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Georgia Education News
October 2008
Copyright © 2008 Queue, Inc.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Independent Audit Gives State Tests High Marks
Georgia's Graduation Rate Jumps to 75.4
Percent
Eight National Blue Ribbon Schools Named
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An
independent audit of the Georgia's grade 3-8 science and mathematics tests
shows that the exams were well-aligned with state's curriculum.
The
study was conducted by edCount, LLC in order to determine how well the Criterion-Referenced
Competency Tests in science and mathematics, grades 3-8, were aligned to the
state's new curriculum, the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS).
"The findings for the GPS and the Georgia statewide assessments in Mathematics and Science in grades 3 through 8 can be described as excellent and indicate that the state has established clear expectations for its assessments via its Content Descriptions, blueprints, and item-writing specifications," reads the report, authored by Dr. Ellen Forte and Dr. Pamela Paek.
Validation that assessments are aligned to the state
curriculum is required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The State
Board of Education approved a $62,075 contract with edCount LLC in June.
Full
report:
http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/GA_alignment%20report.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6E4C7B8C1D37CB694E9991FF868A9814298885AE29E5904AF&Type=D
Georgia's
graduation rate has jumped to over 75 percent, the highest level ever. The
state's final graduation rate for 2008 is 75.4 percent, an increase of more
than three points from last year.
"Georgia
continues to make great progress in getting more students to graduate on time
with a meaningful diploma," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy
Cox. "In 2008, we had more than 83,000 students who graduated on time,
which is 27,000 more than we had just five years ago. That's a testament to
focus, collaboration and a lot of hard work by our teachers and students."
Governor
Sonny Perdue said: "The progress we have made in our graduation rate has
been nothing short of remarkable. Rising from just barely over 60 percent in
2002 to now over 75 percent reflects the commitment of our teachers, students,
parents and graduation coaches."
All
groups of students saw significant increases in their graduation rate in 2008.
Georgia's
African-American students had a graduation rate of 69.2 percent, up nearly four
points from 2007. The state's Hispanic students had a graduation rate of 65.5
percent, up more than five points from 2007.
And
Georgia's economically-disadvantaged students raised their graduation rate four
points to 67 percent.
"The
improvement in our graduation rate is happening across the board for all
students in every subgroup," Superintendent Cox said. "We still have
a lot of work to do, but we are making steady progress by focusing on what
works for all students."
AYP
Numbers Improve
In 2008, it was harder for all schools to make AYP.
First,
the percentage of students that had to pass state tests in math, reading and
English went up for all grade levels. Secondly, students were doing more
rigorous work and taking more rigorous tests in 2008, especially in
mathematics.
Superintendent
Cox emphasized that in 2007-2008 the state's more rigorous curriculum and tests
in mathematics were implemented in all grades considered for AYP in elementary
schools.
"Our
new curriculum definitely sets higher expectations and some students simply
needed a little more time to master the work," Superintendent Cox said.
"Once the results of summer retests were added we saw the AYP numbers
improve dramatically."
Among the improvements:
- The percentage of elementary schools making AYP jumped to 90 percent, up from
76 percent in July.
- The percentage of middle schools making AYP jumped to 80 percent, up from 65
percent in July and 65 percent in 2007.
- There were 56 schools that came out of Needs Improvement status in 2008.
-
The
number of Needs Improvement schools dropped to 307, the lowest number ever and
down from 323 in 2007.
Schools
that came out of Needs Improvement due to retest results, summer graduates or
appeals must continue to offer public school choice and/or tutoring to students
who have already taken advantage of these options. So, for instance, a student
who transferred to another school based on the initial AYP results will remain
at the school to which he or she transferred.
Taking
classes in cyberspace just got better for Georgia high school students. Since
its inception in 2005, Georgia Virtual School (GAVS) has been improving its
online offerings to serve a growing number of students each year. As part of
this effort, GAVS has become a supporting member of the National Repository of
Online Courses (NROC), making this library of top notch online courses
available to students and educators across Georgia.
"It's
good, accurate and very rigorous," said GAVS program coordinator Stephanie
Dunbar about NROC's course content.
Selected
as the best of their kind, NROC courses utilize a vast array of digital media
options to engage students in dozens of subjects, ranging from algebra to U.S.
history. Interactive simulations, flash objects and iPod downloads are among
the digital technologies forming the multimedia platform that bring online
learning to a new level and gives educators flexibility in using all or part of
the material as teaching tools.
