Check out tomorrow's Atlanta Journal-Constitution and MyAJC.com for more details on the new report card and school-by-school results. Come back Thursday for a closer look at how metro districts performed, and Sunday for a deeper examination of how the new report card compares to the old rating system.
Students aren’t the only ones graded on their performance. Starting Tuesday, their schools will be too.
For the first time, every public school in Georgia will receive number grades that measure academics, readiness for advancement, graduation rates, progress and achievement gaps.
The new report card evaluates schools with a system familiar to children and parents, with grades near 100 signifying excellence, and lower grades exposing schools that need improvement.
This scoring system, called the Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index, replaces the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which judged schools based on whether they achieved Adequate Yearly Progress. Georgia is one of 10 states that has been granted a waiver from the federal law and its pass-or-fail assessments of standardized test results.
“It’s more detailed, it holds schools accountable for everything they do, and it gives schools credit for progress that they’ve made,” said Georgia Department of Education spokesman Matt Cardoza. “This isn’t punitive. This is a road map for how schools can improve.”
The report card will be a guide for parents and educators to compare schools and to find areas in which they need help, Cardoza said. The Department of Education will provide resources for schools in areas in which they’re deficient.
The largest part of each school’s grade, 70 points, will be based on student achievement. Unlike federal measures, which emphasize reading and math skills, the state report card also includes standardized test results in science and social studies.
Another 15 points are awarded from a formula that measures student growth, and 15 points are assigned to how well schools close achievement gaps between high and low performers.
There are also 10 “challenge points” of extra credit available if schools meet performance targets of economically disadvantaged students, English learners and students with disabilities.
The maximum possible score is 110 points.
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