By Maureen Downey
In listening sessions with state leaders over the last few weeks, Georgia teachers voiced concerns about a test-based accountability system that demands all students be at the same place at the same time, no matter where they started.
Whether students begin three years behind or three years ahead, the main goal is grade-level performance on the Georgia Milestones exams given each spring.
Teachers say the tests don’t allow them to move above or below grade level to respond to the individual needs of their students. A new national report agrees and warns the fixation on grade-level performance hinders math achievement in Georgia and the rest of the country.
The report, “The Iceberg Problem: How Assessment and Accountability Policies Cause Learning Gaps in Math to Persist Below the Surface…and What To Do About It,” shows that millions of students arrive at middle school with cracks in their math foundations.