College and Career Readiness: Here is how Augusta schools score
The Georgia Department of Education's College and Career Ready Performance Index measures content mastery, college/career readiness, and other important factors in all Georgia schools each year.
An overall score for each school was not calculated in 2022 due to the data limitations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the individual components of the overall score were calculated.
While some of Richmond County's schools did well, several scored very low. Some were in the bottom 10th percentile, others were in the 5th percentile. Here is a look at how Augusta's schools did and what the Richmond County School System is doing to address the CCRPI scores.
The rankings below are based on approximate data provided by the Georgia Department of Education.
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Content Mastery
"Content Mastery" addresses whether students are achieving at the level necessary to be prepared for the next grade, college, or career. It includes achievement scores in English language arts, math, science, and social studies on Georgia Milestones and Georgia Alternate Assessment 2.0.
Generally, each school is scored once in each category. But if a school teaches in two different levels (like how Davidson Fine Arts teaches middle school and high school) then the school is scored twice.
The schools that scored in the top 90th percentile for Content Mastery were Davidson Fine Arts' high school, A.R. Johnson's high school, and C.T. Walker's elementary school.
Schools that scored in the low 5-10% range were:
Academy of Richmond County
Dorothy Hains Elementary
Jamestown Elementary
Terrace Manor Elementary
Monte Sano Elementary
Lamar-Milledge Elementary
Hephzibah Middle
Glenn Hills Elementary
Laney High
Schools that scored in the lower 5th percentile were:
Meadowbrook Elementary
Pine Hill Middle
Wilkinson Gardens Elementary
Langford Middle
Cross Creek High
Hephzibah High
Spirit Creek Middle
Copeland Elementary
Willis Foreman Elementary
Richmond Hill K-8
Glenn Hills High
Wheeless Road
Glenn Hills Middle
Jenkins-White Elementary
Butler High
Murphey Middle
W.S. Hornsby Middle
Barton Chapel Elementary
Josey High
W.S. Hornsby Elementary
Readiness
“Readiness” measures whether students are participating in activities preparing them for and demonstrating readiness for the next level, college, or career. The indicators for elementary and middle schools include literacy, student attendance, and beyond the core. High school indicators include literacy, student attendance, accelerated enrollment, pathway completion, and college and career readiness.
The schools that scored in the top 90th percentile for Readiness were Davidson Fine Arts’ middle and high, A.R. Johnson's middle and high, C.T. Walker's elementary and middle, and Richmond County Technical Career.
Schools that scored in the low 5-10% range were as follows:
Wheeless Road Elementary
Barton Chapel Elementary
Jenkins-White Elementary
Jamestown Elementary
Glenn Hills Middle
Richmond Hill K-8s elementary
Hornsby Elementary
Hephzibah High
Cross Creek High
Westside High
Butler High
Lamar-Milledge Elementary
Schools that scored in the lower 5th percentile were Josey High and Glenn Hills High.
Graduation Rates
“Graduation Rates” measure whether students are graduating from high school with a regular diploma in four or five years. This component includes both the four- and five-year adjusted cohort graduation rates and is only applicable to high schools.
The schools that scored in the top 90th percentile for Graduation Rates were Davidson, ARJ, and Richmond County Technical. They also are among the few in the state that scored 100% in this area.
Schools that scored in the lower 10th percentile were Glenn Hills High and Josey High.
What is being done by the Richmond County School System?
The board of education this week was given a CCRPI presentation. They reviewed their schools' overall scores as of 2019, and while there had been progress, multiple schools were identified as "consistently underperforming."
Assistant Superintendent Andrea Roberts highlighted a few actions they are taking to fix some of these issues. One popular move is implementing TAPS, a comprehensive program from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching that fosters growth for students and educators.
They are also restructuring school improvement to better serve the highest needs schools, and the school district is consistently communicating with the local principals and the state DOE about what steps need to be taken going forward. This is all in addition to the extra funds that have been allocated by the department of education for improvement in the underperforming schools.
Board members Wayne Frazier and Helen Minchew raised the issue of ensuring schools get the "right kind of help" for their individual needs, which Roberts said they addressed with alignment meetings when the scores went out earlier this year.
Board members Venus Cain and Jimmy Atkins also asked that they make an effort to address the importance and stressors surrounding standardized tests.
For more information on CCRPI, go to gadoe.org.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta schools score on content, college readiness, graduation rates
