Yesterday, the Georgia Department of Education released the results of the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI).  I’m still learning Georgia accountability too so for folks who are in need of some basic guidance, here are my cliff notes on how it breaks down: For background, you may remember, (but I wasn’t here), that Georgia was one of 10 states granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act in February 2012. The new accountability system, the CCRPI, was released May 2013.  This system replaced the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), providing the district with more comprehensive data about the academic performance of our students and our schools.

This is how it works:

1) All of the schools in the state are rated on a 100 point scale and 2) Our overall score is made up of Achievement (60% of the total CCRPI score), Progress (25% of the total CCRPI score points possible) and  Achievement Gap (15% of the total CCRPI score points possible). That’s it in a nutshell.

So how did we do?  Overall, APS scored 62.5, a 2.8 point decrease from the 2013 score and 9.4 points lower than Georgia. Although the state score for high schools decreased 3.7 points from 72.0 in 2013 to 68.3 in 2014, scores for APS high schools remained relatively stable, with APS high schools earning 59.3 points in 2014.  Thus, the high school achievement gap between APS and Georgia narrowed 3.6 points. Similarly, while the state score for middle schools declined nearly 2 points, the APS score remained nearly unchanged. APS middle schools scored 65.7, a .1 point decrease from 2013 and 7.4 points lower than the state.  APS elementary schools decreased 5 points compared to 2013 and are 9.4 points below the state. (Note: APS scores by school level include the average exceeding the bar points awarded by the state).

And there were gains…in schools such as Hope Hill Elementary with an increase of 19.5 points from 2013-2014 representing our largest gain accross all schools, Venetian Hills Elementary with an increse of 18.2 points, Brown Middle with an increase of 14.3 points and South Atlanta Law and Justice with an increase of 16.3 points.  This is only a snapshot, we had a total of 42 schools with gains on the CCRPI between 2013-2014.

An exciting story is unfolding over at Hutchinson Elementary where the school achieved its second consecutive year of sustained growth in its overall CCRPI! Go Tigers!  In 2012, the school’s CCRPI was 42.8.  In 2013, the index rose to 55 and this year Hutchinson achieved a CCRPI of 67.9.  Hutchinson also more than doubled their achievement gap points for narrowing the gap between the lowest 25^th percentile and the state mean.

Other APS schools did a great job too. I am also proud of a number of APS elementary and middle schools that scored in the top 25% of APS schools:

Elementary Schools – Morningside, Jackson, Brandon, Lin, Neighborhood Charter School, Springdale, Charles Drew Charter School, West Manor, Smith, Garden Hills, Kindezi, Burgess-Peterson Elementary School, Rivers Elementary School, and Venetian Hills Elementary Schools.

Middle Schools – KIPP Strive Academy, Charles Drew Charter School, Inman Middle School, Atlanta Charter Middle School, KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy, and Sutton Middle School.

In addition, a number of APS high schools scored above the state average:

High Schools – Early College High School at Carver, The School of the Arts at Carver, North Atlanta High School, Booker T. Washington Early College, Grady High School, South Atlanta Law and Social Justice School, South Atlanta School of Health and Medical Science, and Charles Drew Charter School.

Please congratulate our staff and students for working so hard at their schools.

But still, at face value, the overall test scores give me pause. We have a long way to go to ensure every student in every school is able to achieve at high levels. What I know from experience and best practice – and share in viewpoint with outstanding educators everywhere – is that success can’t be measured by just test scores. Students will perform better in a culture that is less about correcting deficits and identifying weaknesses, and more about playing to and capitalizing on their strengths and providing opportunities to develop practical skills and have rich experiences. In other words, it’s a third, a third, and a third. It takes all three parts. And when you do that, students feel hopeful and engaged, which leads to academic success. We actually need to inspire students and help them feel hopeful about their future.

Studies show that hope is a stronger predictor of college success than test scores or GPAs.

When students have hope, they show up for school. When they show up, they’re more engaged. When they’re engaged, they stay in school. When they stay, they learn more. When they learn, they want to graduate on time. And when they graduate, they have real choices to pursue not only college and careers, but most importantly, a calling that will make them happy and fulfilled.

You can take a deep dive into the CCRPI data by visiting our district’s website HERE.  You can also take a look at the result from the state HERE.

Read more about Hutchinson ES at http://atlsuper.com/2014/09/16/fed-ex-helps-hutchinson-elementary-school-blow-the-cover-off-reading/