What’s wrong in elementary classrooms?

low performance.

During a recent visit to the AJC, Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen called elementary schools the weakest link in her system. It perplexed her in view of Georgia’s pioneering efforts in establishing universal pre-k. Atlanta had 27 schools on the eligibility list released last year, and 20 were elementary schools. (The list will change based on how well schools fare on the state College and Career Ready Performance Index ratings, due out now in May.)

“I have never seen that — usually early childhood works. And, yet, that impact is not playing out in the way it should be. A lot of it may be around access, families knowing they can have these services. We are really trying to understand what is happening with early childhood education,” she said.

Acknowledging the research showing pre-k is a benefit that pays remarkable academic dividends, Carstarphen said, “Our elementary schools by and large are the lowest performing schools in the system and in the state. For what middle and high schools are receiving in terms of children being prepared, they are working miracles. We have kids coming all the way through the system, and they are still reading at a fourth-grade level and they are in the 11th grade. It is amazing we are graduating students with this kind of lift that has to happen to get them to graduation.”

Atlanta is not alone in having so many elementary schools eli-