CCS Supports Governor's Bill To Reduce High-Stakes Testing

CARTERSVILLE, GA—Officials for Cartersville City Schools say they support legislation that would reduce the impact of high-stakes standardized testing in Georgia. The announcement comes after Gov. Brian Kemp along with State School Superintendent Richard Woods introduced a bill this week that would do just that.

Currently, Georgia requires students to take seven assessments beyond the minimum federal standards; the bill proposes to remove five of those assessments. It will also shorten the length of the Georgia Milestones, allow for flexibility on the timing of state-mandated assessments and move the testing window to the last five weeks of the school year.

Cartersville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Marc Feuerbach recently said he welcomes a more accurate accounting of the effectiveness of the school system’s efforts to educate "the whole child."

“I completely support the governor’s proposed legislation, and I hope that our representatives move swiftly to adopt the measure. This new bill highlights a conversation we have been having in our community since Spring 2019 regarding the vision to build a community-based accountability system that is found on our hopes and dreams for our students," Dr. Feuerbach said.

Historically, school district officials say they have spent a large amount of time, talent and resources responding to the state’s accountability system, the lagging test data received and the grade (CCRPI) score given to the district by the state. The process is and has always been "a backward-facing process," according to Dr. Feuerbach.

“It is our goal to build a system that is fueled by the passion and interest of our students, our educators and our community,” he said. “We envision a system of accountability wherein state standardized tests are just one part of the overall picture measuring our success in meeting the needs of our students.”

The new system, which will take two to three years to fully integrate, is built on seven pillars that CCS officials believe should be the primary focus of creating an effective school. The pillars are: student achievement, student readiness, engagement of the whole child, community partnerships, building and maintaining quality staff and operations, and safety and well-being.

School officials say a key component is the developmental process of the seven pillars has been hearing from their stakeholders. The district hopes to hold additional conversations with them in the near future to get community input on the proposed testing changes.

“The fundamental basis of education is development. We believe it is time for our district to embrace a new culture where we ask, ‘What do we want to accomplish? Before we ask, ‘What do we want to measure?'" the superintendent said.