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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Forget allergy season, are your kids (and teachers) ready for testing season? EducationCEO's Blog

EducationCEO's Blog:

Spring brings warm weather, flowers, and Spring Break. If you’re a teacher or school student, you know that spring also signals the beginning of testing season. For elementary and middle school students here in Georgia, that means the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) and End-of-Course Tests (EOCT) for high school students.
According to a recent AJC article, this year’s testing season also brings scrutiny and tighter security measures due to the suspicion of testing irregularities surrounding several schools. Schools that had a high number of erasure irregularities, as well as those that did not will see some changes this year. For example, some districts will increase the number of supervisory staff members in schools to watch students as they test. The Atlanta Public School System has received a significant amount of media attention because it had the highest number of schools under investigation, with fifty-eight. I am still upset about the allegations, as the kids’ academic improvements have been called ‘questionable’ and some teachers have been falsely accused of either changing answers or prompting students towards