Harris, Chattahoochee counties produces their highest CCRPI scores

The Harris County and Chattahoochee County school district have produced their highest scores on the scale the state uses to measure public school performance.

According to results the Georgia Department of Education released Thursday, Harris County’s score on the 100-point College and Career Ready Performance Index increased by 3.4 points, from 79.6 in 2015 to 83.0 in 2016.

The improvement in the Chattahoochee County School District was even larger. ChattCo increased its CCRPI score by 8.5 points this past year, from 67.4 in 2015 to 75.9 in 2016.

The formula to calculate the CCRPI didn’t change from 2015 to 2016, Georgia Department of Education chief communications officer Matt Cardoza told the Ledger-Enquirer. “2012-2014 are comparable and 2015-2016 are comparable,” he said.

Harris County

It’s the second straight year Harris County has improved its CCRPI, having scored a 77.4 in 2014, 81.3 in 2013 and 75.6 in 2012.

“The progress and growth that our schools have shown throughout the system is very encouraging,” Jeff Branham, the district’s chief information officer and human resources director told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Thursday on behalf of superintendent Jimmy Martin. “This progress is a composite of the hard work of our students, teachers, administrators and members of our system leadership team.”

Asked what concerns him most about the results, Branham said, “There are areas where improvement is needed to address specific student needs. Our schools and system personnel are reviewing the data and developing plans for improvement in those critical areas. We will not be completely satisfied until every student is successful.”

Those critical areas, Branham said, are reading and English language arts for students with disabilities, as well as English language arts for economically disadvantaged students.

Harris County has surpassed the state average in each of the five annual releases of the CCRPI scores and is now 9.4 points above the state average; it was 1.5 points above the state average in 2012.

“Our performance results demonstrate the type of success possible when you have students, parents, teachers and the community committed to the education of its children,” Branham said. “Overall, we are very pleased with these efforts and will continue to strive to improve in the future.”

Chattahoochee County

The improvement in the Chattahoochee County School District is even larger. ChattCo increased its CCRPI score by 8.5 points this past year, from 67.4 in 2015 to 75.9 in 2016. Its score has increased by 15.5 points in the past two years. ChattCo’s scores were 66.9 in 2012, 69.9 in 2013 and 60.4 in 2014.

“It's very exciting to see our recent efforts begin to pay off,” ChattCo superintendent David McCurry told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Thursday. “I commend the classroom teachers and administrators, as well as supportive parents and community, for helping make the changes needed to improve our performance. But the real credit goes to the bright, hard-working students in our schools. They deserve so much praise for their efforts.”

McCurry said he is most pleased that the improvement is throughout the district, the elementary, middle and high schools.

“These scores are attributed to a quality group of teachers and students, and their efforts improve teaching and learning in the classroom,” McCurry said. “Over the past two years, teachers and administration have made collaborative efforts to establish, implement and analyze best practices across the district. We focus on continuous monitoring of the process to ensure that everything we do every day contributes to student achievement.”

McCurry was principal of Cairo High School before ChattCo’s school board hired him in August 2014. Martin led ChattCo’s schools for six years before leaving in July 2014 to replace the retired Craig Dowling in Harris County.

ChattCo’s middle school CCRPI of 49.0 is alarming compared to the elementary school at 89.5 and the high school at 75.8.

“Though there was growth in the middle school score for 2016, we are still concerned that it’s so far below the state average and well below the true abilities of our students,” McCurry said.

Asked what the district is doing to address that concern, McCurry said, “Focused efforts were made to change instructional practices in the middle school this past year. Those changes have been put in place for this current year. I have no doubt we’ll see a major jump in the middle school CCRPI score for 2017. Again, our students have the ability.”

McCurry added, “With so much emphasis placed on a ‘school score,’ we don’t want to lose focus on the overall needs of the individual student. I’m proud that Chattahoochee County’s school system and community offer so many opportunities for our students to grow into well-rounded, healthy young adults. School-based health care, strong recreation department and school sports programs, a very strong public library, 200-plus member Army JROTC program and numerous other school clubs and activities are examples of how the school system and community focus on the whole child.”

CCRPI formula

The CCRPI is the Georgia Department of Education’s way of combining state-mandated annual data into one number to measure and communicate how well public schools are doing.

The index comprises three main factors adding up to 100 points:

▪  Achievement 50 points.

▪  Progress 40 points.

▪  Achievement Gap 10 points.

Achievement is based on standardized test scores and graduation rate. Progress is determined by Student Growth Percentile, defined as improvement compared to other students with similar prior achievement. Achievement Gap compares the achievement of a school’s bottom 25 percent of students with the state average on standardized tests.

Schools also may receive a maximum of 10 Challenge Points, accounting for the percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged, English learners or disabled. Challenge Points also may be awarded for participation in college and career readiness programs that exceed expectations.

This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Harris, Chattahoochee counties produces their highest CCRPI scores."