GA Gov., Superintendent: Students Need To Be Supported Better

GEORGIA — The Georgia Department of Education released the 2019 College and Career Ready Performance Index, commonly referred to as CCRPI, scores Friday. Statewide, the scores show an increase at the high school level, and decreases in elementary and middle school.

CCRPI Overall Scores – 2019 vs. 2018

CCRPI scores are based on five separate components – Content Mastery, Progress, Closing Gaps, Readiness and, for high schools, Graduation Rate. While the state averages for Content Mastery, Readiness, and Graduation Rate increased for elementary, middle, and high school, there were slight decreases in Progress scores, and larger decreases in the Closing Gaps component – which requires schools to meet elevated achievement targets for all subgroups.

Governor Kemp and Superintendent Woods’ Remarks – Refinements Needed to CCRPI

Together, Gov. Brian Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods acknowledged that work still needs to be done to support students and improve student achievement, while expressing a need to refine the CCRPI measurement to ensure it is a fair and stable measure that accurately captures school performance.

“I am a strong supporter of holding schools accountable for increased student achievement, but in a year when we’ve seen nearly across-the-board increases in national test scores and graduation rates as well as Georgia Milestones scores, seeing the CCRPI show a decrease instead raises concerns about the measurement used to determine school and district achievement,” Kemp said. “I believe that we need to engage in a thoughtful process to create an accountability system that paints a true picture of what’s happening in a school. With unprecedented alignment between my office, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and the Department of Education, I’m confident that we’re finally in the right position to make long-needed refinements to this measurement.”

Woods emphasized his commitment to work with state and federal partners to reduce the weight of standardized test scores in the CCRPI and move toward a wider and deeper measurement of performance that reflects the true mission of K-12 public schools: preparing students for life.

“As we aim to lessen the number of high-stakes tests our students take, we need the weight of testing in CCRPI to reflect the same priorities,” Woods said. “Georgia’s parents, taxpayers, students, and educators deserve a fair measurement of performance that lifts up, rather than labels, our public schools. Working with Governor Kemp and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, the time is right to make that shift.”

“Georgia’s public education system continues to receive both national and state-level recognition for its K-12 performance,” said Curtis Jones, the current National Superintendent of the Year and Superintendent of the Bibb County School District. “Now the State School Superintendent and the Governor’s Office are working hand-in-hand alongside local districts, which finally affords us the opportunity to develop a measurement that fully captures the success we’re seeing across multiple metrics.”

About the CCRPI

Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act – the replacement for No Child Left Behind passed in 2015 – states are required to have a “statewide accountability system” that provides information on how well schools are performing. Similar accountability systems were required under the No Child Left Behind waivers many states operated under before the Act was passed, but the Act gives states more authority over the process.

See more:

• View district and statewide scores
• Fulton Schools Outperforms State On CCRPI, Climate Star Results
• Forsyth Schools Tops State, Large Districts On CCRPI
• Cherokee Schools Improves, Exceeds GA Accountability Testing