CRITERION REFERENCED COMPETENCY TEST

Criterion Referenced Competency Test

Criterion Referenced Competency Test

Introduction

Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests are used to determine how students are learning and performing in the Georgia school environment. Georgia law requires all first to eighth grade students to take the CRCT in the subjects of reading, language arts, and mathematics. Third to eighth graders also test in science and social studies.

Georgia's 7th grade math Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) is a test that has special importance as a gateway in the state's assessment system; students must either pass it or successfully appeal to their school system to be promoted to 9th grade. The test also factors into middle schools' Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) calculations under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. After three years of preparation, piloting and teacher training on the new 7th grade Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), the stakes were raised for both students and schools this year. Students were asked to learn a more rigorous curriculum and also to get more items correct on the test to earn a passing score.

According to the Georgia Department of Education, "Courses previously taught in grades 6-7 were extremely repetitious, addressing almost the same content in all three grades. Expectations for student learning were not clear and in most cases, demanded only low-level cognitive skills. Under the new GPS, by the time students have finished 7th grade, they should have learned 80% of the concepts and skills previously taught in Algebra I, 50% of the content traditionally taught in high school geometry, and a significant amount of statistics and probability previously taught in high school courses." This paper discusses the result of looping on the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in an urban middle school.

Discussion

Highest Achievers on the New 7th Grade Math CRCTWhen any curriculum and testing change is implemented, and the standards for passing are raised, stakeholders should expect a dip in performance as students and teachers get used to the new material and the new tests, followed by a rebound of scores. Most subjects have followed that pattern in transitioning from the old (QCC) standards to the new GPS. The average decline across the state for 7th grade math in 2008 was 19 points. Clay County, Webster County and Decatur City actually improved their scores in 2008.What about Students Who Don't Pass the Test?

By law, students who do not pass this test have two options to be promoted to 9th grade: a) they can retake and pass the test; or b) after retaking the test, they can appeal the decision to retain them in 7th grade to their school and be promoted without passing the retest. Data from summer 2007 on subsequent tests were not promising:These data suggest that:

Only about half of the 7th graders (51.9%) who failed the 7th grade Math CRCT retook it last spring.

The vast majority of 7th graders who did retest also failed the retest (92.7%).

Many students who did not meet standards in 2007 were classified as 9th graders taking the ...