Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog debated the General Assembly’s plan to grant amnesty to former high school students who did not receive a diploma because they failed part of the Georgia High School Graduation Test. The test is no longer given, and lawmakers contend it’s unfair to hold former students accountable for passing it. Here is a sampling of comments:
ScienceTeach: Part of the problem here is the current lack of a special education diploma. Most of the children who didn't pass the GHSGT were special-needs students. In many cases, they were graded in class on "effort" or "ability," not by whether or not they mastered the same material as regular ed students, hence the high GPAs.
Star: Shouldn't a student know how to read well after 12 years or more of school? If a high school diploma doesn't ensure an ability to read and do simple math, what is the significance of high school graduation?
Red: Based on my experience in the college classroom, high school graduates can read. What they have trouble doing is concentrating sufficiently for a sustained read. After a page or two, they become visibly frustrated (and fidgety) with "how long" the reading selection is. The point-and-click generation — and I mean children born since 1995 — all seem to suffer from ADHD. And I am not making a joke. I'm not sure if there is any research out there that might support my impression, however; it could be only an impression. But if I am right, a test that could take an hour or more to complete would present a formidable obstacle to them
Class: My kids referred to the GHSGT as "ridiculously easy." They could not believe anyone could fail it.
Betsy: My daughter did not receive her high school diploma primarily due to the graduation test. This new law would give her the diploma she earned but was denied. She took the graduation test four times in math. Her writing scores were good, her reading scores were off the charts. Have any of you who tout how "easy" the test is ever taken it? (How many of you solve matrices in the business or science world? This is considered "standard" math now.) She passed all four of her required maths in high school.
Living: I'm not sure giving these kids a high school diploma years later really makes a difference one way or the other. What I would like to know is how many of these students that "failed" the exam carried a GPA greater than 2.5 or even 3.0? I'd be gravely concerned if a student was at least a B student yet failed the exam. Some kids are just not good test takers. But to not be able to graduate? That's ridiculous.