CRCT scores are in: What do they tell us this time?
The state released state CRCT scores by system today, with strong metro performances by students in Cherokee, Fayette, Decatur and Buford.
Clayton and Atlanta had some of the lowest scores.
The longer I report on education, the less comfortable I am with test score results, which often speak more to the affluence of the families in a district than the proficiency of either the schools or the teachers.
I think a fairer comparison is to juxtapose scores in systems with similar socio-economics. If you are interested, here is the AJC database that will allow you to look at district performance.
A DeKalb parent has already looked at that system’s scores and noted that, “If you go look at the score report, you will find that in 8th grade, DCSS had lower pass rates than either Clayton or Atlanta in 8th grade reading and math. In fact, Clayton’s pass rate for reading (8th grade) was actually 2 percentage points higher than DeKalb.”
For example, among eighth graders who must pass the math portion of the CRCT to automatically be promoted to ninth grade, the statewide passing rate was 77.7 percent. In Atlanta Public Schools, the passing rate was 65.9 percent, and in Clayton, it was 68.3 percent. By comparison, the passing rate on that same test was 89.6 percent in Cherokee County, 93.4 percent in Fayette County, 86.8 percent in Buford and 94.6 percent in Decatur.
Forsyth County, an affluent north Atlanta suburb and traditionally a top test performer, had a 96.9 percent passing rate on the eighth grade math test, the best reported in the state.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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199 comments Add your comment
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
1:05 pm
Thanks Tad, I enjoy reading your blog. Don’t just stand on the diving board of this topic. Jump in!
catlady
June 22nd, 2011
1:07 pm
Many of our sped kids got the modified version in their areas of exceptionality. It had a lot of read-to, as well as additional clue boxes with information you would expect a proficient kid to know. Supposedly, in our system, NONE of the kids at our school who got CRCTM failed those sections with the modifications! (Could we give the CRCTM to everybody?)
Ms. Downey, does this data include the second, “summer school” administration for those who failed the first go-around? It says April and May, and our kids took the CRCT summer school version about May 24. However, there are some systems that actually have summer school after school is out, so presumably they are just now taking it?
I notice there is a 10 pt plus difference between our reading and math pass rates. I am guessing that is because we teach computation, and the CRCT math section tests reading comprehension as well as actual math computation. Unfortunately, we don’t teach to mastery in math computation, so that puts our kids at a huge disadvantage. And, this year, we had a tornado warning during the middle of the first math section, so we expected the upset would affect our scores.
Tad Jackson
June 22nd, 2011
1:14 pm
Thank you, Incredulous, for visiting and for your kind words. It is deeply appreciated. What a pleasure, and honor, it is to teach and tutor struggling kids … and write about it in an effort to show the world what noble, and fun, work it is.
Anyhow, I’ll dive in. But I dive in with a take on how to solve ALL the problems and concerns of the world, including, of course, the pesky CRCT issue.
In all that we do, just realize that we are always working in service of another, in one way or another, and if we let go of our egos and desire for power and other elements that distract, or even corrupt us … and just do our jobs as sincerely as we can in service of another … well … I think we might just fix a whole lot of broken stuff.
Hey … the water feels great!
http://www.adixiediary.com
concerned teacher
June 22nd, 2011
1:14 pm
The kids that rec’d modified result in my county were students that rec’d special education services (IEP). All special ed students did not get to take the modified version. It was based on some criteria that the district set forth. I didn’t see the test at all. I was told that it was suppose to have larger print and give the kids clues to help them be sucessful. We did well in the sub group.
