Students show strongest-yet gains
Georgia’s public school students showed their largestever performance gains on the 5-year-old Georgia Milestones assessment this spring, according to the state’s department of education.
Student scores this spring increased or held steady on 25 of 26 assessments. The percentage of students reading on grade level or above increased or held steady in every tested grade and in both English language arts high school courses, news release states.
“We continue to see increased student performance across indicators — from Georgia Milestones to the SAT and ACT, graduation rate and the number of students finishing high school with an industryrecognized credential,” state school Superintendent Richard Woods said in the release. “This is a testament to the hard work of Georgia’s teachers and students, and an increasing focus on educating the whole child and providing a genuinely well-rounded education.
“While these gains are worth celebrating, we cannot be all about the test — our job is to prepare students for life,” Woods said. “I continue to support a reduction of state assessment requirements to the federal minimum and more realistic and reasonable accountability requirements.”
The largest increases were in ninth-grade literature (ninepoint increase), sixth-grade ELA (seven-point increase), third-grade math (six-point increase) and third-grade ELA (five-point increase).
Georgia Milestones’ Reading Status measurement — a Lexile score derived from reading and vocabulary questions on the ELA assessment — showed the largest increases were recorded in third grade (five points), seventh grade (four points), and ninth grade literature and composition (four points).
The third-grade increase is notable given the long-term impact of students’ ability to read on grade level by third grade, officials said in the release.
Georgia Milestones, which students began taking in 201415 and in the 2018-19 year was administered almost 100% online, is a comprehensive program across grades 3-12, that includes open-ended and technology-enhanced questions to better gauge students’ content mastery. It assesses student learning along four achievement levels: Beginning Learners, Developing Learners, Proficient Leaders and Distinguished Learners.
The percentage of students achieving the Proficient Learner level and above increased or held steady on 25 of 26 End of Grade and End of Course assessments, compared to 22 of 26 assessments in 2018. The only assessment for which the percentage of students achieving that designation was lower saw a one-point drop compared to 2018. Students who achieve Proficient Learner status are considered on track to being college- and career-ready.
“A strong K-12 education system is essential to keeping Georgia the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family,” Gov. Brian Kemp stated. “These strong results show impressive improvements in Georgia’s public schools, and I commend the educators and students of our state for their hard work.”