Feds approve state testing waiver, Georgia Department of Education issues guidance for grading, promotion, graduation

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major disruption for school districts, the Georgia Department of Education is loosening grading and promotion requirements for students while issuing guidance on how districts can proceed.

The DOE announced Tuesday that it had received federal approval to waive state testing requirements, including the Georgia Milestones, End-of-Grade and End-of-Course tests, GAA 2.0 and GKIDS. The state will also not report CCRPI scores for 2020.

“It became clear as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed that there was no realistic path to offering state assessments this year — and, frankly, that testing is not what students, parents, and educators should be focused on at this time,” Superintendent Richard Woods said. “I appreciate the U.S. Department of Education hearing the concerns of states, school districts, parents, and students and providing this flexibility. Georgia’s public-school community will continue to focus on keeping students safe and providing opportunities for learning and growth as we weather this storm together.”

The state assessment window was suspended on March 16, the same day Gov. Brian Kemp decided to close schools through the end of March and University System of Georgia institutions suspended in-class instruction through the remainder of the spring semester. Woods suspended the state assessment window along with teacher and leader evaluation requirements and state-level, attendance-related consequences. Kemp has since issued an order to close all schools for the remainder of the academic calendar.

Georgia DOE spokesperson Meghan Frick said the DOE applied for waivers from federal assessment requirements on March 20. GaDOE received notice of the U.S. Department of Education’s intent to approve its request the afternoon of March 20, and formal approval on March 30.

The state also provided updates to other situations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the March 26 State Board of Education meeting, the board approved several waivers for school districts that address state assessment and accountability requirements, grading and graduation requirements, credit recovery and counseling. Guidance from the Georgia DOE granted local districts flexibility to waive, modify or set promotion and retention criteria. The DOE’s guidance will also prevent students from being held back from graduation or grade progression as a result of school closures.

The DOE is leaving student grading as a local district decision, but districts have received guidance regarding how to proceed through this challenge, as well. Ideas include a “no zero” policy for assignments since school closures began on March 16 and using school closures as a “cut off” point for measuring course competency. The DOE is directing districts to be sensitive about the realities students and staff are dealing with.

The state-level waivers approved on March 26 insure COVID-19 will not hold back students, including a waiver of promotion or retention requirements, the 20% course-grade requirement for EOCs and other requirements related to graduation and course completion.

Kindergarten through eighth-grade courses may institute a “pass” or “fail” option, but that option was not deemed viable for high school courses due to the potential impact on higher education acceptance requirements, scholarships and financial aid opportunities and other GPA-related requirements from colleges and universities. This also applies for high school courses taught in middle school for high school credit.

DOE guidance issued to school districts sought to ensure no senior will be held back from graduating on time due to the COVID-19 school closures and the DOE is collaborating with the University System of Georgia, Technical College System of Georgia, Georgia Student Finance Commission and other higher-learning organizations to ensure graduating seniors are not penalized due to the COVID-19 closures.

While the DOE cannot mandate schools to cancel graduation ceremonies, its guidance did recommend school districts should follow Centers for Disease Control and Department of Public Health guidance when deciding how to handle public meetings. The DOE provided an example that local districts graduate and issue diplomas to seniors on time but postpone ceremonies to summer.

The DOE pointed out a website launched on March 30 by the Governor’s Office and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to inform Georgians about ways to connect to high-speed internet throughout the state. Local access points can be found by visiting broadband.georgia.gov. The DOE, Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, the Georgia Foundation for Public Education and corporate funders are working to provide access and devices to students. One way is through donations, which can be made at http://www.gfpe.org/invest.