Georgia schools can now count statewide high school tests for as little as 10% of grades

It’s another step in efforts backed by state Superintendent Richard Woods to lower Georgia’s emphasis on standardized testing. In a statement after the board’s vote, Woods said “a single test, on a single day” shouldn’t count so much.

“High-stakes standardized tests are not the sole way to determine student performance and I trust our teachers, as education experts, to monitor student learning,” said Woods, an elected Republican.

Students would still be required to pass the tests to get credit for the courses. But supporters argue that some students who are otherwise performing well are penalized when they bomb the test. They argue that districts and teachers should be able to decide how to grade students.

“I’m in favor of giving the teachers the ability to do their best and to really know the students, and I think that’s what this flexibility gives,” said board member Martha Zoller, of Gainesville. “That’s why I’m in favor of it.”

But opponents argue that a standardized test ensures districts teach the material required under state standards and that students take responsibility for learning. They also argue that the tests are an important common yardstick for all of Georgia’s 181 school districts and charter high schools, and that making them count less means students won’t try as hard.

Board member Mike Royal, of Lawrenceville, is among opponents who argue that the state is “watering down” its high school graduation standards.

“We talk about flexibility a lot, and I think this board has always been about flexibility and local control,” Royal said. “But when do we draw the line and say, ‘Here’s our minimum, our minimum standards.'”

Royal said some school districts told him they wouldn’t lower the share of the grade. But he said he feared poorer performing districts might take the option.

“Probably the ones that are going to lower it are the ones that need it raised,” Royal said. “The ones that need the most work and the most help.”

Georgia’s new math tests won’t count this school year toward individual student grades, decisions on promoting fifth graders and eighth graders, or the grading of schools and districts. It’s the first year the test covering revamped math standards will be given. Officials need time to study the results and determine how the test should be scored.

Woods has pushed to sharply cut state testing and make it count for less. But some longtime board members still support the accountability system that Republicans spent decades building.

Georgia used to require eight end-of-course tests in high school, but lawmakers approved a plan backed by Woods and Gov. Brian Kemp to cut that to four in 2020. The federal government requires high school students take at least one test in math, science and English/language arts. Georgia also kept a test in American history.

Woods successfully pushed board members to let the high school tests count for as little as 0.01% of a student’s grade during the first year of the pandemic, a percentage Woods proposed because state lawmakers refused to let the test count for nothing.

Woods also pushed to skip all state tests for a second year during the pandemic, an effort blocked by the U.S. Department of Education.