The Cherokee County School District recently presented a report with a more detailed look at CCSD’s performance on the Georgia Milestones assessments.
CCSD Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis introduced a Georgia Milestones Assessment Performance Review report to the school board at their work session Aug. 15, which is available on the school district’s website.
“Our objective today is to ensure there is public awareness and transparency in the performance of our district and our schools, but even more importantly, school board members at this desk have made it clear to me that they believe CCSD should constantly and consistently be delivering on a high quality education as evidenced by results,” Davis said.
Josh Heath, the school district’s executive director of accountability, provided the Superintendent’s report.
The Milestones administered each spring test students’ mastery of Georgia Performance Standards, which set expectations for what lessons students will learn in each grade. Results measure students’ knowledge as Beginning, Developing, Proficient or Distinguished Learners.
Students in grades 3-8 take Milestones End-of-Grade exams in English language arts and math; students in grades 5 and 8 additionally are tested in science, and eighth-graders also take a social studies exam. High school students in specific courses — Algebra, American Literature, Biology and U.S. History (as well as the eighth-graders taking Physical Science and Algebra for high school credit) — take Milestones End-of-Course exams.
Milestones scores were recently released to parents and school districts, except for math, due to updates to math assessments made to align with new K-12 mathematics standards. The math scores are expected to be released later this fall.
CCSD Milestones results showed nine tested areas improved or remained stable, while four dipped. For the ninth year in a row, the district exceeded state averages.
The report highlighted CCSD schools’ success in increasing performance by grade level and subject area, including numerous areas of double-digit growth in top scores.
The report includes CCSD student performance over the past three years and compares CCSD performance to nine other school districts, as well as state averages. The nine comparison districts were selected based on an evaluation of five characteristics that could be in common with CCSD: a tradition of high performance, geographic proximity, student population size, student demographics, and percentage of students identified as economically disadvantaged.
Per the report, CCSD’s new definition of student performance is: “Students are learning more, growing more, and achieving more in CCSD than they could anywhere else, as evidenced by ... (in the short term) the metrics designed by the State of Georgia and (in the long term) the indicators of success designed by our local community.”
The report defines accountability for CCSD as: “Accountability in CCSD is about having clear goals and when we achieve those goals, we celebrate! If we fall short of our goals, we adjust the practices, processes, systems, or techniques that we either inherited or developed ourselves in order to improve our outcomes.”
It also includes “next steps” for how assessment results will be used to improve student performance, including the refocus this school year to center lessons on CCSD Teaching and Learning Standards, which are state aligned standards repackaged for CCSD teachers; developing, over the course of this school year, a toolbox of instructional resources for teachers tightly aligned to those standards; and then beginning regular mini check-ins throughout the school year to ensure student mastery of standards.
School Board Member Rick Steiner asked questions to better understand the district’s next steps toward improvement, and School Board Member Erin Ragsdale said she appreciates the report and its increased detail and transparency.
“You have to see where you’re succeeding and you also have to see where you’re not succeeding, so you know where you need to go … the goals you need to create to move forward with the child,” she said, adding she doesn’t believe standardized tests and associated accountability should be viewed negatively. “I know how great our teachers are, my children are in this district. I know the talent; I know how hard everybody works. We are a great school district, but I absolutely, unequivocally, believe we could be the best in the state.”
According to the school district, the report will be created annually to give greater analysis and comparative data than previously presented.
For the full report, and for more CCSD Georgia Milestones data, visit the school district’s accountability webpage at https://www.cherokeek12.net/divisions/curriculum-instruction/accountability .
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