State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge and Gov. Nathan Deal announced that Georgia is withdrawing from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test development consortium.

Instead, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) will work with educators across the state to create standardized tests aligned to Georgia’s current academic standards in mathematics and English language arts for elementary, middle and high school students. Additionally, Georgia will seek opportunities to collaborate with other states.

Creating the tests in Georgia will ensure that the state maintains control over its academic standards and student testing, whereas a common assessment would have prevented GaDOE from being able to adjust and rewrite Georgia’s standards when educators indicate revisions are needed to best serve students.

“After talking with district superintendents, administrators, teachers, parents, lawmakers and members of many communities, I believe this is the best decision for Georgia’s students,” Superintendent Barge said. “We must ensure that our assessments provide educators with critical information about student learning and contribute to the work of improving educational opportunities for every student.”

Georgia was one of 22 states to join PARCC several years ago with the aim of developing next generation student assessments in mathematics and English language arts by 2014-15.

“Assessing our students’ academic performance remains a critical need to ensure that young Georgians can compete on equal footing with their peers throughout the country,” Gov. Deal said. “Georgia can create an equally rigorous measurement without the high costs associated with this particular test. Just as we do in all other branches of state government, we can create better value for taxpayers while maintaining the same level of quality.”

Superintendent Barge was one of the state school chiefs serving on the governing board for the consortium, but he frequently voiced concerns about the cost of the PARCC assessments. The PARCC assessments in English language arts and math are estimated to cost significantly more money than Georgia currently spends on its entire testing program.

Superintendent Barge also expressed concerns over the technology requirements for PARCC’s online tests. Many Georgia school districts do not have the needed equipment or bandwidth to handle administering the PARCC assessments.

As GaDOE begins to build new assessments, please note that our Georgia assessments:

·        will be aligned to the math and English language arts state standards;

·        will be high-quality and rigorous;

·        will be developed for students in grades 3 through 8 and high school;

·        will be reviewed by Georgia teachers;

·        will require less time to administer than the PARCC assessments;

·        will be offered in both computer- and paper-based formats; and

·        will include a variety of item types, such as performance-based and multiple-choice items.

Action by the Georgia Legislature in its 2013 session.

The Georgia Legislature has completed it annual session.  One of the legislative actions with regards to Georgia Education was the passage of HB 244 that mandates that all Georgia Schools districts use the new teacher and administrator evaluation tools, TKES and LKES.

The 2011 2012 school year saw selected schools and teachers in those schools pilot the new evaluation study.  A study of the pilot results show little change in the number of teachers found to be at the lowest level of performance  similar to what has been the case with the current GTEP evaluation tool.  The pilot results can be found on the Georgia Department of Education Website at http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/School-Improvement/Teacher-and-Leader-Effectiveness/Pages/default.aspx

The Georgia Waiver from "No Child Left Behind"

Do you know what the waiver means for Georgia students; you as a Georgia Educator and for the state's schools.  Going forward GASCD provide some insight  into what the waiver has changed and what has not changed. We will invite experts to contribute to this discovery through explanation articles dialogue by posting on our blog or by participation in a forum.