Top-ranked DeKalb schools not so great on growth
Some well-regarded DeKalb County schools posted average performances based on Georgia’s new “student growth model,” which measures how much students learn in a year compared with peers across the state.
The results are derived from year-to-year performance on Georgia’s Criterion Referenced Competency Tests and End of Course Tests and are for the 2012-13 school year. Change in a student’s test performance is compared against that of peers who had similar scores in the prior year.
DeKalb’s Wadsworth Magnet School for High Achievers lived up to its name in fourth- and fifth-grade math and in fifth-grade reading, with a 100 percent pass rate on the CRCT. However, when compared to peers across Georgia, students at the school registered modest growth: 35 percent in fourth-grade math, 43 percent in fifth-grade math and 46 percent in fifth-grade reading. The median growth percentage gives parents a new way to assess the performance of their school, says the Georgia Department of Education.
Look up your school results here, or visit the Georgia Department of Education for comparative information. See analysis and reaction at MyAJC.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
