Cobb Students Excel On Georgia Milestones, Outperform State

ATLANTA — Students in the Cobb County School District increased their scores on the Georgia Milestones in the 2018-2019 school year, outpacing their peers across the state by 7.4 to 9.4 percentage points in all subject areas. More than 82,600 Cobb students took 195,655 Milestone tests. On 84% of those tests, students scored Developing Learner (level 2) or higher. That is compared to the statewide test scores where only 76% were level 2 or higher.

Cobb high school students exceeded Georgia by 10.7 percentage points on the Milestones end-of-course tests. Cobb elementary and middle school students outperformed their state peers by 7.1 percentage points on the Milestones end-of-grade tests. Cobb students, who increased scores in all four subject areas, also bested their Georgia peers by 7.4 percentage points in English Language Arts, 7.9 points in math, 9.2 points in science, and 9.4 points in social studies.

Overall, Georgia students showed strong gains on the spring 2019 Georgia Milestones assessments, according to figures released Friday morning by the Georgia Department of Education. Scores increased or held steady on 25 of 26 assessments, which officials said were the strongest overall gains recorded in the five years the assessment has been administered. The percentage of students reading on grade level or above increased or held steady in every tested grade and both English language arts high school courses.

Read: Students Record Strongest-Ever Overall Gains On GA Milestones

Almost 90% of Cobb Schools improved their Georgia Milestones scores compared to three years ago. Milford Elementary School returned the best 1- and 3-year trends for the percentage of students who scored levels 2-4. Milford’s percentage jumped by a whopping 10.1 points over last year and 18 points over 3 years.

At 7.3 percentage points, Daniell Middle School returned the greatest middle school improvement.

Topping the list of the best 3-year trends, six Cobb schools saw the percentage of students who scored levels 2-4 increase by more than 10 points. As the highest performing schools, Timber Ridge Elementary School, Murdock Elementary School, and Dodgen Middle School students achieved levels 2-4 in least 98% of test scores.

Five schools scored in the 97% range: Mountain View Elementary School, Dickerson Middle School, Walton High School, Mount Bethel Elementary School, and Tritt Elementary School. Hightower Trail Middle School and Lassiter High School rounded the list of top 10 highest performing schools.