Purpose of the Graduation Tests

Georgia’s graduation tests provide valuable information for students, educators, and parents about student strengths and areas for improvement. The tests identify students who may need additional instruction in the concepts and skills required for a diploma. Since 2004, the English Language Arts and Mathematics high school graduation tests have been used to measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind legislation.

All students seeking a Georgia high school diploma must pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in four content areas as well as the Georgia High School Writing Assessment. These assessments ensure that students qualifying for a diploma have mastered essential core academic content and skills. Students with disabilities and English Language Learners may receive appropriate standard accommodations based on their needs and the specifications of their Individualized Education Program, their Individual Accommodation Plan, or their ELL Testing Participation Committee Plan. Students with disabilities unable to participate in the state testing program, even with accommodations, are assessed with the Georgia Alternate Assessment.

Assessment Opportunities

Students take the graduation tests for the first time in the eleventh grade. The Writing Assessment takes place in the fall, and the GHSGT in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies occur in the spring of the eleventh grade. Students who do not pass on the first attempt of the tests have multiple opportunities to receive additional instruction, retest, and qualify for graduation before the spring of the twelfth grade.

Students who do not pass all the required tests but have met all other graduation requirements may be eligible for a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Diploma. Students who have left school with a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Certificate may return to attempt the graduation test(s) again, as often as necessary to qualify for a high school diploma.

According to Rule 160-1-3-.09, Waivers and Variances of High School Graduation Assessments Guidelines, students may receive a Georgia regular education diploma through the assessment waiver or variance process if they meet specific criteria. Descriptions of waivers and variances appear below. For detailed information, on the process, follow this link.

Scale Scores Needed for Passing the GHSGT

To be eligible for a diploma, a student must achieve a Pass performance level on the requisite QCC tests and a Basic Proficiency on the requisite GPS tests. The following table shows the scale score ranges that determine each test performance level.

	Below Proficiency	Basic Proficiency	Advanced Proficiency	Honors
ELA (GPS)	Below 200	200 to 234	235 to 274	275 or Above
Science (GPS)	Below 200	200 to 234	235 to 274	275 or Above

How to Determine a Student’s Test Requirements for Graduation Eligibility

When students enter high school, they are informed of the specific test requirements to meet graduation eligibility by their senior year. This information provides them adequate notice before they will be taking the standardized assessments that comprise one portion of the graduation eligibility criteria.

With the transition to the GPS curriculum, students are required to take the test that corresponds to the curriculum they engaged with during their high school career. The following chart shows the appropriate assessment for students entering in the years indicated:

Year Student Entered 9th Grade	Required Assessment
	ELA	Mathematics	Science	Social Studies
Prior to 2003*	QCC	QCC	QCC	QCC
2003-2004	Transitional	QCC	Transitional	QCC
2004-2005	Transitional	QCC	Transitional	QCC
2005-2006	GPS	QCC	GPS	Transitional
2006-2007	GPS	QCC	GPS	Transitional
2007-2008	GPS	QCC	GPS	GPS
2008-2009	GPS	GPS	GPS	GPS

For example, those students that entered ninth grade before the fall of 2003 must pass the QCC form of all the subject tests. Those students that entered ninth grade in the fall of 2004 are responsible for the transitional forms of English Language Arts and Science as well as the QCC forms of Mathematics and Social Studies. Those students who entered ninth grade in the fall of 2005 or 2006 are required to pass the GPS forms of English Language Arts and Science as well as the transitional form of Social Studies and the QCC form of Mathematics. The GHSGT program will continue to offer repeat test-takers the form of the test (GPS, QCC or transitional) that became their graduation requirement when these students first entered high school as freshmen (i.e., ninth grade).

In addition to passing the appropriate set of state assessments mentioned above, students must also meet other requirements to become eligible for a regular diploma. These include meeting attendance criteria and accumulating Carnegie units for the requisite courses as defined by the State Board of Education graduation policy.

The Georgia High School Graduation Tests and No Child Left Behind

As of spring 2008, the performance standards for the English Language Arts test will serve both student and school/system/state accountability purposes. The enhanced version of the mathematics test will remain in effect to meet the standards of NCLB and a federal peer review of Georgia’s accountability system. The mathematics test was enhanced in spring 2004 by adding some items to better measure the full depth of the curriculum. The inclusion of the enhanced items does not affect the score expectations for diploma eligibility for students. In other words, the standards used to determine the PASS and PASS PLUS levels have not changed, nor has the degree of difficulty in meeting these two standards changed as a result of the enhanced test version.

The enhanced mathematics test and the GPS-based English Language Arts are used to establish Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) at the school, system, and state level. The performance levels for student and accountability purposes are provided in the table below.

The performance levels for student and accountability purposes are provided in the table below.

Proficiency scores for the enhanced Mathematics tests were set by committees of Georgia educators in April 2004 and approved by the State Board of Education on May 13, 2004. Standards for the new GPS-based GHSGT in ELA were set by a panel of Georgia educators in April 2008 and the approved by the State Board of Education on April 3, 2008.

As part meeting federal requirements for state standards and assessments systems, the GHSGT was peer reviewed by a team of external experts in the fields of standards and assessments. This team was convened by the US Department of Education and considered evidence in the following areas: content and academic achievement standards; technical quality; alignment; inclusion; and scoring and reporting. The GHSGT was found to meet nationally recognized professional and technical standards for assessment programs.