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DEL.ICIO.USKeeping Score On Education In Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember a while back I told you about all the new information the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement has been putting out lately?
Well, now they’ve got a new data tool on their Web site — the Education Scoreboard — that provides all kinds of measures on Georgia’s educational system, from Pre-K to higher education, in one spot.
The governor, who I’m told wanted a simple way for parents to see how Georgia’s public education system is doing, is expected to unveil the electronic scorecard during a speech this morning.
Now some of the data, such the state’s high school graduation rate (72.3 percent), you’ve probably seen before. And other information — including test scores for minorities, special education or low-income students — you won’t find here.
But there are some statistics that haven’t been readily accessible until now. Did you know, for instance, that just 64 percent of the state’s ninth-graders passed the literature end-of-course exam last year and were able to advance to 10th grade?
What’s really cool is that you can look at the data for your child’s school or all of the schools at a given level (elementary, middle or high) in your local school system and compare the information to state figures. In the future, GOSA hopes to expand the capability to allow parents to view multiple campuses side by side.
Jennifer Rippner, GOSA’s executive director, and her staff have been working on the project since September with the help of IT folks at the state Department of Education.
“Our whole goal is to make the data easy to read and available,” Rippner told me. “And the governor’s not scared if the data looks bad.”
So what do you say? Should we score one for Georgia or not?
UPDATE: I thought you’d like to hear what else the governor’s office has to say about the scoreboard, which is being promoted today along with a few other legislative priorities. Here’s a quote from the one-page backgrounder provided to reporters:
“Just as a scoreboard in an athletic competition provides fans with an at-a-glance status report, the Education Scoreboard provides stakeholders with meaningful, concise and transparent data on the status of educational quality and progress in Georgia. To date, there has not been a sole source available to education stakeholders that clearly reports the quality of Georgia’s education system. Instead, stakeholders have been forced to visit multiple sites to piece together an understanding of the system. The Education Scoreboard will fill this gap and report the ‘bottom line’ of education in Georgia.”
Comments
By Jeff
January 15, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
Well, I’ll give credit where credit is due.
At least - for once - Gov. Perdue and Secretary Cox are actually supporting TRANSPARENT government rather than trying to hide things in backrooms.
Now if only we could get them to support LIMITED government…
By teachergirl
January 15, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this
Well, I’d be darn excited if 64% of 9th graders passed the American Literature end of course test because 11th graders are the ones who actually take the American literature end of course test. Does that mean our 9th graders are really smart or does it mean the 11th grade test is pretty easy for 9th graders?
By Jeff
January 15, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this
Bridget:
teachergirl partially has a point. Freshmen, according to GPS, are not supposed to be taking American Lit.
That said,
teachergirl:
According to GPS, American Lit CAN be taught as low as sophomore level. According to GPS, it is a valid class for grades 10, 11, or 12.
By Bridget Gutierrez
January 15, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this
Hi, all. It looks like that EOCT reference was an error in the scoreboard.
The site now explains the ninth-grade on-track rate as: The percent of first-time ninth-graders who took and passed the ninth-grade literature EOCT and who were not retained.
Sorry I didn’t catch it earlier.
By Ernest
January 15, 2008 11:42 AM | Link to this
The State definitely deserves kudos on this. Government entities around the county are now putting dashboards and scorecards in front of their data and making it available to citizens. Think about it, we ‘own’ this data thus should have access to it. The key is to protect privacy rights, which I’m sure they are especially sensitive to.
Making this information available should also help us as citizens ask better questions about the trends we observe. Ideally, it should also help with forecasting. Eventually, there should be some cost savings with personnel and possible distribution costs (saving on paper). Some responsibility has shifted to us to ensure the data is ‘clean and valid’. The output only reflects the input and as long as people are involved, there is a possibility of data entry errors. When we notice something of concern or incorrect, we should notify someone immediately
I like the direction we are going to bring greater transparency for the citizens. Hopefully seeing the data/results we do not like will spur action.
By Jeff
January 15, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
Ernest:
Completely concur.
Now, about that LIMITED government…
By catlady
January 15, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
“And the governor’s not scared if the data looks bad.”
Of course he is not. He is in his second term, and we can always blame the results on those awful teachers Georgia seems to have!
By catlady
January 15, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
Not having looked at the data: is there a place where we can see how many students by grade and school failed the CRCT and how many (if any) were actually retained? THAT might go a ways toward explaining dropout rates, EOCT pass rates, etc. In my school only one of the probably close to two hundred kids failing the CRCT (a minimal test in the elementary grades) was retained, and that one only because his parents INSISTED to the highest levels. What is the explanation for that? Why isn’t the state DOE beating down the doors for an explanation? Thinking people ask why!
By V for Vendetta
January 15, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this
Am I in favor of an “education scoreboard”? Yes.
Do I think it will make one lick of difference, in the grand scheme of things, here in GA? NO!
By HS Teacher Too
January 15, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
I’m not sure I really care about seeing these scores. My neighbors tout their childrens’ elementary school’s scores as being among the highest in the state. But no one asks what the school does to achieve those scores. They make academic sacrifices, teach to the test, and do drills on test-taking ad infinitum for weeks to prepare. So I am forced to resign myself to saying, these scores are great — but at what cost? And I go back to something I said yesterday, which is to wonder, what is the right answer? Super high scores at the expense of a better education, or settling for low scores and accepting that there is some merit in what they say? I am not convinced that I wouldn’t just be happy to see scores that reflect the distribution of the population in general. I think — and I say this cautiously, because I am not yet in this position — that I would be comfortable with scores in the 70% pass range.
Anyone care to comment? Is there something else I ought to be considering that I am glaringly missing?
By Paula
January 15, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
“But there are some statistics that haven’t been readily accessible until now. Did you know, for instance, that just 64 percent of the state’s ninth-graders passed the literature end-of-course exam last year and were able to advance to 10th grad”
So 36 percent didn’t pass the test and didn’t advance to 10th grade?
By catlady
January 15, 2008 9:53 PM | Link to this
You can do correlations of car tag numbers and birthdays if you want to, but it begs the question: why would you? Any data is only as good as its source and the use it is put to. If we have data from a junky test, for example, does it matter that 88% of the students passed it? Does it matter if they all live in Affluent East Cobb County (AEC County)? And if we DO get good, unbiased, un-selfserving data, will it EVER inform decision-making?
By Bridget Gutierrez
January 15, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this
Paula: I think that’s a safe assumption.
By Blueja
January 15, 2008 11:34 PM | Link to this
Bridget, It’s not a safe nor accurate assumtion. I think most of us know 36% of those students were not retained. Please tell me you are not so naive that you believe they were!
By catlady
January 16, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
They went on to 10th grade classes, where they will write like failing ninth graders. They just have to retake the 9th grade English. Of course, they are unlikely to pass 10th grade English either, and think of their work in social studies, psych, sociology, etc!
By Bridget Gutierrez
January 16, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this
Blueja: The question was asking whether those students did not advance to 10th grade.
That could mean a number of things.
Some of the students may have dropped out. Some may have been formally retained.
Others may not have earned enough credits to be considered a 10th grader this year, so they could be taking a mixture of ninth and 10th grade courses.
If you have another explanation, please share it.
By jim d
January 22, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
A Brave New World indeed.
http://www.educatorroundtable.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=606