Seven Schools Expected to Come Off Takeover List as District CCRPI Scores Rise

The Georgia Department of Education released its 2015 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores on Tuesday.

In a year of more rigorous assessments, 46 Atlanta Public schools showed gains on the new report. In addition, of the original 27 schools identified by the state in 2014 as low performing and eligible for possible state takeover by a proposed Opportunity School District (OSD), seven achieved large enough gains to be removed from OSD eligibility.

The CCRPI measures the academic achievement and progress of individual schools, school systems, and the state itself on a 100-point scale. The CCRPI represents Georgia’s accountability system.

The seven APS schools anticipated to be removed from the state OSD list are Benteen, Dobbs, Toomer and Usher-Collier Heights elementary schools; Sylvan Middle School; Therrell Law and Mays high schools.

As a district, the average CCRPI score rose from 62.6 points to 66.8 points overall compared to 2014 results, according to the state’s report.

Scores for both APS and the state increased the past year. The overall APS score increased 4.2 points to 66.8, although still 8.7 points lower than the Georgia average of 75.5. The Georgia average increased by 3.6 points from 2014.

After recalculating the CCRPI scores for current and planned mergers and one school closure, APS now has 19 schools that have three years in a row of CCRPI scores below 60 (compared to 27 in 2014). While seven schools made sufficient gains to move above the OSD criterion of 60, two additional schools became OSD-eligible because they did not reach a score of 60 for the third consecutive year.

“These results give me hope that we are making progress in transforming Atlanta Public Schools,” said APS Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen. “But while we are pleased to see some improvements, especially in those schools previously eligible for state takeover, we clearly have much work to do toward improving student achievement.”

Initial turnaround interventions began this school year with more scheduled for 2016-2017. The strategy includes education partnerships, operating-model changes, high-impact tutoring, math and reading specialists to directly support students, a Spring Break Academy, recruitment of respected turnaround school leaders, targeted professional learning for teachers, and accelerated roll-out of social emotional learning in schools. More information is available at www.atlantapublicschools.us/turnaround.