End could be near for Georgia graduation test

State leaders say the test, introduced in 1995, is redundant because students now take end-of-course exams in several key subjects, which count 15 percent of their final grade. Leaders say these tests are considered a better indicator of whether a student is ready to graduate, and they offer a more up-to-date snapshot of how a student is learning. With the graduation test, students don’t find out until their junior year if they have the necessary skills to earn a diploma.

Q: Why now?

Phasing out the graduation test is something that’s been discussed by state leaders for years, but they didn’t have the money to replace it with more end-of-course exams. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, states must have a testing system to measure whether students are making progress annually and a certain percentage of students must take the tests. Until recently, not enough students were taking end-of-course tests to make them a suitable substitute for the graduation test. Now, new state curriculum and graduation rules require more students to take end-of-course exams. Once the federal government approves it, the state can use end-of-course scores to show progress.

Q: When will take effect?

If all goes as planned, it will be a gradual change starting with freshmen in fall 2011. State leaders still have to get the federal government to sign off on the changes, and they have to update Georgia’s rulebooks before it's official. Under the proposal, rising freshmen wouldn’t have to take the test and the end-of-course exams would count for 25 percent of their grade. Sophomores, juniors and seniors could pass the graduation test or four end-of-course exams in core subjects. The grad test would be phased out year by year, but students would still be required to pass the writing exam.

Q: What are people saying?

Allie Davis, 18, senior, Dunwoody

“I found it to be not a good indicator of what we learned. It was just basic skills. For me, I didn’t find it to be much of a problem, but there are people that take it two times, three times. We are getting tested on things we learned freshman year, that haven’t been reinforced since freshman year. So the test comes up and they won't review with us material we learned freshman year. I think there could be [a] better test to determine if we should graduate.”

Charles Ekpe, senior, 17, College Park

“It doesn’t show anything. To me, it was elementary. The entire test is like taking the CRCT again. I feel like if you have enough credits then you should be able to graduate. There shouldn’t be a specific test you have to take to graduate. If that’s the case, why don’t we take the test in ninth-grade and just say, ‘I don’t have to go to 10th and 11th grade.’”

Conchita Taylor, senior, 18, Atlanta

"It wasn’t as hard as some people made it out to be, but I feel like it tested what I knew, especially in history, maybe not so much in math. I can see where they say it’s redundant, but if you know it, it shouldn’t be a problem. The end-of-course test, compared to the graduation test, I don’t feel like it is that much of a difference in terms of the difficulty level. I don’t feel like you should do that instead of the graduation test."

Ken Russell, social studies teacher, Cartersville High School

"I think phasing out the grad test is a good idea. I have taught secondary social studies for 29 years and have been very concerned that the amount of testing, especially in the 11th grade, is excessive and unfair. The plan to offer end-of-course tests in all subjects is more reasonable and appropriate."

About the graduation test

In May, officials released results of the latest high school graduation tests, showing declines in student performance on the math and social studies exams that overstated an improvement in science.

State officials attributed the statewide drop in social studies -- 22 percent of the students flunked on their first try, compared to 13 percent last year -- on the introduction of a new test based on a more difficult curriculum.

Georgia's passing rate for the math test dropped from 94 percent last year to 91 this year. It is expected to drop again when a new math test is introduced next year.

High school students take the graduation tests in the spring of their junior year.

To receive a full diploma, students must pass each of the four portions of the test: English/language arts, math, science and social studies.

They also must pass the Georgia High School Writing Test, which was administered separately. Statewide, 93,572 students took the tests this year.

About end-of-course tests

End-of-course tests were mandated under The A+ Educational Reform Act of 2000, pushed by then Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, for students in grades nine through 12. There are eight tests that cover four subject areas: math, social studies, science and English. They cover the material that students learned in that grade and also are a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom instruction at the school and system levels. Starting in the 2004-2005 school year, the student’s EOCT score has counted for 15 percent of the final course grade. The student has to have a final course grade of 70 or above to pass the course and earn credit toward graduation.

The percentage of students who passed the end-of-course tests has generally increased each year. That's not been the case in math, where the failure rates have been the highest. For example, on the end-of-course tests in Math II given in winter 2009, 35 percent of students failed. The failure rate on that test jumped to 48 percent in spring 2010.