“Georgia’s Choice” Yields Long-Term, Statewide Results

The Challenge

• In 2000, the Georgia Department of Education challenged all schools to get at least 50 percent of their students to proficiency in English language arts and mathematics on a new state test within three&

The Solution

• The state selected America’s Choice as its turnaround partner, making more than 100 of the state’s low-performing schools “Georgia’s Choice” schools.

• America’s Choice specialists focused on strengthening school leadership and instructional practices in literacy and mathematics.
  

The Results

• The 30 America’s Choice middle schools grew at an average annual rate of 6 percent in English language arts, compared with 4 percent for Georgia middle schools as a whole.

• In mathematics, America’s Choice schools grew at an average annual rate of 6.6 percent, compared with 5 percent in Georgia middle schools. America’s Choice schools outpaced the state growth in English language arts and mathematics over four years.

• By 2004, America’s Choice students had met the department’s challenge.

• “Georgia’s Choice” had an enormous impact on the state’s education system. A culture of high expectations is evident in the state’s new performance standards, which replaced their content standards. America’s Choice supported the Georgia standards-setting process—and the America’s Choice schools served as exemplary models of standards-based teaching and learning for the rollout of the new standards.