Cherokee Schools Outperform State On Student Achievement Index

CANTON, GA -- For the fifth straight year, the Cherokee County School District has exceeded the state’s average score under the College and Career Ready Performance Index system, which annually assesses student academic achievement and progress.

The district's average CCRPI score for 2015-16 released Thursday the Georgia Department of Education is 81.6, up from 78.2 the previous year, and exceeding the Georgia average of 73.6.

Averages at all three levels of district schools – elementary, middle and high – increased; no schools scored below 64.

Individual pieces of data used to formulate CCRPI, such as Georgia Milestones assessment results and graduation rates, are analyzed by school and CCSD data management and leadership teams upon receipt throughout the year. As a result, CCSD’s efforts to track college and career readiness and address school performance issues are not halted while waiting for the state to calculate a score based on these metrics.

Additionally, Cherokee County School Board Policy provides for an administrative team to intervene whenever the superintendent of schools determines action is needed. The process, which has been utilized three times in recent years, sends a team of district leaders to the school for a thorough operational review with specific recommendations issued for changes.

Annual CCRPI scores do serve a purpose for CCSD: the 2014-15 CCRPI scores were designated by the School Board as the benchmark for achievement for its Strategic Waiver System reform model. The system is now working to improve annually on those benchmark scores, which these new results illustrate is being accomplished.

“We applaud the hard work underway by students, teachers and staff in schools across CCSD to ensure that every student is as successful as possible, which we know also requires the support of parents, families, volunteers and partners,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower said. “Thank you to everyone who plays a role in preparing our future generation for college and career readiness. Together we’re successfully ‘Educating the Emerging Generation!’

You can get a breakdown of scores for each school by clicking here.

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