N. Ga. grants to boost high school, college attendance

DAHLONEGA - The Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education (GACHE) at North Georgia College and State University is awarding 16 competitive grants totaling $98,000 to area high schools on Wednesday to support strategies to assist and encourage students to finish high school and pursue a college degree.

The high schools receiving the grants are Banks County, Chattooga, Commerce, Elbert County, Fannin County, Franklin County, Gilmer, Gordon Central, Gordon Lee, Jackson County, LaFayette, Lumpkin County, Murray County, Ridgeland, Sonoraville, and Woody Gap.

"We are excited that so many school principals, graduation coaches, counselors, and superintendents are willing to step up to the challenge of ensuring that their students graduate ready for college with real post-secondary choices," said Shirley Davis, director of the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education. 

"We know the economic consequences of leaving high school without a diploma are harsh, and, in today s world, stopping short of postsecondary education is equally grim. We want every student to graduate from high school and have college as a viable option."

GACHE is housed on the campus of North Georgia College and State University in the School of Education and is funded by NGCSU and by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

As part of the Appalachian Higher Education Network and one of ten centers in the Appalachian states, GACHE provides resources to schools to increase student opportunities for pursuing postsecondary education. GACHE is modeled after widely acclaimed programs operating in the Appalachian regions of Ohio and West Virginia that have boosted college attendance rates by as much as 20 percent.

In a related story, an independent review of Georgia's math tests shows that the exams were valid even though thousands of students failed them.

The audit released by the Georgia Department of Education on Tuesday says questions on the math Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests strongly matched state curriculum. The results bolster claims by the Georgia Department of Education that math scores plummeted last spring because of harder tests and more rigorous classwork. Nearly 40 percent of eighth-graders - about 50,000 - failed the math CRCT this year. State officials say the audit was a routine review and was scheduled before the low test scores were released in May.

The audit was performed by edCount LLC.

(The Associated Press)

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