AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2006 > March > 10
Friday, March 10, 2006
Grad Test: You Be the Judge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A close vote at the Georgia Board of Education Thursday calls into question how far students should have to go to pass a portion of the high school gradutation test and earn their high school diploma. Read the story here.
A new variance rule allows students who have come within a couple of points of passing on just one portion to get a diploma anyway. It’s a controversial policy based on the statistical concept of Standard Error of Measurement, which says that a student could do slightly better or worse on a test on any given day even if no knew knowledge has been acquired. The SEM on the science portion of the graduation test - by far the biggest barrier to graduation - is six points.
If you were a state board member - I know this requires a major leap of imagination for many - would you have tabled the requests for kids who have one more chance to take the test later this month and force them to take it one last time? Or would you have let them graduate without taking the test again, because they met the criteria spelled out in the policy?