Hear me well
June 22nd, 2011
1:16 pm
As a current African American teacher in South Dekalb County: DCSS is going down the same road as Clayton County. I am ashamed many times to be associated in ANY way with this joke of a district. Which is why we pulled our children out of Dekalb and moved to Gwinnett. The system is a joke and the parents who could care less about their illiterate kids AND the self serving county office and admins will pay one day soon, I hope.
catlady
June 22nd, 2011
1:22 pm
Ms. Downey, could your computer gurus add free lunch percentage, ESOL percentage, and racial percentage (W/B/H/A) to the data (does not have to be by grade level)? It might silence some forlks, or give us food for thought in our discussion of race vs. SES. (ESOL is not the same as Hispanic percentage. Half of our Hispanic kids are not longer eligible for ESOL at any given point in time, and some counties have other non English speaking students besides Latino.) Adding sped percent and gifted percent might also be interesting.
Dunwoody Mom
June 22nd, 2011
1:22 pm
@Maureen, black males only make up 15% of the student population in Gwinnet – so I am not real impressed by that graduation rate stat.
Come again?
June 22nd, 2011
1:23 pm
Can someone explain to me who created this motto for DCSS??????http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/administration/humanresources/employment.html
And with these unacceptable test scores? Give me a break.
Inman Park Boy
June 22nd, 2011
1:58 pm
Atlanta Mom, are you suggesting that we throw up our hands and just get used to an “ignorant” working class? I think we can do better. I come from a very poor “socio-economic” background, but my parents were very supportive of me and my education. To expect less from ANY parent is a “socio-economic” excuse cop out.
Atlanta Mom
June 22nd, 2011
2:00 pm
Inman Park Boy,
I’m suggesting nothing of the kind. But I do think we need to stop comparing apples to oranges.
Dr NO
June 22nd, 2011
2:19 pm
One cant add apples and oranges and get bananas. However one can add grapes and nuts and get grape-nuts.
Find the root of the problem
June 22nd, 2011
2:33 pm
Socio-economics is the key, if you compared the test scores to majority white but “poor” Georgia counties with Forsyth, you will see the same disparity. It is funny how some people want to hold on to a false belief of superiority simply by the color of one’s skin; just thinking about that is asinine. Environment, exposure, value of education, the education of one’s parents are all influences that have little to do with skin color
ANGELA
June 22nd, 2011
2:42 pm
@Tad Jackson,
Thank you for the tips however, we are not writing a research paper of any kind neither are we being graded. It behooves me that so many of you spend a lot of time critiquing the post on this blog. I love the perfect people and writers. Perhaps you have not viewed some of the typeo’s in some of the ajc articles it does occur. Heaven forbid that you make a mistake of any kind. What gets on my nerves are all of you perfect people thinking that you are truly perfect.
As Maureen has said time and time again, people many times are typing in haste and don’t proof read and even if they do they still may miss something (Oh but I am sure you never do). We who write on this blog are not getting paid or in any contest to win anything. The only person getting paid here is Maureen and I am sure that she makes mistakes and errors too sometimes.
Read the blogs and if you have a comment to make make it but leave who spell what incorrectly alone. Again, the only one getting paid here is MAUREEN!
P.S. And, if there are any misspelled words or grammatical errors so what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maureen Downey
June 22nd, 2011
2:47 pm
@Angela, I have to agree and also mention that our blog tool does not let people come back and correct their posts or edit them.
Maureen
ANGELA
June 22nd, 2011
2:49 pm
@Maureen,
Thanks!
AlreadySheared
June 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
@Tad
“but the typo apologies are getting on my nerve! ”
You have but one (nerve)? Ironic.
KJ's Mom
June 22nd, 2011
2:54 pm
My son is currently a rising 8th grader in So. Dekalb. He’s HATED us this summer because my hubby & I enrolled him in Kumon. He passed the math section with an 805 (too close for comfort), but his reading, social studies, & science were all between 835-847. But you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be renting our current house in So. Dekalb and RENTING a house in Henry county next year. There’s NO WAY we’re going to allow him to darken the doors of Towers High School! The only reason he’s been consistenly on the honor roll since 1st grade is because we’ve had our foot on his neck & stayed involved.
Sadly, many of his friends weren’t so fortunate. But, since “7th grade doesn’t have summer school”, most of the teachers didn’t care if the 7th graders passed or not because, as I was told, it’s “not a critical grade”.
