January 2018 Monthly Update 
Governor Deal Announces Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Award Winners On January 22, Governor Deal announced grant awards to 48 projects as part of the Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program, a collaborative effort between GOSA and the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College. The Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program invests in strategic community partnerships that target language and literacy development needs for children from birth to age eight. Each awarded project is a collaborative effort between at least two communitybased partners that focuses on one of the four pillars of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign: language nutrition, access, positive learning climate, and teacher preparation and effectiveness. These community partnerships include child care centers, public and private pre-K programs, primary grades of elementary schools, local service agencies, and local nonprofit organizations. Individual partners within an approved grant project will receive between $5,000 and $20,000 to support their roles in the partnership. To view the full press release, click here. To read summaries of the award winners, click here. 
GOSA Releases Strategic Waiver School Systems (SWSS) Evaluation Dashboard, SWSS Year 1 Results, and 2017 Financial Efficiency Star Ratings 
In January, GOSA released the results of the Year 1 (2017) Strategic Waiver School Systems (SWSS) Evaluation. SWSS performance contracts provide local school districts with greater governance flexibility as a means to increase student achievement. To meet the terms of the SWSS contracts, schools must annually increase their CCRPI score without Challenge Points by 3% of the gap between the baseline year (2016) CCRPI score and 100. If a school fails to meet its CCRPI target score, the school will have met its yearly performance target if it "Beats the Odds (BTO)," as determined by GOSA. During year one (2016-2017), 74.9% of SWSS schools met either their 2017 CCRPI target or Beat the Odds. Schools can visit the SWSS dashboard to view their SWSS outcomes. Schools that did not meet their contract terms in Year 1 must implement a school-led improvement plan by August 2018. Additionally, on January 26, GOSA and the Georgia Department of Education released the 2017 Financial Efficiency Star Rating (FESR) results. The FESR provides a comparison of district spending per student with overall academic performance. To learn more about the SWSS evaluation, click here. To view the SWSS Year 1 results, click here. To view the SWSS dashboard, click here.   To view the 2017 FESR, click here. 
GOSA Announces Round 5 Connections for Classrooms Awardees On January 16, GOSA awarded 60 school districts, state charter schools, and local charter schools more than $7 million from Round 5 of the Connections for Classrooms Grant Program. The grants will enable awarded districts to implement digital learning by upgrading their school networks or purchasing laptops or tablets. This round builds on the $81 million in grants that Connections for Classrooms has provided to districts and schools for network upgrades and devices over the last three years. As a result of these grants and federal E-Rate funds, many schools now have or will soon have wireless internet access to their classrooms. For Round 5, rural, high-need districts, state charter schools, state schools, and local charter schools were eligible to apply. Strong applicants clearly described how grant funds will enable them to implement digital learning. In addition, they demonstrated their need for devices, outlined their device selection/deployment/maintenance plans, and provided assurance of network preparedness to support devices. Applicants that did not receive funding will be able to revise and resubmit their applications for rescoring in early 2018. To view the full press release, click here. 
Job Opportunities Director of Policy, Research, and Evaluation 2018 Governor's Honors Program 
Georgia Education Data and Dashboards Georgia School Reports Interactive Education Data Map Downloadable Education Data Files Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings Dashboard High School Graduate Outcomes Dashboard Schools Like Mine Dashboard Strategic Waiver School Systems Evaluation Dashboard 
As the state's P-20 education agency, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (G.OSA) strives to increase student achievement, school completion, and life opportunities for all Georgia students. GOSA provides policy support to the Governor and ultimately the citizens of Georgia through: 
Communicating meaningful education data to stakeholders; Providing research support and data analysis on various education programs in Georgia to inform the Governor's policy, budget, and legislative efforts; Auditing education programs to ensure fidelity at the district and school-level to performance and accountability requirements; and Identifying, supporting, and sustaining educational innovations that align with the Governor's education priorities 
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