State school board rejects plan to devalue year-end tests to near zero

Georgia’s state school board Thursday rejected a proposal to make high-stakes standardized tests essentially meaningless for public school students this year after the state superintendent pushed to shrink the effect from 20% to near zero.

The state school board voted 9-3 Thursday to reduce the weight of the tests like Georgia Milestones on some students’ final grade to 10%, rejecting the call by State Superintendent Richard Woods to drop its effect to .01%. State law now says the test should count for 20% of the final grade for some high school classes.

The change must be posted for public comment for 30 days with the board set to take a final vote next month. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19. Students in schools that offer block scheduling will be finishing classes where the tests factor into their grades by the end of December.

In addition to Woods, many teachers, parents and students hoped to avoid the high-stakes, end-of-year tests as the uncertainty of a pandemic continues to upend the usual order of the school year.

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/10/02/state-school-board-rejects-plan-to-devalue-year-end-tests-to-near-zero/