Testing for seniors

November 7, 2017

Clarke Central High School seniors took the Reading and Evidence Based Writing field test on Oct. 31 and Nov. 2. The purpose of the field test is to vet questions for the end-of-course assessments. “I believe (the test) will not count towards anything so they will just look at the student answers to see what parts of the test are worth including in the new EOC and which parts are not,” CCHS science department teacher and REBW test proctor Claude Gonzalez said. Photo by Sunčana Pavlić.

Clarke Central High School students in senior-level English classes took the Reading and Evidence Based Writing assessment on Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 in the cafeteria.

Clarke Central High School seniors participated in the Reading and Evidence Based Writing (REBW) Field Test on Oct. 31 and Nov. 2.

The REBW was administered in a sample of schools across Georgia to vet questions for the Georgia Milestones end-of-course assessments.

“(The purpose of a) field test is to gauge where kids are. Our school is very diverse, so we were lucky in that we were chosen to issue a field test,” CCHS Associate Principal and testing coordinator Amanda Gorham said. “It was over American literature and composition, which seniors have already been exposed to.”

CCHS senior Hope Wilson, who took the test, feels that students did not put effort into their performance.

(The purpose of a) field test is to gauge where kids are. Our school is very diverse, so we were lucky in that we were chosen to issue a field test.

— AMANDA GORHAM,
Associate principal and testing coordinator

“It was pointless for the students. Literally no one took it seriously, everyone just got done as fast as possible,” Wilson said. “I think this kind of test will yield inaccurate results because everyone just wants to get out of there. There’s no incentive for doing well.”

However, CCHS science department teacher and REBW test proctor Claude Gonzalez believes that there will be an ultimate payoff for administering the field test.

“The people who are writing the test need this data, and I would rather do the field test and get a quality exam that really shows where our kids are and what they need help with and what they are doing well in at the end of the year or next year than a piece of junk,” Gonzalez said.

Elena Gilbertson Hall

Elena Gilbertson Hall is a senior at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia where she is the Editor-in-Chief for the ODYSSEY Media Group. Gilbertson Hall has been on the staff of the ODYSSEY for four years and previously served as a news writer, covering important issues in the school and community while also exploring multimedia content and other forms of journalistic work. She was presented the Georgia Junior Champion Journalist Award by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association in 2019. She has also presented at multiple journalism conferences, including the Southern Interscholastic Press Association and GSPA.