Category Archives: Standardized Testing

Student Promotion – Whose Decision Is It?

Posted on September 3, 2014 by | Comments Off on Student Promotion – Whose Decision Is It?

Question: Who should decide which students will be promoted and which students will be held back? The state, county, school council, principal, teacher, parent … what do you think?
Who actually makes that decision has become increasingly unclear this year. The Georgia Academic Placement and Promotion Policy requires students pass various tests to be promoted to the next grade. Georgia Milestones will replace CRCT and EOCT this year and will allegedly be harder to pass.
The state is not enforcing those standards this year according to Wayne Washington.  Washington wrote in the AJC that New standardized test and end-of-course exams won’t be used for promotion this year. State officials are saying, “This year, students in grades three, five and eight won’t have to perform at grade level on the reading portion of the test to be promoted. Fifth- and eighth-graders also won’t have to perform at grade level on the math portion to be promoted.”
Apparently the promotion requirements have always been routinely ignored.  State education department spokesman Matt Cardoza said, “Students who failed those tests in the past could appeal to local panels, which often approved the students’ promotion”.
This is much to the chagrin of Byron Merritt, President SW DeKalb High School PTSA. In a statement to the board in July, Merritt said, “We have 88 9th grade students coming to SW DeKalb HS on waivers this August. We have 80 9th grade and 10th grade students not reading on grade level. Our graduation rate has dropped to 7th from the bottom in the county. “
The state is encouraging local school districts to develop their own policies to determine which students should be moved to the next grade. It is the policy of the DeKalb County Board of Education to comply with the requirement of the Georgia Academic Placement and Promotion Policy. DeKalb Schools has not communicated how they will determine which students are promoted and which students are held back.
References
§ 20-2-282. (OCGA) Georgia Academic Placement and Promotion Policy
Hasta La Vista CRCT and EOCT
New standardized test, end-of-course exams won’t be used for promotion
eboard link icon DeKalb County School District Policy IHE: Promotion and Retention

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Posted in Board Policy, Graduation Rates, Standardized Testing

2012-13 Student Growth Percentiles (SGP)

Posted on July 25, 2014 by | 2 comments
Student Growth Percentile

The Georgia Department of Education released Student Growth Percentile (SGP) data yesterday. SGPs describe the amount of growth a student has demonstrated on the CRCTs relative to academically-similar students from across the state.  Go here to find out more about Student Growth Percentile and how it’s calculated.
Your school’s Median SGP:
Austin ES, Briarlake ES, Chesnut ES, Dunwoody ES, Evansdale ES, Fernbank ES, Hawthorne ES, Huntley Hills ES, Kingsley ES, Kittredge Magnet, Midvale ES, Montgomery ES, Livsey ES, Vanderlyn ES, Wadsworth Magnet
Look up district and school SGP data across the state here. Educators have access to detailed SGP data for their students and teachers through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS).  Note: This data is based on growth from FY12-FY13.  FY15 school year starts next month, so the benefits of this stale data remain to be seen.
SGPs are used as a measure of student progress in the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). SGPs are one of multiple measures used to provide an indication of teacher and leader effectiveness in the Teacher and Leader Keys Effectiveness Systems (TKES and LKES).
Below are DeKalb’s Median SGP scores.  With a few exceptions, the SGP data suggests DeKalb Schools’ students are falling behind faster than the other students across the state.

  Grade Subject Median SGP
DeKalb Schools 4 English/Lang. Arts 45
DeKalb Schools 4 Math 40
DeKalb Schools 4 Reading 57
DeKalb Schools 4 Science 49
DeKalb Schools 4 Soc. Stud. 40
DeKalb Schools 5 English/Lang. Arts 44
DeKalb Schools 5 Math 43
DeKalb Schools 5 Reading 44
DeKalb Schools 5 Science 38
DeKalb Schools 5 Soc. Stud. 44
DeKalb Schools 6 English/Lang. Arts 44
DeKalb Schools 6 Math 54
DeKalb Schools 6 Reading 59
DeKalb Schools 6 Science 42
DeKalb Schools 6 Soc. Stud. 46
DeKalb Schools 7 English/Lang. Arts 54
DeKalb Schools 7 Math 32
DeKalb Schools 7 Reading 50
DeKalb Schools 7 Science 48
DeKalb Schools 7 Soc. Stud. 42
DeKalb Schools 8 English/Lang. Arts 40
DeKalb Schools 8 Math 38
DeKalb Schools 8 Reading 50
DeKalb Schools 8 Science 44
DeKalb Schools 8 Soc. Stud. 45

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Posted in Standardized Testing