By Kathryn Purcell
Managing Editor

    In a message sent to all of Georgia's local superintendents on Wednesday, State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox nullified the results of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in the area of social studies for sixth- and seventh-graders.
    "After intense scrutiny of the standards and the assessment, we have come to the conclusion that these scores are not trustworthy measures of student achievement in social studies," the message, found on the state Department of Education (DOE) Web site, states. "Accordingly, the results will be invalidated...This decision is based primarily on the conviction that we need to revise the curriculum and the assessments to better evaluate the knowledge and skills that represent student achievement in social studies."
    "In their opinion, there was not an alignment between the curriculum taught and the curriculum tested," Morgan County Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Ralph Bennett said, of the announcement by Cox. "It shows how inexact standardized tests can be in determinations that have to be made about students, schools and teachers."
    The invalidation of the social studies results doesn't determine whether a sixth- or seventh-grader moves to the next grade level, according to Bennett. In fact, reading and math assessments determine promotion or retention.
    The Morgan County School System has received preliminary CRCT results and is currently working on data verification before the results can be sent back to the state DOE and made official.
    "Without reservation, I can say that we did as we expected to do in most areas," Bennett said. "We expected to have most students meeting or exceeding standards. I can safely say most students met or exceeded standards."
    According to Bennett, official CRCT results should be back in time to be presented at the next Morgan County Board of Education meeting on Monday, June 9.