State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced that 2017 College and Career Ready Performance Index scores show improvements across the board -- in Georgia's elementary, middle, and high schools, and in Georgia's K-12 schools as a whole. 

The state score for Georgia's high schools was 77, up from 75.7 in 2016. The middle school score increased to 73, up from 71.5 in 2016, and the elementary school score increased to 72.9 (up from 71.7 in 2016). The overall state score is 75, an increase from 73.6 in 2016. These scores are reflected in the chart as follows:

The CCRPI is Georgia's statewide accountability system, implemented in 2012 to replace No Child Left Behind's Adequate Yearly Progress measurement, after the U.S. Department of Education granted Georgia's waiver from NCLB. It measures schools and school districts on a 100-point scale based on multiple indicators of performance. 

"These results point to the continued improvement taking place within Georgia's public schools," State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. "I have seen firsthand the efforts Georgia's educators -- particularly Georgia's classroom teachers -- have made to increase the opportunities our students receive, and I could not be more pleased to see increases across so many indicators of academic achievement, from CCRPI to the ACT to the Georgia Milestones assessments. With that said, I still believe the CCRPI does not fully capture the great work happening in our public schools. I'm confident that our proposed refinements to the measurement -- as submitted in Georgia's ESSA state plan -- will paint a more accurate picture of overall school quality." 

Proposed refinements to next year's CCRPI

As part of Georgia's state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 18, Superintendent Woods has proposed changes to the CCRPI calculation. If approved, the new calculation will apply to the 2018 CCRPI. 

"During the two years we spent gathering feedback from the public as we developed our state ESSA plan, we heard over and over that Georgians are setting a higher expectation for their education system," Superintendent Woods said. "They expect an education system that places value on opportunities for students -- from fine arts to career education -- rather than a narrow focus on test scores alone. The refinements to the CCRPI proposed in our ESSA plan are a direct response to that feedback from Georgians and will ensure a system of broad opportunities for students -- rather than a focus strictly on standardized test scores, which are an important but incomplete measure of student achievement and school quality."

Click here to learn more about proposed changes to the CCRPI.

The GaDOE is also working on a redesign of the CCRPI reporting system to make the scores easier for parents and other stakeholders to view and understand. Click here to view the current prototype, here for a video explaining the changes, and here to offer feedback (the survey deadline has been extended).

School Climate Star Rating

As part of the CCRPI reports, the Georgia Department of Education also released the 2017 School Climate Star Ratings for local schools. This rating is provided as an informational tool for schools, parents, and communities. While it is reported alongside the CCRPI, it is not included in the calculation that produces school and district CCRPI scores. 

A visualization of the 2017 School Climate Star Rating is available through Georgia Insights, an initiative of the GaDOE aimed at improving the clarity and accessibility of district- and school-level data through public-friendly and easy-to-use dashboards.

School climate refers to the quality and character of school life -- the "culture" of a school. A sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development and student learning, which are essential elements for academic success, career-skill improvement, and overall quality of life. The School Climate Star Rating assesses the climate of a school on a 1-5 scale using the following indicators: 

• Survey – a measure of student, teacher, and parent perceptions of a school’s climate

• Student Discipline – a measure of student discipline using a weighted suspension rate

• Safe and Substance-Free Learning Environment – school discipline incidents and student survey responses on use of illegal substances and the prevalence of violence, bullying, and unsafe incidents within a school

• Attendance – the average daily attendance of teachers, administrators, and staff members and the percentage of students with fewer than six unexcused absences

Each school in Georgia receives a 1-5 star rating, with five stars representing an excellent school climate, and one star representing a school climate most in need of improvement.

In 2017, there was an increase of 4.2 percentage points in the number of schools earning the top (5-star) rating. In detail: 19.2 percent of schools earned a 5-star rating (excellent), 41 percent earned a 4-star rating (above average), 26.2 percent earned a 3-star rating (average), 8.7 percent earned a 2-star rating (below satisfactory), and 3 percent earned a 1-star rating (unsatisfactory). Two percent of schools did not receive a rating because they are virtual schools, which are not traditional brick-and-mortar schools. 

The chart below represents the year-to-year change in School Climate Star Ratings for each possible rating level.

Student Growth Model

The GaDOE also released Student Growth Model data for 2016-17. This is a metric designed to help educators, parents, and other stakeholders better understand and analyze the progress students make year to year. It provides an in-depth look at student growth by school and school district, providing answers to questions such as, “Did students in this school grow more or less than academically similar students across the state?” or “Are students growing as much in math as in English Language Arts?”