Star10
June 22nd, 2011
2:58 pm
Let’s put this in some perspective. Ten years ago only 23% of students in 4th grade in APS were passing the CRCT in Reading and Language Arts (the old easier QCC’s). In 2011, 80% of students are passing in these subjects. Even with the level of massive distractions the district has had in the last two years, this says a lot about the amount of work that the teachers are putting in. Instead of focusing on the positives for all of the inner city districts and acknowledging the work that still needs to be done, the AJC has become educator bashing headquarters.
As an APS teacher, I will not let people who have no idea what my students and myself go through each day in order to have one test given on one day prove our worth continue to spew their ignorance.
Yes APS has its problems but our issues are no worse or better than other districts. Yes some educators cheated, but I am sure it’s no more than other districts (some erase while in other districts they tell the kids to leave the answer blank if they don’t know it and then you can guess what happens. I mean how else in a class of 8 year olds can you have only an average of 1 wrong to right eraser).
What do the results tell us on the 2011 CRCT? Progress has been made in some areas but Math and Science still need work. How is Math being taught? Are programs being used for Math and are they effective? What are the core issues for students in Math? What can you do as parents to better enhance your children’s math skills? These are the types of educational editorials that parents should what to read, not articles and blogs that say it’s the schools fault not yours.
Disgruntled Parent
June 22nd, 2011
3:01 pm
All I have to say about this is that ALL children have the capacity to learn. It should not matter where you live, how much money you make or what your skin color is. ALL children should have an opportunity to have teachers that truly care about the welfare of the children. I am a parent of a student in the Atlanta Public School System and I happen to be in one of the areas that most of you say the “undesirables” live. I do make myself visable at my childs school. I do extend myself to the teachers at this school. There are a select few that have made it apparent to me and my child that they are there to help in any way that they can but then the majority show in word and deed that they are there to “get a paycheck” The assumption should not be made that “certain” parents do not care or that they do not view education as being important. I feel that collectively we need to hold the State Board of education accountable for the teachers that are not performing. Parents are key in that we need to be as involved as possible with the children and the school and the children need to understand that they need to be on task everyday in order to get what is being taught. That being said if the parent is more involved and the children are on task what happens when the teacher is not. Who suffers? The children that is who. The finger pointing needs to stop and the PROBLEM needs to be attacked. The educational system here and in other places needs to be revamped so that ALL children can start on an even playing field. They are our future wheather we want to believe it or want to accept it. We need to collectively work towards makeing sure that they can function as productive members of our society.
Ken
June 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
As a graduate of North Fulton schools and a new teacher in Atlanta Public Schools, I really appreciate your comments. There are far more factors involved in all children’s scores than just the number itself. The struggles that I had in my classroom this year were nonexistent when and where I went to school. Additionally, although my students scores were not nearly as high as I wanted them to be, we made 143% over the previous years scores. These are not success that are recognized or celebrated by the educational field.
JW
June 22nd, 2011
3:27 pm
Just a few quick observations after looking at several different school systems’ results in math and science.
The failure rates in math and science are always so much higher in 6th and 8th grades than 5th and 7th. If you look at the details section, there are less students “exceeding” in 6th and 8th as well. Does anyone have any clues as to why this is the case? I am very curious about this because it is true of many districts. My guess is there has to be huge discrepancies in the difficulty levels of the math & science tests in 5th-8th. It is just not reasonable to think that all 5th and 7th grade teachers in county after county are so much better than all 6th grade and 8th grade teachers (no offense intended to 5th and 7th grade teachers).
The worrisome question is how will this obvious difficulty level discrepancy impact teachers’ evaluations in those grades like 6th and 8th once the new Race to the Top (value-added) methods are used?