NROC
content will allow us to expand the multimedia components of our online courses
and provide alternative avenues for different learning styles. It will benefit
both our students and the teachers who are using it," said GAVS program
coordinator for course development Jay Heap.
Through
its NROC membership, GAVS can adapt NROC content to align with Georgia's
educational standards and meet the needs of individual schools throughout the
state. Over 450,000 Georgia high school students can now surf over to the
specially designed GAVS website at http://www.hippocampus.org/myHippo/?user=myGVS
where they can access NROC course content tailored to work in conjunction with
popular textbooks and the state's curriculum.
"One
of our goals is to support classroom teachers across Georgia, so we are very
excited that we can offer the NROC materials as a resource for them," said
Dunbar.
Online
classes serve a broad spectrum of students by providing increased access to
core curriculum, elective and advanced placement coursework, as well as greater
flexibility in scheduling.
Collaboration
among NROC Network members adds a unique dimension to online course
development. Educators, administrators, technologists and designers from around
the globe use the NROC social authoring network to combine their skills and
experience to develop and refine existing course materials and forge new
content.
This
collaboration method, within a non-profit structure, creates high quality
courses for a very reasonable cost, according to Gary Lopez, executive director
of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE), the organization
that launched NROC. He said this is valuable "because it frees up resources
for other infrastructural needs in educational systems, and because it's
supported by a community of educators - scholarship is back in the hands of
scholars."
NROC
is an open educational resource (OER) project of MITE, supported by a grant
from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The OER movement is fueled by
the belief that everyone is entitled to an education no matter where they live
or what their circumstances are. By joining NROC, educational institutions
support OER and receive a variety of benefits including customizable content,
specialized support and professional development resources. NROC's content is
also accessible to individual learners free of charge at http://www.hippocampus.org .
The
Monterey Institute for Technology and Education is a non-profit educational
organization committed to helping meet society's need for access to effective,
high-quality educational opportunities in an era of rapid economic, social and
personal change. The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education was
founded in 2003 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Learn more at http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc
.
Georgia
Virtual School is part of the Georgia Department of Education's office of
technology services. GAVS is fully accredited and offers middle and high school
level classes including a full high school curriculum with Advanced Placement
(c) and college preparatory courses taught by certified teachers. Additionally,
GAVS offers students a chance to retake classes they were not previously
successful in as part of Georgia DOE's credit recovery program. Learn more at http://www.gavirtualschool.org/
Blue Ribbon Schools are chosen in one of
three categories:
- TOP 10%:
Schools that scored in the top 10 percent in student achievement.
-
TOP
10%: (40%
Disadvantaged): Schools that scored in the top 10 percent in student
achievement AND have at least 40 percent of its students considered
economically disadvantaged.
- GREATEST GAINS:
Schools with at least 40 percent economically disadvantaged students that have
dramatically improved student achievement to high levels.
The
Eight National Blue Ribbon Schools are:
TOP
10% (40% Disadvantaged)
East
Central Elementary School
Rome
City Schools
Tonya
Wood, Principal
Centralhatchee
Elementary School, Franklin
Heard
County Schools
Carol
Thomas, Principal
GREATEST
GAINS
Appling
County Primary, Baxley
Appling
County
Scarlett
Copeland, Principal
F.L.
Stanton Elementary, Atlanta
Atlanta
Public Schools
Dr.
Marlo Barber, Principal
Futral
Road Elementary School, Griffin
Griffin-Spalding
County
Larry
Jones, Jr. Principal
TOP
10%
Mabry
Middle School, Marietta
Cobb
County Schools
Merrilee
Heflin, Principal
Livsey
Elementary School, Tucker
DeKalb
County Schools
Dr.
Melanie Castelle, Principal
Milton
High School, Milton
Fulton
County Schools
Mr.
Ronald Tesch, Principal
This study describes how six state education agencies and
three local education agencies in the Southeast Region are adopting and
implementing Response to Intervention, an education approach designed to
provide effective, evidence-based interventions for struggling learners.
Response
to Intervention has garnered recent interest from policymakers, researchers,
and educators. Studies of its effectiveness have found it promising (Compton et
al. 2006; McMaster et al. 2005; Speece and Case 2001; Torgesen et al. 1999).
And state education agencies are increasingly interested in the approach. Yet
few published studies describe the experiences of states as they plan and
implement Response to Intervention.
This
report helps address that need. It supplies basic information about state
planning and implementation of the approach in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North
Carolina, and South Carolina. Although the report focuses chiefly on states, it
also illustrates implementation of Response to Intervention with examples from
three local education agencies.
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/southeast/pdf/REL_2008063.pdf