It’s no secret that schools nationally that have lots of students from low-income families tend to score lower on state standardized tests.
In Georgia, one in five of the schools receiving As under the new state ratings released this month have student bodies that are mostly low-income. (In this case, low-income means students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.)
In fact, Georgia has gradually changed the formula used to calculate its school ratings in ways that tend to help high-poverty schools. For this year’s ratings, student improvement counted for more while absolute academic achievement counted for less.
Atlanta Public Schools' Carver Early College High School, where nearly all students are low-income, received a A+ from the state this year.
So did Clayton County's Elite Scholars Academy, which will close at the end of this school year and reopen as district-run magnet school. Clayton's Stilwell School for the Performing Arts also received an A from the state.
Gwinnett County’s Shiloh Elementary School, where more than 70 percent of students are low-income, also got an A from the state. So did three DeKalb schools, including Wadsworth Magnet School for High Achievers, DeKalb Early College Academy and Arabia Mountain High School’s Academy of Engineering, Medicine and Environment.
Here’s a list of Georgia schools that are beating the odds:
- Wadsworth Magnet School for High Achievers - DeKalb County
- Davidson Magnet School - Richmond County
- DeKalb Early College Academy - DeKalb County
- Early College High School at Carver - Atlanta Public Schools
- Walker Traditional Elementary School - Richmond County
- St. Simons Elementary School - Glynn County
- Arabia Mountain High School - Academy of Engineering, Medicine and Environment - DeKalb County
- Hazel Grove Elementary School - Habersham County
- Ephesus Elementary School - Heard County
- Centralhatchee Elementary School - Heard County
- Elite Scholars Academy School - Clayton County
- Shiloh Elementary School - Gwinnett County
- Martha Ellen Stilwell School for the Performing Arts - Clayton County
- Williams Heights Elementary School - Ware County
- East Central Elementary School - Rome City
- Johnson Magnet - Richmond County
- Woodville-Tompkins Technical and Career High School - Chatham County
- Chase Street Elementary School - Clarke County
- Lake Oconee Charter - Greene County
- Lake Park Elementary School - Lowndes County
- White County 9th Grade Academy - White County
- Hoboken Elementary School - Brantley County
- Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet - Dougherty County
- Baconton Community Charter School - Mitchell County
- Eastside Elementary School - Coffee County
- Memorial Drive Elementary School - Ware County
- Barksdale Elementary School - Rockdale County
- Heard County Middle School - Heard County
- Liberty County High School - Liberty County
About the Author
