Starting with next year’s freshman class, Georgia is moving forward with plans to phase out its high school graduation test and rely on end-of-course testing to judge whether students are ready for diplomas.
If the proposal is finalized, end-of-course tests — which students already take — will count more heavily in core subject grading by 2015.
The plan approved recently by state Board of Education members places far more emphasis on end-of-course tests.
Students take such tests much closer to the time when they have learned the material in core subjects of math, English, science and social studies. They are a fairer way to measure knowledge, Catoosa County Public Schools high school improvement specialist Trish Schimpf said.
“I think having a test right after the class is a better thing for the students, and that’s what is important,” Schimpf said.
She said that on the Georgia High School Graduation Test, seniors are judged partly on material they learned as freshmen, she said.
“With the graduation test, sometimes kids get so frustrated,” Schimpf said. “I help them year after year after year try to file waivers and variances because they’ve tried so many times to pass the graduation test. It becomes exhaustive.”
Students now get multiple chances to take the graduation test in four core subject areas, starting as juniors, she said.
But they now have only one opportunity to take end-of-course tests, worth 15 percent of their total course grade, officials said.
CHANGING ROAD TO DIPLOMAIf Georgia’s plan is finalized, 2011-12 freshmen will be the first graduating class to get diplomas without having to pass the Georgia High School Graduation Test.Beginning in the 2011-12 school year:* Ninth-graders will take end-of-course tests in core subjects. The tests count for 25 percent of their grade and they must pass the writing assessment.* Sophomores, juniors and seniors’ end-of-course tests count for 15 percent of their grade. They must pass the tests in four subjects and pass the writing assessment.* Each year thereafter, freshmen will take end-of-course tests that account for 25 percent of their grade and they must pass the writing assessment.Source: Georgia Department of Education
As of next year, all high school students also must pass the state high school writing assessment first given in junior year.
The writing test remains part of the new proposal.
Under the state’s proposal, the class of 2015’s end-of-course tests will be worth 25 percent of students’ total grades and have more weight toward their graduation status, officials said.
“We’re not saying that you have to pass the [end-of-course tests] to graduate,” Georgia Department of Education spokesman Matt Cardoza said. “We’re saying that the [end-of-course tests] will weigh more heavily on your grade.”
The next step is rule changes to modify requirements for a diploma without the graduation test, he said, and requirements in subject areas such as math must be tweaked before sending the proposal for federal approval.
Cardoza said one topic of discussion could be whether students who fail an end-of-course test can get one or more chances to retake it.
Other issues include transferring students, changes in the math curriculum and how current students will be affected during the transition, he said.
LaFayette High School graduation coach Donna James said parents and students must understand how important end-of-course tests will be if the state’s plan comes to fruition.
“Right now, they kind of have the idea that the end-of-course test is just kind of an exam,” James said, so educators will have to motivate students.
“Here in Walker County, we don’t allow them to walk in the graduation ceremony if they don’t pass their graduation tests,” she said. “We would hold the same standard with the end-of-course tests.”
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@times freepress.com or 423-757-6569.