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Annual reports on school performance now online

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

After taking the time to triple check the numbers, The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement has begun posting reports comparing the 2003-04 performance of each public school and school district in Georgia, including Adequate Yearly Progress.

In addition to focusing on K-12 public schools, this year’s OSA report also includes performance measures and information on Georgia’s Pre-K program, technical colleges, public colleges and universities governed by the University System of Georgia, and teacher certification information administered by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Parents and taxpayers who want to track how Fayette County Schools are doing can compare data over three school terms, from fall 2001 to spring 2004. In addition to AYP reports and scores on standardized tests, they can make comparisons on student-teacher ratios, teacher salaries, free and reduced lunch rates and student demographics, among other things.

The Web site offers a wealth of information. For example, a quick click of the mouse shows that 16.8 percent of Fayette students are enrolled in gifted programs, twice the state average.

And for at least one major component of the school system comparisons, the report on Adequate Yearly Progress, Fayette residents have nothing to worry about.

As reported in the fall, Fayette County was among the few school districts in the state, as well as the largest, to see a 100 percent passing rate in every category of AYP, a requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

All 28 of Fayette’s schools passed AYP on the first go-round, but that wasn’t the case for the majority of Georgia’s school systems. To coincide with the release of the OSA report, the state Department of Education just concluded a review of AYP appeals from 86 schools.

While only a handful of appeals were successful, State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said the number of passing schools were enough to raise Georgia’s AYP passing rate from 78 percent to 79.51 percent.

“This is even more good news for Georgia’s public schools,” said Cox, of Peachtree City. “We have an obligation to make it as easy as possible for the public to access and understand these results. The online reports will help take the mystery out of AYP for everyone interested in Georgia’s public schools."

The OSA 2003-2004 Annual Education Accountability Reports are available at www.gaosa.org.