Knowing the fundamental importance of literacy and the impact of students’ ability to read on their entire educational career, the Georgia Department of Education is recognizing schools with exceptional achievement or growth in reading as Literacy Leaders.
Schools were recognized for achievement or growth in the percentage of students reading at or above grade level. The criteria for the Literacy Leader awards recognize the crucial importance of grade-level reading in third and sixth grades, and require higher growth from schools with lower achievement levels.
Awards were given at the elementary and middle-school levels, and at the high-school level based on the American Literature EOC, which is the state test for ELA in high school.
A total of 324 schools met the qualifications to be recognized as Literacy Leaders. Three Bulloch County elementary schools were included in the list:
- JULIA P. BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: 3rd Grade Gateway Growth; 4th Grade Growth
- MATTIE LIVELY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: 3rd Grade Gateway Growth
- STILSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: 3rd Grade Gateway Growth; 5th Grade Growth
“I am so proud to announce this year’s Literacy Leader schools,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “These schools are moving the needle on literacy in our state – and, as a result, changing the lives of the students they serve. The ability to read opens the doors to lifelong learning – that’s why we remain laser-focused on literacy at the Georgia Department of Education and as a state. I am honored to recognize these schools, educators, students, families, and communities for their outstanding work.”
Throughout the fall, Superintendent Woods will visit schools identified as Literacy Leaders to recognize and congratulate them.
“Georgia educators are embracing the science of reading and structured literacy,” GaDOE Director of Literacy Amy Denty said. “The Literacy Leaders recognition honors the dedication, commitment, and hard work of our students, teachers, and leaders. Together, we can ensure all children in Georgia learn to read well. I’m excited to see how our schools continue to grow and excel in the literacy arena.”
Literacy Leader qualifications use the Georgia Milestones Reading Status indicator, which is based on the Lexile score associated with students’ performance on a subset of questions on the ELA assessment.
About GaDOE’s Literacy Efforts
The Georgia Department of Education is focused on increasing literacy achievement across all grade levels, including:
- Developing a tiered, statewide literacy coaching model – including using federal school improvement funds to place coaches in the lowest-performing 5% of elementary schools
- Partnering with the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy to offer the Georgia Literacy Academy – proven training in structured literacy and the science of reading – at no cost to all Georgia educators
- Adopting new K-12 English Language Arts (ELA) standards that embed structured literacy
- Developing instructional resources, progressions, lessons, and videos to support evidence-based literacy instruction in schools
- Launching a public-facing dashboard to provide transparent access to detailed literacy results
The 2023-24 Georgia Milestones assessment scores showed some positive indicators in the area of early literacy, with the percentage of students scoring Proficient & Above increasing more for fifth-grade ELA than any other assessment. Additionally, Georgia students’ ACT and SAT scores were higher on the reading and writing assessments than any other subject area.