Good grades are no longer enough when it comes to high school graduation.
Crystal Milligan, who was on Butler High School's honor roll earlier this school year, knows that all too well.
When she walks across the stage Wednesday, she'll receive a certificate of completion rather than a diploma.
What stands between her and a diploma is the 80-question science portion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test.
Students must pass the four sections of the test or receive a waiver to earn a diploma.
The test covers language arts, math, science and social studies, but Crystal said the material on the science portion - physical science and biology - was taught years earlier. As a senior, the 17-year-old doesn't take a science class.
According to the Georgia Department of Education, 106 Richmond County students earned certificates of completion last year. Statewide, the figure was 4,670.
The Georgia exit exam was first administered in 1991 and is part of a national movement toward exit exams.
"High school exit exams are a significant factor and are even becoming more of a significant factor in American high school education," said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, a privately funded Washington, D.C., think tank.
About half of the states have them or soon will, he said.
The reasons vary for giving an exit exam, but generally states want students to learn more, study harder and endure more rigor.
Those goals aren't always achieved.
"High school exit exam" is at times a misnomer, Mr. Jennings said, because nationally the exams test basic competency, generally on the 10th-grade level.
The exams have also become controversial in some states, including California and Arizona, where lawsuits were filed last year alleging that the exit exams increased high school dropout numbers and pushed students toward the GED, especially minority students, he said.
There is no conclusive evidence that this is true, said Mr. Jennings, who said he was surprised at that because of stories of students negatively affected by the exams.
Regardless of the evidence, the Georgia test stands between Crystal and the Air Force, which she had hoped to join so she could afford to attend college and pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a dentist.
"It's not a diploma," Crystal said of the certificate of completion. "You can't do anything with it."
"And that determines your life," said her mother, Gloria Milligan. "I was really hurt. I was crying along with her because I know she worked hard. She worked really hard."
She said it was unfair that 12 years of education comes down to one test.
"She has all her credits," Mrs. Milligan said. "She just didn't pass the test. The test determines everything."
After failing to pass the science test for the fourth time, Crystal isn't sure what she will do. Some students transfer to private schools and others drop out to get their GED, she said.
"This has probably hurt our graduation rate probably more than anything else," said Dr. Carol Rountree, Richmond County's director of guidance, testing and research. "You can be a 4.0 college prep (student) and not get a regular diploma."
A two-part series on the problems faced by dropouts in the CSRA, and efforts to solve the problem.
Coaches are no longer just for basketball courts and football fields.
As part of a patchwork approach to bolstering graduation rates and ushering students across the stage, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue last year introduced academic "coaches" whose sole job is to get diplomas in the hands of students.
"My goal, and my job, is to assure all students graduate," Butler High School coach Jabari Levi said.
Without prescribed duties or anyone's example to follow, graduation coaches are cutting their own path as they lead students to graduation.
For Mr. Levi, that can include just about anything from analyzing student records to determining who is at risk and in most need of immediate help to lining up day care for students who have children.
The graduation coaches are just part of the efforts to keep students in school and on track to graduate.
"Faster, Further": Columbia County is working with the National Science Center's Fort Discovery to raise students' interest and keep them excited about learning. The "Faster, Further" program teaches math and physics by letting students work with remote-control cars.
Credit recovery: Students can earn credit if they demonstrate a "mastery" of a subject. This helps students who have failed courses. It's a way to recoup credit without starting from scratch.
After school and Saturday school: Tutoring and supplemental services can go a long way to bringing up grades and enabling students to earn credits on their way to earning a high school diploma.
Vocational magnet school: Richmond County plans to construct a vocational magnet school, which could keep students interested in school. The interest could be enough to encourage them not to drop out.
Transition programs: The freshman year of high school is seen as a critical transition. Freshman academies and other programs are being used to ease that transition.
Career Center: Columbia County is making education more relevant to students through its career centers, which are located in its high schools. The career centers connect students to the workforce.