ExcelinEd Commends Georgia’s A-F School Grading System  

Georgia

May 24, 2016

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s Office of Student Achievement released the first annual A-F school grades for Georgia’s more than 2,200 schools. Grades are determined by a combination of factors, including student achievement, student growth and achievement gap closure, and can viewed at Schoolgrades.Georgia.Gov. Georgia is setting high expectations for students with new assessments and proficiency expectations and following that up with high expectations for schools to earn an A or B.

“Grading schools on a simple A-F scale is the most cost-effective tool we have for improving the quality of public education,” said Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. “The priority of every school in Georgia now will be earning an A or B, because that is what parents and communities will expect. Such grades will depend on a school’s success in boosting the academic achievement of all students — a win for the state’s families, colleges and businesses. The power of transparency and accountability cannot be underestimated in designing an education system that prepares both children and states for the highly competitive environment of the 21st century.”

The new grades are available now at SchoolGrades.Georgia.gov, an interactive website that allows parents, teachers, students and others to immediately see how their local school is performing, view its past performance (up to five years), compare its performance to other local schools or schools across the state, and download a copy of the results.

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Background: 

Most states use vague labels, such as “satisfactory” or “Level 1” to rate schools instead of offering parents, policymakers and the public transparent, objective information about school effectiveness. In 1999, Florida made the revolutionary decision to grade schools on an A-F scale just like students—no further explanation needed. Since that time 16 states adopted a similar system.

Behind the A-F simplicity is a data-driven system of accountability. ExcelinEd promotes an A-F School Grading policy that measures what matters: overall student performance and progress, with extra focus on struggling students, and graduation rates and college and career readiness in high school. School grading works by holding all schools to the same high expectations and clearly communicating the results to parents.

To learn more about A-F School Grading in Georgia, visit: RaisingTheBarGA.com.

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