MACON, Ga. — Every year, Georgia students take federally-required standardized tests. Tony Jones with the Bibb County School District breaks it down.
"Georgia Milestones is the required assessment for all grades third through 12th, and there's the end of grade which is our third through eighth, and there's the end of course test which is the high school test ninth through 12th," Jones said.
For 11th and 12th graders, the second semester is a crucial time to meet those requirements. Those end of course tests are 20% of their final grade.
With the stress of distance learning after schools closed due to COVID-19, Georgia Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods applied to the U.S. Department of Education to waive standardized testing for spring 2020.
"We received word over the weekend that we have been, at least verbally, the formal process will come in a few weeks, but we've been told to go ahead with our waiver so it's okay to suspend testing and accountability measures for this spring," Jones said.
The College Board canceled the May and March SAT test dates. That affects a lot of juniors and seniors pursuing college.
"There will be opportunities, once we weather this storm with the COVID-19 virus. There will be testing dates, they'll be able to take the test," Jones said.
Jones says their most important priority now is helping families keep their stress levels as low as possible.
"As the state testing stands, it's suspended for this year. Students will not have to take the end of grade or the end of course Georgia Milestones test, so they can just focus on the work for the rest of the year that their teachers are working with them on, and we can just move forward from there," Jones said.
Jones says standardized testing has to be proctored. He says cancelling end of course testing will affect this year's College and Career Readiness Performance scores, but they've done a lot of other work leading up to the closures that can help measure student performance for this year.
The College Board still has their June 6th SAT test date available. They're also coming up with a plan for their Advanced Placement students on when they'll be able to take those tests.
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