Fewer Georgia schools scored “excellent” and more scored “unsatisfactory” on a new state index that rates schools on things like disciplinary incidents, student and teacher absenteeism and surveys about school safety and other concerns.
The "School Climate Star" ratings released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education rank schools from five to one, with five representing the best climate and one the worst.
» COMPLETE RATINGS: View the full list of schools and ratings here
The state education department says climate ratings are relevant because they correlate with academic performance.
"Research has found that schools with positive school climates tend to have better test scores and graduation rates," the agency explains on its website. In contrast, it says, "schools with negative school climates as a result of unsafe or hostile environments tend to have lower academic performance."
At nearly four of 10 Atlanta Public Schools, the climate is less than satisfactory, with scores of two or lower.
Sixty-four Cobb County schools, well over half, received a 4, or an "above average" rating.
A third of Fulton County's schools were rated less than satisfactory, with an additional five dropping to the one or two level for a total of 34. The district had eight schools with a one — that's "unsatisfactory" — in 2014-15 versus none the year before.
Two schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia's largest district, got a one. By comparison, about one in four Gwinnett schools are "excellent" environments for learning, scoring a five.
The worst district for climate in metro Atlanta, and in Georgia, was DeKalb County, which had the highest number of schools (14) scoring at the bottom — two more than APS.
The rating is derived from a variety of sources, including surveys of parents and school staff. But education department spokesman Matt Cardoza said the survey results had a greater impact on the ratings in 2014-15 because of greater participation, which might explain the change at some schools.
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