitutes more so that more of them will want to work.