Georgia students showed increases in most subject areas in the latest round of the Georgia Milestones Assessment, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Education (DOE).
2016 was the second year Georgia students took the Milestones test.
A press release from DOE showed the percent of students achieving the ‘Proficient Learner’ level and Above increased for 23 of the 32 tests, with the highest gains seen in grade 5 science; grade 7 mathematics, science, and social studies; grade 8 English language arts, mathematics, and social studies; American Literature; Analytic Geometry; Biology; Physical Science; U.S. History; and Economics. Students who achieve ‘Proficient Leaner’ are considered to be on track to being college and career ready.
“I’m pleased to see our students’ performance trending upward in many key areas,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in the statement.
“While increases in most areas were seen, the results do highlight the need to focus on early grades, especially in the areas of literacy and numeracy. The policies of my administration will continue to emphasize a strong knowledge of foundational skills and concepts so students are reading on grade level by 3rd grade and being proficient in numeracy by 5th grade. Proficiency in these areas will ensure greater success in later grades.”
Students began taking Georgia Milestones assessments in 2014-15. The new testing system is one comprehensive program across grades 3-12 and includes open-ended questions to better gauge students’ content mastery. In 2015-16, students in grades 3-8 were tested in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. In grades 9-12, students enrolled in 9th Grade Literature & Composition, American Literature & Composition, Coordinate Algebra, Analytic Geometry, Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, Physical Science, U.S. History, and/or Economics took a Georgia Milestones End of Course assessment.
Georgia Milestones assesses student learning along four levels of achievement - Beginning Learners, Developing Learners, Proficient Learners and Distinguished Learners.
The Gainesville City School System issued a statement indicating systemwide improvements in 3rd grade ELA and Math; 4th Grade Science and Social Studies; 5th grade ELA and Science; 7th grade ELA, Science, and Social Studies; and 8th grade ELA, Math and Social Studies.
Raw data for other school systems and individual schools can be accessed here.
