GMAS, EOC and AP Testing Calendar

CES testing begins at 7:35
CMS testing begins at 8:35
CHS EOC testing begins at 8:35 | AP testing times are 8 am & 12 pm

CCS Supports Governor's Legislation to Reduce High Stakes Testing

Gov. Brian Kemp along with State School Superintendent Richard Woods introduced this week a bill to reduce the impact of high-stakes standardized testing in Georgia. Currently, Georgia requires students to take seven assessments beyond the minimum federal standards; the bill proposes to remove five of those assessments. It will also shorten the length of the Georgia Milestones, allow for flexibility on the timing of state-mandated assessments, and move the testing window to the last five weeks of the school year.  

 At Cartersville City Schools (CCS), evaluating the process by which schools are held accountable and measured has been one of our top priorities. We know the successes of our students and our schools are measured in greater ways than simply by a test or by a letter grade.  

 Cartersville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Marc Feuerbach welcomes a more accurate accounting of the effectiveness of our efforts to educate the whole child. He said, “I completely support the Governor's proposed legislation and I hope that our representatives move swiftly to adopt the measure. This new bill highlights a conversation we have been having in our community since the Spring of 2019 regarding the vision to build a community-based accountability system that is founded on our hopes and dreams for our students.”  

Working alongside the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE), John Tanner of Test Sense, the Schlechty Center and a select group of superintendents throughout the state, Cartersville City Schools has been seeking to develop a more meaningful model of accountability. We know our district and community receive very limited data from the high-stakes standardized tests that are required of our students each year. Historically we have spent a large amount of time, talent, and resources responding to the state's accountability system, the lagging test data we receive, and the grade (CCRPI) score given to us by the state. This process is and has always been a backward-facing process. 

Dr. Feuerbach is committed to developing a new accountability system that is ‘forward-facing’ and allows our students to benefit from actionable data. He said, “It is our goal to build a system that is fueled by the passion and interest of our students, our educators, and our community. We envision a system of accountability wherein state standardized tests are just one part of the overall picture measuring our success in meeting the needs of our students.” 

The new system, which will take two to three years to fully integrate, is built on Seven Pillars that we believe should be the primary focus of creating an effective school. The pillars are Student Achievement, Student Readiness, Engagement of the Whole Child, Community Partnerships, Quality Staff, Systems & Operations, and Safety & Well-Being. A key component in the developmental process of the Seven Pillars has been hearing from our stakeholders. Engaging with our stakeholders in a variety of ways including our first community conversation held in September of 2019 has given us the opportunity to simply listen. We have more conversations planned for the near future with the purpose of learning the hopes and dreams held by our community for our students.  

Dr. Feuerbach said, “The fundamental basis of education is development. We believe it is time for our district to embrace a new culture where we ask, ‘What do we want to accomplish?’ before we ask, ‘What do we want to measure?’” 

Cartersville City Schools was recently made aware of a data security incident related to their AIMSweb 1.0 product by an unauthorized third party. Our district is one of 13,000 Pearson clients affected by this incident, which occurred in November 2018. 

According to Pearson, the affected data was limited to the first name, last name and, in some cases, date of birth, GTID number and email addresses of students, as well as the first name, last name and potentially the email addresses of staff. No grade or assessment information was affected in this incident, and the AIMSweb 1.0 platform does not contain Social Security numbers, credit card data or other financial information.
 

Please click here for more information.

Cartersville City Schools now has an app. Members of the community can enjoy instant access to Canes news and calendars. Parents can access their student's grades, class schedule, attendance, school calendars, social media posts and lunch menus at the touch of a button. You can get instant notifications from your child’s school and from the district, so this winter you’ll know immediately when school is canceled for inclement weather. You can also add money to your student's cafeteria account from your device. You'll find other great features listed under the Resources icon. For complete login info and details on how to customize the app to meet your family’s needs, click here.