Marietta Schools Show Gains In New Georgia Milestones Report

ATLANTA —Marietta City Schools (MCS) demonstrated growth across grade levels and content areas, as measured by student performance on the Georgia Milestones. For the first time since the implementation of the Georgia Milestones, the district surpassed or matched the state in English Language Arts (ELA) for all grade levels tested.

District elementary school performance in ELA, as measured by students scoring “proficient” and “distinguished”, showed gains across all grade levels. The same pattern of success was achieved at Marietta Sixth Grade Academy, Marietta Middle School, and Marietta High School. Every grade level had more students scoring in “proficient” and “distinguished.”

Additionally, MCS continues to close the achievement gap for students identified in the following subgroups: Black, Hispanic, Students with Disabilities (SWD), and English Learners (EL).

• Black students – demonstrated positive gains in 18 out of 24 assessments (grades 3-12; all content areas)
• Hispanic students – demonstrated positive gains in 20 out of 24 assessments (grades 3-12; all content areas)
• Students with Disabilities – demonstrated positive gains in 14 out of 23 assessments (grades 3-12; all content areas)
• English Learners – demonstrated positive gains in 16 out of 22 assessments (grades 3-12; all content areas)

The most improved MCS schools include:

• A.L. Burruss Elementary School
• Dunleith Elementary School
• Hickory Hills Elementary School
• Sawyer Road Elementary School
• Marietta Sixth Grade Academy
• Marietta Middle School
• Marietta High School

As the MCS elementary school demonstrating the highest gains in achievement, Hickory Hills Elementary School achieved an average double-digit gain across all grade levels and content areas. In comparison to the previous school year, A.L. Burruss Elementary School showed an increase of 15 percentage points for students identified as “distinguished” on the third grade ELA End of Grade assessment. Dunleith Elementary School increased fifth grade student performance in “proficient” and “distinguished” across three content areas: 11 percentage points in ELA, 17 percentage points in math, and 22 percentage points in science. Sawyer Road Elementary School demonstrated a 15-percentage point gain in third grade math and an 18-percentage point gain for fifth grade science in students scoring “proficient” and “distinguished”.

Marietta High School posted gains of 12 percentage points (compared to the previous school year) for students scoring “proficient” and “distinguished” in each of three End of Course assessments: 9th Grade Literature, Algebra I, and Physical Science.

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

“A strong K-12 education system is essential to keeping Georgia the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family,” Gov. Brian Kemp said. “These strong results show impressive improvements in Georgia’s public schools, and I commend the educators and students of our state for their hard work.”