As Greene County students head back to classes this week, the results of their work last year have been released by the Georgia Department of Education.
The Georgia Milestones tests given to students from third grade through high school in 2023 showed some improvements from the previous year but, with few exceptions, still fall below pre-pandemic levels.
Statewide, the DOE reports the percentage of Georgia students who tested at or above grade level saw some increases from 2022 to 2023 in English Language Arts (ELA, which includes reading) and Mathematics. Most declines occurred in science and social studies. The elementary and middle school classes generally scored better than high school.
The story is much the same in Greene County, where third graders continue to show solid scores, especially in reading and math.
At Greene County Primary School (GCPS), 72.1% of the students were reading at or above grade level. At Lake Oconee Academy (LOA), 86.4% of the third graders tested at or above grade level in Reading. Both schools were well above the state average of 65.9% and showed increases over 2022. GCPS saw a 14.2 percentage point jump year to year that pushed it beyond the grade’s pre-pandemic 2019 reading score by 10 points.
Third-grade math was another bright spot for LOA (65.9%) and GCPS (64.4%). Classes at both schools improved over the previous year, and GCPS beat its pre-pandemic score by 23 points.
“Our teachers have been focusing on strong instruction in reading and math and strategically implementing targeted interventions where needed, provided through CARES funding,” Greene County Schools Superintendent Chris Houston told the Lake Oconee News in an email.
However, the 2021-22 third grade, which also performed well, experienced big drops when they got to fourth grade last year. For example, the Carson Middle School fourth-grade Math proficiency was 28 points lower than the third-grade score. Reading proficiency was 36 points lower than the third-grade score.
“Our fourth-grade students have not fared as well academically or socially-emotionally since they have been located at the middle school,” Houston said. “Elementary school students need to be educated with their peers.”
Houston said this year the fourth grade has been moved to Greene County Primary School, and next year they will remain among peers in the new elementary school.
The schools showed a few recoveries from 2019 pre-pandemic scores.
At LOA, the percentage of students who tested at or above grade level increased for students in seventh grade English Language Arts from 59.4 in 2019 to 66.3 in 2023, eighth grade Math (44.9 to 47.3), high school Algebra (20.0 to 50.0) and Biology (66.7 to 82.8).
The Greene County district schools saw some recoveries to or above 2019 pre-pandemic levels, such as fifth grade Reading (from 58.6 to 61.7) and Math (17.2 to 19.1), as well as sixth-grade reading (32.3 to 47.3) and ELA (16.2 to 29.7).
Billions of federal dollars were released to help schools during the COVID pandemic. The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education found that 4 out of 5 school districts were spending their money on training.
Greene County Schools, including LOA, received $7.1-million, and as of the end of March, some $4.5 million had been spent on temporary “high-intensity tutors…early Intervention teachers, early learning specialist…additional special education teachers, transitional teachers…” according to the school system’s website.
In a media presentation by the Georgia Department of Education prior to the release of the Milestones, officials were quick to caution – “Remember, these students’ entire academic careers have been impacted by the pandemic.”
They talked about new programs like GaTutor, in which 100 Georgia teachers will be paid extra to provide online, one-on-one tutoring sessions for high school students. Another program will partner with AmeriCorps Math Corps and Reading Corps to provide tutoring for up to 5,000 students. But they acknowledged the difficult part is to get students and parents to participate in these types of programs.
In Greene County, the College and Career Academy and the Career Coaching program, where more than 100 volunteers support every student at Greene County High School, continue to be positive attempts to push for academic balance.
“The task we have is to take the gains we see in elementary and move those gains forward through strong teachers, engaged students, and supportive parents,” Houston said in a Tuesday press release. “There is work to be done, but the post-COVID improvement is encouraging.”
Lake Oconee Academy Executive Director Brad Bowling said he did not have time, with school opening this week, to respond to questions by the Lake Oconee News about the Milestone scores but promised comments later.