Only 14% of Georgia public schools earned this award. Muscogee County has 10 of them
Ten public schools in Columbus are among the 14% in Georgia honored for outstanding achievement or growth in their reading scores on the state’s standardized tests.
The following Muscogee County schools are on the 2024 list of Literacy Leaders, announced by the Georgia Department of Education:
- Blanchard Elementary School for growth in third and fifth grades
- Britt David Magnet Academy for achievement in third, fourth and fifth grades
- Columbus High School for achievement
- Davis Elementary School for growth in third grade
- Dimon Magnet Academy for growth in third and fourth grades
- Downtown Magnet Academy for growth in third and fourth grades
- Eagle Ridge Elementary School for growth in third grade
- Lonnie Jackson Academy for growth in third grade
- Midland Academy for growth in third and fifth grades
- Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts for achievement in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
“We are very proud of these school communities for their commitment to sustainable and focused efforts in the vital area of literacy,” MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer in an emailed interview. “Whether recognized for growth or outstanding achievement, these schools are most deserving of this recognition, and we join with State Superintendent Woods in celebrating them and their hard work.”
What’s contributing to MCSD’s Literacy Leader awards?
Lewis mentioned the following factors contributing to this success:
- Robust professional development in structured literacy
- Implementation of high-quality instructional resources
- Effective instructional frameworks and monitoring practices
- Hard work of students, teachers, administrators, support staff and community partners.
“All MCSD schools are utilizing high-quality instructional materials and receiving training in structured literacy based on the science of reading toward increasing literacy proficiency,” Lewis said. “In addition, we remain grateful to our community and parents for their ongoing support for our schools and the students we serve.”
The GaDOE awarded this recognition to 324 of the state’s 2,322 public schools.
“These schools are moving the needle on literacy in our state – and, as a result, changing the lives of the students they serve,” GaDOE superintendent Richard Woods said in the news release. “The ability to read opens the doors to lifelong learning — that’s why we remain laser-focused on literacy at the Georgia Department of Education and as a state. I am honored to recognize these schools, educators, students, families, and communities for their outstanding work.”
Woods plans to visit the Literacy Leader schools to congratulate them in person.
“Georgia educators are embracing the science of reading and structured literacy,” GaDOE director of literacy Amy Denty said in the news release. “The Literacy Leaders recognition honors the dedication, commitment and hard work of our students, teachers and leaders. Together, we can ensure all children in Georgia learn to read well. I’m excited to see how our schools continue to grow and excel in the literacy arena.”
Georgia initiatives to improve literacy
The GaDOE lists the following initiatives that have been implemented to improve literacy in Georgia:
- Developing a tiered, statewide literacy coaching model, using federal school improvement funds to place coaches in the lowest-performing 5% of elementary schools
- Partnering with the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy to offer the Georgia Literacy Academy, proven training in structured literacy and the science of reading, at no cost to all Georgia educators
- Adopting new K-12 English Language Arts standards that embed structured literacy
- Developing instructional resources, progressions, lessons and videos to support evidence-based literacy instruction in schools
- Launching a public-facing dashboard to provide transparent access to detailed literacy results.
The GaDOE noted two indicators that those initiatives are working:
- On the 2023-24 Georgia Milestones Assessment System tests, the percentage of students scoring Proficient & Above increased more for fifth-grade ELA than any other assessment in the state.
- The Class of 2024 scores for Georgia students on the ACT and SAT college entrance exams were higher on the reading and writing assessments than any other subject area.
Criteria for Georgia Literacy Leader school awards
To be a Literacy Leader school for achievement in third grade, sixth grade and high school, at least 90% of the school’s students must score at or above grade level.
To be a Literacy Leader school growth in third grade, sixth grade and high school:
- Schools with fewer than 50% of their students scoring at or above grade level last year needed to improve their performance by at least 15 percentage points this year.
- Schools with 50-69% of their students scoring at or above grade level last year needed to improve their performance by at least 10 percentage points this year.
- Schools with 70-89% of their students scoring at or above grade level last year needed to improve their performance by at least 5 percentage points this year.
- Schools with 90-97% of their students scoring at or above grade level last year needed to improve their performance by at least 3 percentage points this year.
Schools that qualified for achievement or growth awards in third grade, sixth grade and high schools also could earn achievement or growth awards in other grades if they met the aforementioned criteria.
Schools may receive an additional award for outstanding achievement if their percentage of students in any grade scoring at or above grade level was at least 98%.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 1:08 PM.
