Education
Education

Georgia narrows “honesty gap” between state and federal test results

By Ty Tagami
Jan 29, 2016

For once, Georgia can use the words “among the best” and “education” in the same sentence.

The state is being praised for the rigor of its new school testing system, because the percentage of students failing is close to the percentage who fail the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

In 2014, Georgia had the "most pronounced" gap between the failure rate on state tests versus NAEP, according to the national education group, Achieve. But last year, when the state introduced the new Milestones tests, that "honesty gap" closed.

The NAEP is a biennial federal exam given to a sample of students nationally. It is widely considered the “gold standard” of assessments. In 2014, the proficiency rate Georgia reported on its fourth grade reading test was 60 percentage points smaller than the failure rate on the NAEP test for the same grade and subject. Last year, that gap narrowed to 3. In eighth grade math, the gap likewise shrank from 53 percentage points to 9.

Read more at myAJC.com.

About the Author

Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.

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