Nikole
June 22nd, 2011
3:35 pm
@ Star10—I think it is ignorance that allows you to claim cheating in classrooms with an average of 1 wrong to right erasure. I have NEVER been motivated to cheat and could care less what the CRCT results are for me. I want to make sure my first graders can read and compute fluently,above all else, spend whatever time is left on other standards (like commas in a series, which one CRCT had about 30 questions on). All of the classrooms on my grade level avg. that 1 and less than 1 on erasures. That didn’t mean our kids did not erase, it means that those erasures that were changed from wrong to right were no more than those changed from right to wrong. Please don’t misconstrue the data. Some teachers worked really hard, didn’t cheat and then someone outside of their classroom changed answers. It happened!
TimeOut
June 22nd, 2011
3:38 pm
CRCT scores and others that are tailor-made for Georgia and Georgia alone, are of no importance to me. I want to know how my child performs in comparison to others in her grade across the NATION. I’d also like to know how she performs in comparison to other students in OTHER COUNTRIES. It’s just short of bizarre that we continue to throw out the same old arguments about socioeconomic class, classroom conditions, professional conditions (ONCE AND FOR ALL, THERE ARE NO TEACHER UNIONS IN GEORGIA! 190 DAY CONTRACTS PAID ON 12 MONTH CALENDAR, ETC.) race and ethnicity, local and state politics, etc as explanations for the successes and failures of groups of students. NEED is the only requirement for learning. When students/parents/their teachers perceive that they NEED an education, then students will obtain it. Federal involvement has removed the last fragile shreds of student accountability. What school won’t send out staff to round up the non-performers sleeping in on a standardized test day when their jobs depend on the scores? However, if we continue to remove the consequences for students, when will they mature? Schools lie, distort, and cover up academic and discipline issues due to NCLB/AYP and the national habit of perpetrator playing victim. Twenty years ago, my principal told me that I could not deny a particular student her right to choose to fail. You’d better believe we’re going to try to do so today. We’ll water down the requirements, if not outright dispense with them. We’ll let her re-take, re-do, resubmit anything and everything. We’ll make it easier and easier to pass the test by making the test itself easier and easier. The same thing occurs when the same folks start screaming tha universities need to do more to help the freshman become graduating seniors at their institutions. Baloney. It’s college/university. The student should not have received a high school diploma if he needed remedial math/english, etc. to pass college freshman courses. All we’ll get in the end is more dumbing down. We won’t raise these students performance levels. We’ll just lower the bar until they don’t even have to flex a knee to cross over it.
ANGELA
June 22nd, 2011
3:43 pm
@KJ’s Mom,
Let me first start by saying I as a DCSS teacher I can totally appreciate your positive involvement in your child’s education. Please continue.
However, let mention to you if any teacher told you that they did not care if the 7th graders passed or not they, I hope really did not mean it that way. I teach 2nd grade and even though my students did not take the CRCT they did have to take a bench mark. I still made every effort to prepare my students as if they were taking the CRCT. By doing this it prepared them for the next grade be it 3rd or 8th.
As for the big problem here in the Georgia school system students in many cases don’t take the learning non-tested years seriously. If they know that they are not going to be retained if they don’t pass the test they don’t try as hard. As for Towers my daughter is a teacher there and I can assure you with all (many) of the teachers that I have met it is not the teachers it is truly the students and parents. I say this from experience when I visit my daughter. I have never seen so many teachers in one school that try to help students succeed academically not only via knowledge but monetarily. Believe me my daughter has bought clothes for students who did not have, food, prom shoes-tucks, etc. A vast many of the teachers put in more than just what they are paid to do. I have even gotten majorly angry at my daughter for spending so much and not doing what is needed here first. Unfortunately, I raised her to give back. I just forgot to say you cannot give all of the time.
I don’t totally disagree with your comment about Towers however, please do not think that it is the teachers. They really and truly work hard to make Towers a much better school than it is. The community and parents (and I might even add the county) just don’t give what they should in the way that they should and neither do the students.
