Richmond County Students Show Improvement on Georgia Milestones Tests
Georgia students, overall, showed small improvements on the Georgia Milestones state standardized tests in the 2022-2023 school year, but overall scores are still below pre-pandemic levels, according to information released today by the Georgia Department of Education.
Georgia students in grades 3 through 8, as well as high schoolers, take the tests. The share of those meeting expectations for what they should know averaged above 43% in English language arts and math in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. In 2023, they averaged around 39%, up about a percentage point from 2022.
In Richmond County, School Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw said students in grades 3, 5 and 7 have increased scores in Math. Scores for students who took the English Language Arts assessment in grades 3,6 and 8 also improved this year.
“These gains are a reflection of our ongoing commitment to arming our teachers with the resources they need to provide quality instruction to our students. While we celebrate these improvements, we will remain laser-focused on prioritizing an equitable education for all our more than 31,000 students,” said Bradshaw. He said teachers, testing coordinators and instructional coaches were instrumental in reducing the number of student testing days from two weeks to one week.
Test results have not been made available yet from Columbia County.
On the state level, of the 21 tests given across all grades and subjects, only seventh grade students in English language arts and eighth grade students in math scored at or above the same proficiency level as in 2019.
State officials say 100 teachers will be hired to provide online tutoring to high school students. They’re also partnering with the AmeriCorps federal service program to provide math and reading tutoring to 5,000 students statewide.
