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TRACKING ST01IENT SUCCESS 
 
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GEORGI 
DEPART M E N T OF \ 
EDUCATION iGqthy Cox, 
 
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State Superintendent ofSchools 
 
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Superintendent Cox has worked tirelessly to provide necessar)' support to school systems, individual schools, and classroom teachers. She has transformed the Georgia Deparunent of Education (GADOE) from a slow moving bureaucracy to a:fast paced and customer focused support agency for public education. The change is also being seen in Georgians scnoqK as teachers and administrators exhibit newfound optimism about the future of education in,Georgia under the leadership of Superintendent Gox. 
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A Embraced by the state's education professjonalsj the 
 
Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) outlines specific 
 
guidelines for instruction, student work, and assessment. 
 
It represents the most fundamental change to Georgias 
 
public educational systent in more than 18 years. It is the 
 
foundation for educational progress as Georgia aims to 
 
lead the nation in improving student achievement. 
 
 The State Board of Education voted to.approve the 
 
new curriculum for K-12 math, science, social studies. 
 
and English/language arts. 
 
 In 2005-2006, the new standards will be taught in 
 
K-12 English/language arts, grades 6, 7, 9-12 science, 
 
and grade 6 math. 
 
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 On a survey sent to local school systems from 
 
the GADOE, over 85% of respondents indicated good 
 
or excellent ratings on the GADOE's communication with thenw^C 
 
 3rd Grade Reading CRCT Results 
 
 2002  2003 
 
 2004  2005 
 
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(CRCT) A&io ~t&t ststi aru-J flc/niyf 
 
HIGHLIGHTS The states promotion and retention policy is working: State policy requires students in grade 3 to pass the reading CRCT and in grade 5 to pass the reading and math CRCT. In 2005-2006, students in grade 8 will be required to pass the reading and math CRCT. The law, which went into effect during the 2004-2005 school year in grade 3, has resulted in increased student achievement. 
 Unprecedented achievement in grades 3, 4, 
 Achievement gap is closing. 
 2005 results show that 92% of third graders taking the CRCT reading test passed the 
 2004 to 2005 gain especially noteworthy in the categories of Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners and Hispanic students. 
 4th grade reading scores dramatically better than in 2004 (78% passing in 2004 to 87% passing in 2005). 
 Double-digit one-year jumps for AfricanAmerican students, English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities. 
 5th grade reading and math pass rates went up for all students and every major sub group. 
 
4th Grade Reading CRCT Results 
 
 2002  2003 
 
 2004  2005 
 
100 
 
E<CMds Moo! 
 
Eiceeds Moo: 
 
Eicoods Moot 
 
Eicoods Moo! 
 
EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (SWD) 20D2-2DD5 PERCENTAGE GAINS: 
READING....26% ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS....16% MATH....2D% SCIENCE....21% SOCIAL STUDIES....23% 
`STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES ACHIEVED THE HIGHEST GAIN IN 31 OF THE 3G CRCT TESTS 
 
 -- 
(EOCT) 
 About 81 percent passed the 9th Grade Literature EOCT and about 94 percent passed the American Literature EOCT. 
 Performance jumped 4 points and 5 points respectively over last spring.  African-American and Hispanic students showed strong gains on these exams since 
last spring, as did Students with Disabilities. 
Results of the 2005 Georgia High School Graduation Test show that the state's 1 Ith-graders are improving in some tested areas and holding steady in others. 
ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS 
Overall, students continued to perform very well on the English portion, with about 97 percent passing - an increase of one point. All student subgroups showed an increase as well. About 89 percent of the states African-American students passed the exam, an increase of two points, which reverses two years of declining pass rates. 
"Students continue to show improvement on the English portion ofthe test even though they are already performing at a 
very high level, " Cox said. "Much ofthe praise goes to English teachers across Georgia that are clearly doing a great job. " 
 
 Georgia Schools In Needs Improvement 
(2 Years of Not Making Adequate Yearly Progress in the Same Subject) 
 
ADEQUATE YEARLY ^PROGRESS (AYP) 
 
26.66% 400 ----- 
2003 
 
20.34% 
2004 
 
17.35% 
2005 
 
AYP is one of the cornerstones of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). It is an annual measure of student participation and achievement on statewide assessments and other academic indicators.  Even though the academic bar jumped significantly this year, the percentage of schools meeting the academ ic expectations stayed nearly the same. 
 
 There were 1,642 schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress this year, about 80.5%. 
 
 The total number of schools who are in Needs Improvement status dropped by 59 schools 
 
this year. Of the states 354 Needs Improvement schools, 135 made Adequate Yearly Progress 
 
this year. If those schools make AYP next year, they will be removed from Needs 
 
Improvement status. Since 2002-2003, the number of Needs Improvement schools has 
 
dropped about 34%. 
 
 For the second year in a row, about 95% of the states elementary schools made AYP. About 
 
56% of the states middle schools made AYP, an increase of nearly seven percentage points. 
 
 There were 55 school systems -- 
 
nearly 30% - that had every school in its district make AYR  Academic expectations rose for the over 1,600 elementary and middle schools in Georgia. In those schools, 58.3% of the students in each school - and each qualifying subgroup - had to pass the math exam, up from 50% last year. In English/Language Arts, 66.7% had to pass, up from 60% last year. The high school bench marks stayed the same this year. 
 
Georgia Schools Making AYP by School Type 
 
12003 100 
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 
20 10 
 
2004 
 
2005 
 
Elementary 
 
High 
 
 SAT | THE ACT ASSESSMENT (ACT) ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) 
 
SAT 1994 - 2004 Georgia v. US 
 Georgia  US 1040 
 
1004 
 
t 
 
2004 
 
The Super SAT Challenge was established to provide school systems with the support they need to better prepare students to take the SAT and raise system average scores. 
 
ACT composite scores have risen from 19.8 in 2002 to 20.0 in 2004. 
ADVANCED PLACEMENT - 2003-2004 Number of Students Taking Tests................... 25,382 Number of Tests Taken.....................................39,549 Number of Test Scores 3 or Higher............... 22,336 Percentage of Test Scores 3 or Higher............56.5% 
SAT Online Prep course available free of charge to all students. The course features:  18 lessons featuring interactive activities and multimedia content;  Three full-length, official SAT practice tests;  Over 600 practice questions, which follow SAT specifications;  Explanations of answers to all questions;  Automated essay scoring; and  Personalized score reports for students; detailed student, class, school, and district-level reports for educators. 
Initiated training of teachers to use PSAT data to help identify where individual students need remediation. 
 
 GEORGIA EDUCATION BY THE NUMBERS 
 
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS 
K through 12 Elementary Middle High 
 
2,069 
10 1,257 
429 373 
 
NUMBER OF DISTRICTS 
 
1B1 
 
City 
 
21 
 
County 
 
159 
 
State Schools 
 
1 
 
NUMBER OF STUDENTS 
Male Female 
 
1,553,437 
758,293 - 48% 795,144-52% 
 
NUMBER OF TEACHERS 
2003 Beginning Avg. Salary 2003 Avg. Salary 
 
104,B45 
$33,919 $45,414 
 
 Georgia Department ofEducation 2054 Twin Towers East Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Tel (404) 656-2800 Tel (800) 311-3627 (GA) FAX (404) 651-6867 askDOE@doe.kl2.ga. us 
Georgia Department of Educatiol 
is an Equal Opp!ortunity Emp\loyer<. '/l!\