The Georgia Education Laws need to be revised because much of what is not allowed in schools is Georgia school laws. Behavior is the number one reason for poor academic acheivement in DCSS. The second reason is poor Code of Conduct enforcement. The rules are there in print in DCSS however, they DO NOT enforce them. The reason for much of this is that they say and feel that parents pay school taxes. Well, please correct me the world and Georgia won’t these parents still have to pay taxes regardless of whether these parents are held responsible for the child’s inappropriate behavior?
It is a shame that we must invade other counties instead of cleaning up our own.
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
3:44 pm
@time out – Thanks, I couldn’t have written so precisely. Similar to the tea-party, could we consider starting a movement that reclaims education for our childrens’ sake?
RJ
June 22nd, 2011
3:46 pm
@Disgruntled, I understand your frustration, but the truth is SES will ALWAYS be relevant. Like @Ken, I attended schools on the Northside, however I teach on the Southside. The differences are immense. For one thing, students on the Northside come prepared for kindergarten. They already know their full name, recognize alphabet and many are reading. In my school this is not the case. Kids start school not knowing their first name. Many of the parents didn’t take advantage of the state funded pre-k program. As a result, they start behind their Northside peers. Of course their are the exceptions, but overwhelmingly, I find this to be the norm. Their problem solving skills are weaker. They haven’t been exposed to as many words. I can honestly say that the teachers in my school work extremely hard to bring these students on level. We’ve had success because students have moved percentage points on the CRCT and demonstrated in class what they’ve learned. But your idea of a level playing field is unrealistic. The playing field had to be level in the beginning.
CRCT scores should identify what strengths and weaknesses a student has. NCLB has completely ruined our public education system, and the students that it’s hurting the worst are our poorer students. All we do throughout the year is CRCT prep. The fun has been taken out of learning. Courses such as science and language arts are no longer a priority. It’s gotten to be ridiculous.
Star10
June 22nd, 2011
3:46 pm
Nikole once again you the only thing significant about my comment was cheating. Not once did I say cheating didn’t happen what I said was erasing is not the only way that people ( inside or outside of the classroom) cheat and that is a fact. Also its a fact that 1st graders have the test questions read to them so they are less likely to get off track, bubble in on the wrong section, or erase a whole section and start over. All of which are things that I have seen done in my 15 years of teaching experience. In 3rd grade the format changes from what the students are use to so these type of things happen.
Ashley
June 22nd, 2011
3:50 pm
@Unpopular Opinion…you are so right to sum it up in a nut shell. Parents or guardians are the ones who should motivate their children. It does not matter what your soci-economic status is. A book knows no such status. A person doesn’t have to live in a home worth 250,000.00 dollars or more to be active in their childs life. Most people in the U.S.A. weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth, most of my peers are far from it, but we do have one thing in common we are all educated ….which is something every adult should strive for when it comes to the benefits it will bring their off-spring. We can go round and round about which schools do better on the CRCT, but until parents recognize the part they must play in their children academic future these conversations are futile.
Stop molesting kids
June 22nd, 2011
3:54 pm
So, Sims, Anon, and Dr. No, using your perverse, asinine logic, I guess this means that we need to come up with some sort of national initiative to stop white men from molesting so many kids. The “statistics” show that white men are the main perpetrators of child molestation by far. Check the FBI crime stats. Please tell me, when will we all wake up and realize that white men have a natural propencity toward being child molesters?
KJ's Mom
June 22nd, 2011
4:01 pm
Thank you @ Angela ~ I’m usually a lurker on these boards, but I’m starting to tune in a little more often. Thanks for your insight on Towers and I agree with you about the culture there. Sadly, it’s just not one I can put my son in. That’s just putting him on the path to failure. I’m sure the teachers there stretch themselves as much as any other teacher, unfortunately education has to be WANTED.
Kudos for your daughter for being “in the trenches”! She sounds like a soldier, indeed!
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
June 22nd, 2011
4:02 pm
Time Out:
You and other people like you are threats to the gravy train ridden by members of the GA educracy.
