New Tests Will Likely Bring Drop in Scores
Georgia school districts recently found out how their students fared on state-issued tests for grades 3-8. The news was good for most of metro Atlanta. But next year’s results will likely be different.
Hear the broadcast version of this story.
This year, the majority of Georgia students passed the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, or CRCT. For example, in DeKalb County, 86% of third graders met or exceeded reading standards. In Fulton County, 94% of third graders passed reading. State testing director Melissa Fincher says next year’s scores probably won’t be that high.
“We are increasing expectations for student learning and so we don’t expect to have large numbers of students who are ‘proficient,’ like we currently see,” she says.
Next year, Georgia students will take a new testing series, called Georgia Milestones. The assessments won’t be strictly multiple-choice like the CRCT. Students will have to explain some answers and show their work on math problems.
They’ll also need to get more questions right to pass. Dr. Dana Rickman is the director of policy and research at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. She says parents should be prepared for a dip in scores.
“It’s not going to mean that the child isn’t as smart as they were last year or they aren’t learning as much as they were last year,” Rickman says. “It’s just that we’ve raised the bar and made it harder.”
Rickman says the new system should give a more accurate count of how students are performing.
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