CRCT outcomes were grossly unfair

Guess your daughter didn't study hard enough. That's the problem with GA students. They slack off much more than students did years ago, studying in between test messaging, playing games on the computer, and watching American Idle. Then, when they come up short on tests designed to raise the education level of students in GA, when GA has some of the lowest education levels in the entire country, parents gripe about it. Oh no!!!! you can't hold my child back, there has to be something wrong!!! Wake up people. Be responsible for your kids. Make them for once, earn their grades, and earn the opportunity for advancement.

The headline to this letter tells the tale. We have come to believe that if we "act nice" and do what the authorities tell us to do, we should be rewarded. In the case of Mr. Delrie's daughter, she couldn't pass the basic competency test and now she and her dad are whining. Classic "victim" behavior. I don't think she'll become much of a success unless she sheds her attitude and gets with the program. And the parents should not enable this type of whiny behavior. "NO EXCUSES" should become Mr. Delrie's motto.

realistineducation. Idiot! The kids and teachers have a years worth of work and grades to demonstrate they did their job-the problem was with the test that Cox knew would be a problem. The question is why did she think so? Apparently it was more difficult, but does that mean that her curriculum failed to educate the students with the knowledge to pass the exam or what? Georgia is no different than California (which rates worst), and in reality the whole U.S.A is ignorant compared to the most of the planet as many third world countries are better educated than the U.S. Your prejudice against the South is obvious and if you want to complain about education I wouldn't limit it to just the South or Georgia. By NAEP standards the math scores in 07 were either low or mediocre for the entire bottom half (also Oregon, Nevada) of the U.S. except for Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kansas.

Get a grip you two! Here's the facts..Number 1. The conversion to the new state mandated GPS standards was a mess from the beginning. Teachers were not trained properly on how to develop and implement the new methodology. (Just ask one) Number 2. The CRCT tests themselves were judged to be flawed in preliminary testing long before they were actually implemented. (But state DOE leadership chose to move forward anyway). Number 3. New standards were implemented in "mid-stream" for this group of eighth graders, basically they were taught one way and tested on another. So before you condem Mr. Delrie and his daughter, you may want to get more information. They are many others like Mr. Delrie's daughter. Throughout the state good students got caught up in an ill-concieved and poorly executed plan. Kathy Cox drove this train and now it has jumped the tracks...

i don't understand the problem, math is math and social studies is social studies pure and simple!!!! i can understand if these tests were in another language.....oh by the way i saw one of the questions on the CRCT (a example test question from a prior year) and i see why georgia is at the bottom...the question was "why was the civil war fought??" the "correct" answer given was "to end slavery" which is wrong!!!!! if history was taught correctly instead of under the guise of political correctness for fear of hurting feeling children would know that abe lincoln was willing to tolerate slavery in some form as long as the union was preserved. the civil war was fought to preserve the union and was started by s. carolina ceceeding from the union.

Is this father kidding? He wants his daughter to move on without being able to complete a basic math test? Why? Sounds to me like she is not prepared to move on. Why not test her again before enforcing summer school just to be sure she didn't accidently take the test wrong or some other poor excuse.

It sounds like the father is saying his child is a great student who doesn't know her math. Some kids are like that, they just don't get it.

They should throw out the math scores as they did the social studies.

Yes and another LIBERAL VICTIM Socialist makes a play for "fair' in life. Hey doofwad..Fair refers to that thing that happens in the fall with the Clowns and Horsies and cotton candy and rides. I am guessing he is an example of what happens when Cousins date.

So why aren't the schools teaching the stuff that's on the test? If you're in High School and you are taking an AP class the teachers usually teach you what you will need to know to pass the AP exam. And seriously, (insert preferred deity here) forbid our children go to summer school and lean more. Is it because students don't want to learn, we have incompetent teachers, or just a bunch of kids w/ test anxiety?

The test has shown an area of weakness that may or not be the fault of the student. Competencies must be met. Pay now or pay later principle. Summer school is the answer.

The father is not saying his daughter does not study, it is stating what they taught her in schools and told her to study had no relationship to the material on the test. A child is not going to pick up Algebra on their own without being given books and the first steps of learning it.

Sounds like a whiny father who is trying to keep his child from facing the realities of life. Maybe he is worried his summer will be inconvenienced. Let he enjoy her summer, she can repeat the 8th grade.

Come on educators tell us what the 20-30 most failed questions were, so we can actually tell how our kids are doing. The questions are changed yearly so it is not a big secret, or is it? Wouldn't we be upset if the most missed questions were simple adding or subtracting problems that should have been learned in the 4th or 5th grades. But we will never know because educators are using total numbers rather than factual data to keep us informed. And this kind of secrecy dosen't allow parents to focus in on what their child needs to learn. I really believe none of the parents in the CSRA have a clue as to what questions were asked.

One point that needs to be made is that the math curiculum changed this year but the test did not. the students passed what was taught to them, but had major trouble with the stuff that was not addressed in class. my child received an A for the year in math but did not meet the GA stndards. something is wrong. over 80 percent of GA 8th graders did not meet the statewide standards. Sir i feel your pain.

I feel your pain, but you have to understand, you are the parent! If you don't homeschool your kid, they will fail because many parents depend far too heavily on the teachers (after all, that is why we pay taxes out the booty), and don't get involved with what that grade level is required by the state to know. This is why your kid failed, cause You didn't know much about the requirements either! This is why I chose to home school my kids when they got home from public school. It may sound stupid, but so far, my kids are NOT the ones failing or falling behind anymore. I had that happen to them once in public schooling and swore to never allow that to be repeated!

Unless the rate of failure was 100%, the responsibilty cannot be placed upon the test. Some students passed the test. Let's find out how and teach THAT.

tall, you must have started happy hour already. In your world, even one student passing out of 100,000 would justify keeping the exam. Amazing logic.

Disgruntled folks, if you think your 8th grade children's CRCT Math scores were poor, check their 2007 ITBS(Iowa Test of Basic Skills) results which were sent home to you last Fall. Chances are that your children's ITBS Math scores in grade-level and percentile rank were much lower than comparable standard scores on the much-maligned CRCT and lower than the scores achieved by most kids throughout our nation on the ITBS Math subtest. I hate to tell you, folks, but the problem ain't with this poor-excuse-for-a-test CRCT but is with many of our kids.

Ok, this is simply absurd.
I was an eigth grader at Evans Middle School last year and the CRCT was fairly easy; I passed just fine and I'm not even good at math.
I agree with several of the others, quit your whining and get over it. This is how our education system works, and if you don't like it move somewhere else.