GA educrats want you and those in agreement with you to shut up, go back where you came from, or both.
Might I suggest that you partner with concerned parents, teachers, administrators and other taxpayers to derail the educ-rats’ gravy train and ride them out of The Empire State of the South on some of the dislodged rails.
Chris
June 22nd, 2011
4:04 pm
Does anyone else see the inherent danger of things like modified CRCT tests for special education students? This seems especially harmful in a right to work state. You can’t go to a job interview and explain why they should hire you, despite your lower abilities, because you are special ed. You also can’t show them your IEP when they fire you for lack of performance.
cp
June 22nd, 2011
4:08 pm
There is a reason that some people live on government assistance in high-poverty, crime-ridden areas: They don’t have the wherewithal to get out. This can be due to, among other things, lack of education, drugs, established familial/community patterns of behavior, bad choices, low intelligence or general “sorriness.” NOT race or ethnicity. A quick look at today’s leaders shows us that.
Everyone isn’t college material, and someone needs to flip the burgers, sweep the floors and pick the lettuce. Harsh reality. The people who live in affluent areas with high test scores are there for a reason. They are intelligent, educated, and worked hard to get there. They will hopefully pass these values, as well as their knowledge and reading ability on to their children…and these children come in all colors.
@david sims, you’re an ass.
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
4:09 pm
@KJ’s Mom, you may have already done this, but; when we received our children’s CRCT scores we divided the number missed by the total number of questions to get a percentage score of the test. Just for fun, I tabled the scores to see where the cut off scores would have to be. I tabled our two grades and discovered that the cut off score for both grades in math was a 60%. That’s right. A school official could look you in the face and tell you that your child was successfully learning the material with only a 60% score. Why did we allow education to get to this point. We are paying for this scam, yet the state can hide behing a curtain of test integrity?! Are you kidding me?
blue_moon
June 22nd, 2011
4:11 pm
Tad Jackson,
Should be ‘Here are’ not Here’s…now follow your own advice!
Insanity
June 22nd, 2011
4:11 pm
They tell us the same as the last time – government should not be involved in providing educational services to ANYONE and should not be involved in education whatsoever, from funding through theft to regulations, to teacher licensure, to NCLB, to lunch menu subsidies, and everything else.
When is everyone going to face the reality that more money, more regulations, more talk, and more government is not the solution. Only a free market in education (which will obviously require charity services, scholarships, alternative schooling, homeschooling, community schools, and whatever the market is ALLOWED to provide is the only solution that will ever fix the problem.
teachss
June 22nd, 2011
4:14 pm
Maureen, the AJC reported that for CITY schools, Buford and Decatur did well. It did NOT say Buford did better than GCPS. However, aside from CRCT, Buford did score #1 in the STATE on GA HS Grad Tests this year.
On another note: Low Cut Scores is the key. I had 80% make a Level 3 on 7th grade SS in Gwinnett Co this year. That is a very high number – I was forecasting 60% based on 5th and 6th grade scores and grades. Am I happy? Well sure – makes me look great! However, if the test was too easy (and most said the ENTIRE CRCT was quite easy) – and they make it harder each year, this 80% will drop and thus make me look “bad”. It’s a no-win situation. I “love” that is was easy and pray the sillies at the state leave it that way so that I can go back to teaching lessons and not the test!
Star10
June 22nd, 2011
4:19 pm
Chris:
The content is basically the same on the CRCT-M ( spec. ed test). The format is different to accommodate their needs. Based on my understanding, the questions for a reading passage are all on the same page verses questions starting on one page and then jumping over to another or number and operations questions in the same section.They still have to perform on their grade level.
Teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:20 pm
As a teacher at a low sociology-economic school with majority
English as a Second Language students that makes AYP, I can say that the school gets 2 times the funding for SES students than average students and 3 times the funding for SES and ESOL students than average students. Money is not the problem for the schools nor students. These students get 2-3 times the resources do average students. It is people who put them down and tell them they can’t do it or make excuses for them. I only teach these students now. They can and will do it with the resources they have if used appropriately, encouraged, and motivated.
