The mediocre performance grades schools and districts got Monday on Georgia’s new scorecard prove that the days of tossing out puffed-up academic measures not matched by reality are on their way out, Georgia Superintendent John Barge said.
“I’m not going to color things inappropriately for anybody,” said Barge, who is running for governor. “Our goal was to design something that would drive school improvement.”
Georgia’s elementary, middle and high schools all earned modest grades on the College and Career-Ready Performance Index, which uses test scores and other factors to give schools and districts a grade. Those grades are supposed to be roughly equivalent to the score a student gets on a test, with a grade in the 70s being average, a grade in the 80s being good and one in the 90s being exceptional.
The index shows Georgia’s schools to be exceptionally average. Elementary schools got an overall grade of 78.5 based on the 2012-2013 school year. Middle schools got a 75, and high schools got a 72.
The elementary and middle school grades were slight improvements from the year before while the high school score was down.
No one will automatically be fired for a poor score, and state education department officials said they will make assistance available to schools and districts that fare poorly.
Barge said the drop in the high school grades can be attributed to poor performance in coordinate Algebra, a new course in which many students struggled.
Standardized and end-of-course test scores are the major components of the index, which Georgia developed after getting a waiver from federal education rules. The other elements are academic progress and closing the gap in performance between different groups of students. Schools and districts can earn up to 10 additional points by enrolling students in high-level courses and by getting strong academic performances from low-income students, special education students and students still learning English.
That means some schools and districts, depending on their student populations and course offerings, can earn a grade as high as 110.
While the overall scores were average, there were some high-flying schools and districts, and many made big gains from the year before.
Among the five districts in the metro core, Atlanta and Fulton were the only ones where grades were up on the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Cobb’s scores were up on the elementary and middle school level and down on the high school level. DeKalb’s were down on all three levels. Gwinnett’s scores were down on the elementary and high school level, but its middle school grade was up.
In the metro core, Northview High in Fulton County had the highest score (93.9) among traditional public schools, those that aren’t specialty schools like charters, magnets or early college academies.
DeKalb Early College Academy’s grade of 99.3 was the highest in the state. Students must apply for admission to DECA, which considers grades, test scores and a student’s interview performance in making admission decisions. More than half of DECA’s students graduate with an associate’s degree as well as a high school diploma.
“What you have is a history of all stakeholders doing hard work,” said Edward Conner, who became principal at DECA in June. “The parents have to be the foundation of this whole thing.”
Janaiha Ellis, whose daughter Reanah Gibson is a junior at DECA, wasn’t surprised the school got a high grade.
“They should score highly,” Ellis said. “It’s set up for them to do well.”
Ellis said DECA teachers go the extra mile for their students, who attend class on Saturdays. “These children are very motivated to succeed,” she said.
DECA was one of two high schools in DeKalb whose scores were in the top five among high schools in Georgia. DeKalb School of the Arts’ grade of 95 was fifth-best.
“We are encouraged that DeKalb is the only district in the state to have two high schools in the top five,” DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond said. “We have planted the seeds for far more academic growth and achievement throughout our school system – and we expect for them to bear fruit in coming years in this and other critical measurements.”
In Atlanta Public Schools, Scott Elementary and Burgess-Peterson Elementary each saw their 2012-2013 grades jump at least 22 points from the year before. Burgess-Peterson’s grade shot up to an 85.2 from a 52.8 the previous year.
“I’m still kind of numb about it,” said Robin Robbins, who has been principal at Burgess-Peterson for six years. “This is really for my teachers. They are just collectively the greatest group of people to lead.”
In addition to releasing index grades based on the 2012-2013 school year, the department also released recalculated 2011-2012 grades, based on an updated formula that gives more weight to academic progress and four-year graduation rates. Those recalculated 2011-2012 grades were generally lower than the 2011-2012 grades released in May.
Some superintendents have complained that the index still does not give enough credit for academic progress and relies too heavily on test scores.
Barge said the state can’t go much further in de-emphasizing achievement as measured by test scores.
The waiver Georgia received must be renewed each year, and Barge said that renewal would be threatened if the state did not place a major emphasis on achievement.
“We couldn’t reduce achievement to a level that the U.S. Department of Education wouldn’t approve,” he said.
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