Mixed results in End of Course Tests

> EOCT (end-of-course tests): Typically given to high school students in several courses determined by the state board of education, including coordinate algebra, analytic geometry, U.S. history and more. These count as the final exam and make up 15 percent to 20 percent of the student's final grade. Also being replaced next year by the Georgia Milestones Assessment.

> GHSGT (Georgia High School Graduation Test): This is the last year high school students will be required to pass this test before earning a diploma. The exam has been phased out, although students still have to take and pass the Georgia High School Writing Test. The state board of education will vote soon on whether to eliminate the writing test.

> NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress): Called "the nation's report card, " the NAEP is one of the few tests given nationally that allows for comparison of state-to-state academic performance. It's given periodically in reading, math, science, writing and other subjects. Typically, only statewide results, no district- or school-level results, are released for the NAEP.

> ACT, AP, PSAT, SAT: National tests typically given at the high school level to determine college readiness. These tests often receive the most attention because they are given across the country and allow parents to see how students compare to peers in other districts and states.

The good news: Georgia’s public school students improved their performance in six of the eight End of Course Tests.

The not-so-good news: Metro Atlanta students are continuing to have trouble in math.

Data released Wednesday by the state Education Department showed more than one-half of students in several local districts did not meet state standards in several End of Course math-related tests taken this spring.

The state conducts the exams in subjects such as geometry, biology and American Literature and composition. They serve as a final exam in those subjects and comprise anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of a student’s final grade.

In the Atlanta, Clayton and DeKalb districts, for example, 70 percent or more of students did not meet the standards in coordinate algebra. More than 60 percent of students in the Atlanta, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett districts did not meet the standards in Math II.

State officials were not surprised by the results.

“While these results seem low and different from what we are used to seeing, they are in line with what many national assessments say Georgia’s students’ college and career readiness level is,” Georgia School Superintendent John Barge said in a statement. “We must address this head-on so our students leave our schools with the best preparation possible to succeed in life after high school.”

Officials said they expect performance to improve in subjects like coordinate algebra, in which the state tested students for the first time during the 2012-13 school year. Analytic geometry, another subject where students did poorly, was given for the first time in the 2013-14 school year.

Many elementary and middle school students are having similar trouble in math. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that a pass rate of 100 percent on the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests in metro Atlanta elementary and middle schools occurred nearly seven times more frequently in reading than in math.

Barge emphasized the positive results. A higher percentage of Cobb students exceeded the standards in every subject. In American Literature and composition, the percentage of Cobb students who exceeded the standards rose from 44 percent to 58 percent.

DeKalb County students made 5 percent or better increases in American Literature and composition, economics and U.S. history.