More Schools in Georgia Making Progress

Standardized testing shows more schools in Georgia are making progress year to year. Annual Yearly Progress is the standard indicator of school performance. This year, seventy nine percent of public schools in Georgia made AYP-- that’s a ten percent jump from this time last year.

The State Department of Education partly attributes the leap to better math scores on standardized tests.

“We saw a lot of improvement in CRCT scores in mathematics, especially in elementary and middle schools,” said Spokesperson Dana Tofig, “and we think that’s what played into more schools making AYP this year.”

Math is a subject many schools struggle with across the state, including Radloff Middle School in Gwinnett County north of Atlanta. It’s had a needs improvement status for the past 3 years. But this year it shed that label. Principal Patty Hietmuller shares how.

“We provided 40 minutes of extra math instruction everyday," said Hietmuller. She also touts goal setting as key to their success.

Schools that under perform in any given for two years in a row get a needs improvement status. Then they have to work with the state to make a plan to get better. This year, 334 schools are on the needs improvement list; that’s 6 fewer than last year.

Parents at those schools must be notified so they can choose whether to send their children to a different school.

Many schools fall short of No Child Left Behind standards

The number of troubled public schools not making enough progress as required by the No Child Left Behind act is growing. But overall, more schools have passed the requirements.

About 81 percent of the state's public schools made adequate yearly progress, which is an improvement from last year's 79 percent. But many schools are failing to meet that standard for two years in a row, and the number of them has risen after a drop last year.

Over 320 schools are now on the state's "needs improvement" list. Seventy percent of them did not meet the standards in English. Only 39 percent have met the standards in Math. Officials say that's why Math must get more focus in Georgia these days.

In order to get off the "needs improvement" list, these schools have to meet the federal standards for two years straight. They often offer extra tutoring and student transfers to better schools.