Georgia education officials have decided to invalidate results from state social studies tests that a majority of 6th and 7th graders failed. The scores were “implausibly low,” the officials said.
State Superintendent Kathy Cox wrote in a letter to district leaders last month that there didn’t appear to be errors in scoring the tests, which just 20 percent to 30 percent of the state’s 6th and 7th graders passed. Instead, the new statewide curriculum and the assessments in those grades may need to be revised to “better evaluate the knowledge and skills that represent student achievement in social studies,” she said.
Ms. Cox, a former social studies teacher, said that the curriculum is too broad in some areas and may not prepare students for the more specific questions on the tests.
