Cobb School District's IE2 Proposal Accepted by Board of Education

The Georgia Board of Education has formally approved the Cobb County School District’s plan to transition to an Educational Excellence (IE²) system by July 1, 2015.

According to a school system press release, the Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the school district’s proposal, making it the first school district in the state to be formally approved for IE² status.

“This is great news for the students of Cobb County,” said Interim Superintendent Chris Ragsdale in a statement. “The IE2 status will allow our schools the freedom to try new and innovative approaches to improve achievement, but in ways that best suit the individual schools. I want to thank the State Board of Education for recognizing the hard work that went into developing this contract, and for clearly seeing that the IE2 model is the right fit for Cobb.”

The IE² System will bind the school board, the state Board of Education, and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement to a student performance-based contract. Although schools in this system will be given leeway to implement innovations, the schools will have to be held to a higher standard of academic achievement. Schools that fail to meet the new goals may lose local control of their operations.

Some of the flexibility the school system is seeking as part of the new system includes changing class sizes, salary requirements, direct classroom expenditures and expenditure controls, certification requirements, graduation requirements, ELL program requirements, and categorical allotment requirements set forth by state law.

In exchange for this flexibility, the school district must perform at higher standards and meet goals such as proficiency or improvement on the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), expand technical learning and access to technical tools, ensure financial stability, and maintain a positive environment for teachers, students, staff, and parents.

The school system will meet with the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) to establish performance targets, and will then meet with the leadership of individual schools to discuss performance goals in specific areas. Schools will be constantly monitored, and those that fall behind goals will be given interventions to help boost performance.

These changes to the Cobb County School District will be implemented at the start of the 2015-16 school year, which will begin on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015.