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Download the Georgia High School
Graduation Test Supporting Data
Cobb County 11th graders improved already
high marks on the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT),
and for the fifth consecutive year surpassed their peers in
the metro area and state in all four categories of the test.
This year, students were tested on the new
Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) for the first time in
English Language Arts and Science. Cobb students maintained or
increased their passing rates in not only these two subject
areas, but also in Math and Social Studies as well. The Social
Studies passing rate was 93 percent, up 1 percent from the
previous year. The passing rate in Science improved by 2
percent, going from 81 to 83 percent passing. Cobb students
maintained a 97-percent passing rate on the Mathematics
section as well as their 99-percent passing rate on the
English Language Arts portion of the test. The District has
not only maintained its high passing rates in all four areas
over the past five years, but has also topped the metro and
state averages in every category – English/Language Arts,
Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science (See Table I).
Cobb’s outstanding student performance is
most evident on the Pass Plus analysis of the graduation test.
To reach Pass Plus status, students must attain a score that
is higher than the minimum 500 scale score needed to simply
pass each section and earn a diploma. The Pass Plus score
varies in each test subject area but is typically about 30
points higher. In English/Language Arts, 82 percent of Cobb
students reached the Pass Plus level compared to just 75
percent in other metro districts and 73 percent statewide; in
Mathematics, 70 percent of Cobb students attained the higher
level, compared to just 61 percent in other metro districts
and 58 percent statewide (see Table II).
Cobb students’ consistent success on the
graduation tests is important to the District, according to
Cobb Superintendent Fred Sanderson. “The results of the
Graduation Test are just one tool the District uses to monitor
and improve instruction,” said Sanderson. “The new standards
in English/Language Arts and Science are at a higher level and
require teachers to focus their instruction for students.”
Student scores from the English/Language
Arts and Mathematics tests are used by the state as one
measure to determine if a high school makes Adequate Yearly
Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. “It’s
great to see that Cobb high school students, as a whole, are
excelling in all subject areas of this important test,” said
Sanderson. “What we are working to improve is the performance
of subgroups, especially students who speak English as a
second language and students with learning disabilities. We
will learn later whether those subgroups made adequate
progress on this year’s test.”
Three Cobb schools, Lassiter, Pope, and
Walton, had 100 percent of students passing both the
English/Language Arts and Mathematics tests. Eleven Cobb
schools (Campbell, Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain,
Lassiter, McEachern, North Cobb, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, and
Wheeler) had more than 75 percent of students reach the Pass
Plus level of performance in English/Language Arts, while 75
percent or more of students at Harrison, Lassiter, Pope, and
Walton achieved Pass Plus status in Mathematics. (See Table
II).
As part of the statewide testing program,
11th grade students are administered the GHSGT each spring.
They are tested in four subject areas — English/Language Arts,
Mathematics, Social Studies and Science — and each section
must be passed to earn a Georgia high school diploma. Scores
range from 400-600, with 500 as a passing score. Results for
the system, state, metro area (RESA– Regional Educational
Service Agencies) and individual schools are listed in Table
I.
The English/Language Arts, Mathematics,
Social Studies and Science portions of the Georgia High School
Graduation Test were administered to all 11th graders in
March. Students have four opportunities to pass each section
of the test before graduation.
Tables IIIA - IIID provide program summary
data for each content area tested.
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