The results of this year’s Georgia High School Graduation Tests are in, and both local school systems have shown improvement in every subject area from the previous year.

To receive a high school diploma in Georgia, every student must take the GHSGT and pass all four content areas (English/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies), showing that they “have mastered essential core academic content and skills,” according to the Department of Education.

High school juniors at Carroll County and Carrollton school systems took this year’s exam at the end of March.

For the 2006-07 academic year, the passing rates for regular-program Carroll County Schools students who took the GHSGT for the first time were 97 percent for English/language arts, 94 percent for mathematics, 76 percent for science; and 89 percent for social studies. All four areas saw improvement from the 2005-06 year ” with a 1 percent increase in English, a 1 percent increase in math, a 6 percent increase in science and a 7 percent increase in social studies.

Kathy Rogers, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and student achievement of Carroll County Schools, said that there are several factors for this year’s increase. One is data analysis, where teachers looked at previous test results in order to identify their instructional strengths and weaknesses. Another, she said, was aligning the county’s curriculum with the state’s new performance standards.

“Another thing that we did was offer tutoring for the Georgia High School Graduation Tests,” she said. “Our high schools have done something differently to prepare students. Villa Rica High School, for example, had ‘Saturday School.’ In addition to that, all throughout the year, our high schools have focused on trying to strengthen the instruction for these students.”

Two high schools posted perfect scores. Mt. Zion High School recorded a 100 percent passage rate on English, while Bowdon High School had a 100 percent passage rate on the math portion of the exam ” a 9 percent jump from 2006.

“It’s hard to make a huge percentile jump,” Rogers said. “I also would say that while our math and English scores have been good at the high school level, our science and social studies scores are improving. We saw increases in both those subjects, and to me, that’s significant because it’s really hard to make a big leap.”

This year’s passing rates for regular program students at the Carrollton City Schools who took the exam for the first time were 100 percent for English/language arts, 98 percent for math, 92 percent for social studies and 79 percent for science. Wina Low, director of student services for Carrollton City Schools, said that despite the low science scores, she is pleased with all the testing results, especially since the scores are above the state average.

“We have just had tremendous improvement,” she said. “Obviously, we continue to strive to improve our science test scores, which would be our area of focus. We certainly had hoped for greater gain in the science area, and we feel confident that the continued focus will yield higher scores in the other areas, as well.”

Low also said that in many of the subject area, the system has actually posted all-time highs. English/language arts scores hovered around 98 percent the past few year; this is the first time that the district has reached 100 percent in that area.

This year’s mathematics scores were also at an all-time high for the decade ” beating the old 1995-96 record by five percentage points.

Georgia high school juniors taking the GHSGT for the first time this year also have showed gains on the science and social students sections ” increasing two percentage points from last year ” as well have maintained high levels of achievements on the English and math portions of the exam.

“The graduation test results demonstrate that our students are continuing to improve in all areas,” Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said in a statement. “I’m especially encouraged to see continued gains in science, an area where our progress was stagnant for many years. Everyone is working very hard to help all of our students be successful. That work needs to continue and be ramped up. The good news is we are moving in the right direction, and I am confident that will continue.”

If a student fails the GHSGT, he or she would be encouraged to sit down with a counselor or teacher to analyze the individual’s testing weaknesses. The student would then be offered instructional remediation, which the school would provide, and be allowed to retake the exam in July. First-time test-takers have five chances to take the exam between the time they take the test as a junior and the time they would graduate.

The GHSGT, along with the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, is a factor in determining the Adequate Yearly Progress for schools under No Child Left Behind.

Low, whose system for the first time last year passed AYP, believes that it is a little premature to predict whether the school will again pass AYP this time around.

While the county school system has never completely made AYP and only nine out of the 21 campuses made AYP last year, Rogers, on the other hand, is confident that more schools will pass AYP.

“Of course, we don’t have the AYP to look at yet,” she said. “But I have looked at the rosters of students and specifically looked at the English/language arts and math scores and the percent of students scoring in those higher levels. And that has increased dramatically. So, I’d have to say I’m pretty confident those numbers will help us with AYP.”

The test results for the CRCT are scheduled to be released in June, and the AYP results are planned to be released to the public in early July.