The Georgia Department of Education released the College and Career Ready Performance Index, based on data from the 2015-16 school year. The state score for Georgia’s elementary schools was 71.7, with a score of 71.5 for middle schools, 75.7 for high schools, and an overall statewide score of 73.6.

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.

A significant year-to-year decrease was seen in the elementary school score, mostly due to bonus point opportunities not being met for Economically Disadvantaged students, English Learners, and Students with Disabilities. Each year, schools can earn extra points if those student groups are meeting performance targets. From the 2015 to 2016 school year, annually increasing targets were not met for these elementary student groups, even though subgroup performance increased in math, science, and social studies.

“These results point to the need for continued intensive focus on the foundations in early grades,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “However, I don’t believe the CCRPI captures all the great work happening in our schools. We have seen improvements and, in some cases, record results on the ACT, SAT, and in graduation rates. Through the process of developing Georgia’s state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act, we are evaluating what changes should be made to our accountability system to better measure the overall achievements of our schools.”

The GaDOE also released Student Growth Model data for 2015-16. 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 a deeper 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?”