Georgia Report Card Shows 6 Schools No Longer In Bottom 5%

ATLANTA, GA — A new state report card shows that six Fulton County schools no longer rank in the bottom 5% according to the Georgia Department of Education. Feldwood Elementary School, McNair Middle School, Parklane Elementary School, Paul D. West Middle School, S.L. Lewis Elementary School, and Woodland Middle School have exited the Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) lowest 5% status list, the department announced in a news release Monday.

“It is our responsibility as a state to provide the support all schools need to improve, including intensive and tailored supports for struggling schools,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in the release. “Our entire agency, led by our Office of School Improvement, partners with schools identified for additional support to ensure they have the resources they need to succeed – and that’s producing real improvements in schools. We’ll continue this ‘all hands on deck’ approach to school improvement, with the ultimate goal of ensuring every student in our state has access to a high-quality K-12 education.”

The Georgia Department of Education’s Office of School Improvement works directly with CSI schools and school districts are required to provide support to TSI schools, although the state offers both professional and technical assistance.

“Fulton County has strategically aligned resources, personnel, and professional learning to support the specific needs of its CSI- and TSI-identified schools, in an ongoing and proactive approach to school improvement,” the department said in an online statement. “The district has worked with GaDOE and with Metro RESA to ensure consistent monitoring of implementation data at the district, school, and classroom levels, attention to both academics and school climate, and proactive planning for success.”

According to the AJC, a Federal education law requires states to identify their worst-performing schools and provide those schools with help to improve. For schools in Georgia to end up in the bottom 5% they have to consistently perform in the bottom 5% on the complex College and Career Ready Performance Index. The state report card looks at test scores as part of its performance evaluation.

Schools that are underperforming are divided to one of two lists, Comprehensive Support and Improvement and Targeted Support and Improvement. The six Fulton County Schools were on the CSI list, but their improvement got them off. Schools can get on that CSI list for these reasons:

CSI schools fall into one or both of the following categories:

• Lowest 5%: Title I schools that, when ranked according to their three-year CCRPI average, are among the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools in the state
• Low Graduation Rate: High schools with a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate less than or equal to 67%

TSI schools fall into one of the following categories:

• Consistently Underperforming Subgroup: The school has at least one subgroup performing in the lowest 5% of all schools in at least 50% of CCRPI components.
• Additional Targeted Support: Among all schools identified in the “Consistently Underperforming Subgroup” category, the school has at least one subgroup that is performing in the lowest 5% of schools in all CCRPI components.

Twenty-six schools made the improvements necessary to exit the lowest 5% of schools or CSI-low graduation rate status, and another 21 made the improvements necessary to exit TSI status, for a total of 47 schools.