The results for districts will be reported May 9th and then school level data on May 23rd. From the AJC.
Georgia High School Graduation Test
Test results widen between white, minority students
93 percent whites, 76 percent blacks passedBy LAURA DIAMOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/25/08Most Georgia students passed the state’s high school graduation exam, but results released Friday show achievement gaps remain between minority students and their white classmates.
Students take the Georgia High School Graduation Test as juniors and have four chances to pass the English, math, social studies and science exams before they graduate. If they fail just one section, they can’t earn a high school diploma without a reprieve from the state Board of Education.
Only statewide results were released. District results are expected by May 9 and school-level data by May 23, according to the state.
The tests, which juniors took in March, included new science and English exams. The state revamped the tests in those two subjects to correspond with the new curriculum. The math and social studies tests will be redone as the state implements the new curriculum for those subjects.
The old and new tests are not comparable, said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state education department. The new curriculum is more challenging and the tests questions are more difficult, he said.
Still, all the results show Georgia struggles to eliminate the disparity in test scores between different groups of children. Schools across the nation struggle to close the gaps, which are typically most evident in science and social studies.
In science, 93 percent of the white students passed, compared to 77 percent of the Hispanic students and 76 percent of the black students. In social studies, 90 percent of white students passed compared to 72 percent of the black students and 72 percent of the Hispanic students.
“This is a huge area of concern for the state,” Tofig said. “We are not closing the gap as quickly as we hoped, but we see that scores for all students continually improve.”
Results from the test also determine whether high schools meet academic goals under the No Child Left Behind Act. The federal law rewards schools that reach the standards and punishes those that don’t.
Filed under: Education, Georgia, Georgia Education, Uncategorized | Tagged: Add new tag, African American, Georgia High School graduation test, Hispanic
The way I see things as long as keep the Georgia High School Graduation Test around more people are going to drop out of school. People see this test as a headache having come so close to receive a High School diploma knowing they have to pass four test in order to receive it.It is really stressing I think the Board of Education should put an end to the Georgia High School Graduation Test. If they could some how put an end to this test people will began to know that they can just go to school pass they classes receive a High School Diploma and move on with there lives.