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
4:25 pm
@star 10, that’s precisely the point. How is the grade level determined? How does it measure against other more academically successful states? For my children, I want to know their abilities and needs against a Much larger demographic than one state. Are 6th grade standards and expectations similar to 4th grade standards in a northeastern state? Rather than annually lowering the bar and creating more smokecreens, why don’t we take the initiative and follow some leaders in education. I’d like to see us adopt some higher standards and then have to work like mad to get there.
JW
June 22nd, 2011
4:27 pm
teachss,
You make some good points about SS in 7th grade. I noticed the same scenario in math and science in my 3:27 post. It seems that the 7th grade (and 5th grade) CRCT is just overall easier for some reason. While this may be great for 7th grade teachers’ future evaluations (under Race to the Top), I think it is going to do harm to evaluations for 6th and 8th grade teachers.
Wondering
June 22nd, 2011
4:27 pm
There are all sorts of individual stories that defy the studies. I just believe that a higher percentage of the people who are more affluent 1) believe their children’s education is important and 2) have the where with all (free time, money, knowledge) to be able to assist the process.
My Mother taught in Southern California. She had the children of the affluent and the house servants in the same classes. She had many meetings with parents from both groups. However, she joked that the rich do not leave their children’s education to chance. They were involved with the school, and their kids knew that poor grades or detention for poor behavior would lead to punishment at home. After she retired she did some long term substitute teaching in a different district. She didn’t have one parental visit all semester. Guess which school did better on standardized testing?
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
4:35 pm
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta I have a question, tongue in cheek, but sincere. Just how would you recommend we go about stopping that dog from sucking eggs?
Teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:49 pm
All this should change when we go to the common core state standards that was agreed upon to have a test, curriculum, and textbooks for 48 out of the 50 states. Then, we might be wishing to have our state test back.
concerned teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:49 pm
@Incredulous The ITBS and COGAT might compare apples to apples…Georgia can’t control how they are scored but they do determine if they will pay for them…
Billy
June 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
Look. In the school district where I live, parents are reading to their children EVERY NIGHT from the time they are 1 day old. Parents have the means to take their children on “field trips” regularly before they ever get to kindergarten. The kids are put to bed early to insure the proper amount of sleep. They are served nutritious food at every meal. When the kids get home from school they make them do their homework and help them understand any part that they are struggling with. All parents show up for open house, teacher conferences, fundraisers, etc. The parents SUPPORT the teachers. The students in my school district get TONS of exercise as almost all are involved with sports teams.
These families would be doing the same things if they lived in Dekalb or Clayton Co. and I guarantee they would excel there as well. When kids get to school each day they are ready to learn.
concerned teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
@JW..right and right! Do you think the state is going to make themselves look bad..it will be interesting see what happens if they can’t create their own test. Maybe that will change with common core standards……
Incredulous
June 22nd, 2011
4:54 pm
Concerned Teacher. so don’t we as taxpayers determine what we pay for? Are we getting a better deal with the CRCT? I don’t think so. I understand the need for a Criterion Referenced testing, but don’t you agree that you’d rather see the results from a much more objective and transparent testing process?
concerned teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
From my perpective, those schools that did well (90%), really was barely ok and those that didn’t do so well…did very very bad looking at the cut scores! If your child didn’t score a 850 or above on the test in 3rd – 5th grade…you should really be concerned and involved in some tutoring this summer. A perfect score on the elementary is around 900-920.
ticked off teacher
June 22nd, 2011
4:59 pm
David Sims and Dr. No are right wing raciest. If anyone has any doubt then go back and look at the majority of Dr. No’s comments. David Sims, the pigment to one’s skin has nothing to do with their intellect. Only a true fool would make such a statement.