Verbena High School had a great week of testing for the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). There were no absences I am pleased to report! The students who were testing were serious and worked very hard each day. The test results will be back around the middle of April. The next test dates will be in July. You may or may not have heard that the AHSGE is being phased out. Next year's senior class will be the last class to have to take it. The ACT (American College Test) is replacing the AHSGE. The ACT is not a new test by any means. For a very long time this assessment has been used by colleges and scholarship programs to evaluate the skills of potential college students. The juniors of 2013-2014 will be the first class to be required to take the ACT as a group in Alabama public schools. There has been no exact information on how ACT scores will be used except to provide benchmark information for the students, parents, and educators to see how prepared the students are for post-secondary education. Pre-ACT assessments are given to all students in the 8th and 10th grades. The Explore test is the name of the 8th grade test, and Plan is the 10th grade test. Seniors will eventually take the Work Keys facet of the ACT program. End-of-course (EOC) tests are also going to be used to determine how well the students were taught and learned the skills and objectives in core courses.
The new catch phrase is to prepare our students to be "college and career ready." There is also a stronger emphasis on career tech education. The new Alabama diploma requires that students take at least three credits of career tech, foreign language, or fine arts courses. Students may take all three courses in one area or mix it up - taking one or two courses of each. Students will be counseled on choosing their own individual "pathway" to graduation. There will be a lot of freedom for the students to choose what courses they want to take while at the same time they must still complete four credits in each of the four core areas of English, mathematics, science, and social studies. Core course standards are becoming more rigorous beginning with math for this school year 2012-2013 and language in 2013-2014. The EOC tests will provide accountability for the instruction provided in core courses.
I will be retiring at the end of this school year with 30 years in education. I have enjoyed working at Verbena High School for the past three years. It is a great school with wonderful teachers, administrators, and staff. This blog may be published by the next high school counselor or he/she may choose another method of getting out information to the students and parents.
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