RSS Feed |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CRCTs stir controversy Early County School Superintendent Kenneth Hall says that he is pleased with the CRCT test results from all three system schools. He said there is a definite improvement over last year's scores. A final report of the system's CRCT performance will be released later in the summer after all test scores have been certified. Superintendent Hall is singing a different tune than most school systems across the state, however. In a Macon Telegraph article, Bibb County School Superintendent Sharon Patterson is calling the failure of 58 percent of Bibb's eighth-graders on a state math exam "unfair" and says the state should void the scores. The article further noted that only 14 percent of Bibb's sixth-graders passed social studies and only 16 percent of seventh graders passed the exam. When the unofficial test results were released earlier this month, the State Department of Education began getting bombarded with calls from across the state from angry superintendents, educators and parents. According to media reports, 70 to 80 percent of the state's sixth and seventhgraders failed to pass the social studies test and 40 percent of the state's eighth-graders failed to pass the math test needed to advance to high school. State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox stated last week that the state had been implementing a new, more rigorous curriculum, and had created new CRCTs that set higher standards. Cox also served notice that while the social studies test scores were going to be thrown out, the math scores would stand. To further complicate matters, details in an Atlanta-Journal Constitution article late last week revealed the state Department of Education knew last July that thousands of students were headed toward failing the CRCT tests. That information further angered school officials across the state, prompting Jason Adams, a seventh grade teacher in Cobb County to state, "This is atrocious and unforgivable, This is the kind of thing where a heads-up to teachers would have been nice." While Superintendent Hall didn't provide an estimate of how many student may be in summer school here, education officials across the state are expecting crowded summer school sessions for the thousands of eighth-graders who failed the CRCT math test they need to advance to high school. Those who fail the test can take it again to try for a higher score. Fifth and eighth graders must pass the math CRCT before they can be promoted to the next grade. Summer school is not required to retake the test, but it is recommended.
The state has promised $1.4 million to help the districts offset the costs.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
