Dougherty County waives 2015-16 Milestones results for retention and promotion
GaDOE said waiver is the result of glitches in online testing
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — The Dougherty County School Board on Monday voted unanimously to waive the Georgia Milestones Assessment for the 2015-16 school year for promotion and retention, along with subsequent retests.
“We will use our local school promotion and retention policy,” DCSS Associate Superintendent for Academic Services Ufot Inyang said “Considering what has been happening with the Milestones, it seems like the sensible thing to do. We will be working with the numbers in the teacher grade books along with our attendance policy.”
During this year’s administration of the EOG (End of Grade), some local school districts reported technology-related interruptions of online testing. In response, the Georgia Department of Education decided further analysis of the possible impacts of these interruptions is warranted prior to the release of student scores, given the stakes involved for students.
State officials said roughly 7 percent of the state’s 181 school districts suffered some type of interruption during the five-day testing cycle. Dougherty County Schools spokesman J.D. Sumner, however, pointed out that the local system had the fewest number of irregularities of all school districts in Georgia.
Because of the numerous snafus in the Milestones numbers, Inyang recommended the DCSS not take part in the EOG retesting for grades 3, 5 and 8. The board agreed.
“Summer school programs will continue as they have in the past,” he said.
The decision to waive the Milestones results will also affect teacher assessments.
GaDOE said, pending the approval of the Educator Effectiveness Committee, student growth will be held harmless for the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System/Leader Keys Effectiveness System this year, and will not count next year with the revised evaluation system.
The Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards component of the TKES and the Leader Assessment on Performance Standards component of the LKES will continue to be the sole measures used to determine the performance rating of teachers of record and leaders reported by employing school systems and charter schools to the GaPSC (Georgia Public Service Commission) for certification purposes.
In other action, the board awarded a $2.7 million architectural contract to SRJ Architects for design and construction services associated with the the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy to be located at Southside Middle School.
SRJ was one of four companies which submitted bids on the project. The other three were Ellis, Ricket and Associates of Valdosta; IPG Inc. of Valdosta, and Southern A&E of Austell.
The school board will hold its next meeting at 11:30 a.m. on May 24.
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