Glynn County Schools saw positive gains while reviewing the recently released results of the 2022-2023 Georgia Milestones tests.
Several elementary schools in the county were among the highly ranked in the state. Brunswick High and Glynn Academy also saw its students perform within the top 10-30% in tested content among students performing at the proficient and distinguished levels.
“One thing I noticed is our kids, as they stay in our school system and move up in grades, our ranking in the state gets higher,” said Scott Spence, superintendent of Glynn County Schools, on Thursday during a review of the data with the board of education. “I think that says a lot about our overall school system, when we get them to when we graduate.”
Students take Georgia Milestones end-of-grade tests in grades three through eight, and Georgia Milestones end-of-course tests in identified high school courses.
Several elementary schools in Glynn County consistently performed in the upper 25% of elementary schools in the state last year with the majority of others showing outcomes within the top two-thirds of reporting schools, according to the local school district.
In an analysis of the rankings of scores reported for students at Level 3 and Level 4, several elementary schools ranked highly.
St. Simons, Oglethorpe Point and Satilla Marsh elementary schools were among the highest ranked in Glynn County.
St. Simons Elementary was ranked No. 143 in third-grade ELA and No. 118 in third-math out of 1,247 schools. Oglethorpe was ranked No. 153 in third-grade ELA, and Satilla Marsh was ranked No. 143 in third-grade math.
Oglethorpe was ranked No. 21 out of 1,246 schools in fourth-grade ELA and No. 30 for fourth-grade math.
Oglethorpe was ranked No. 49 in fifth-grade ELA and No. 15 in fifth-grade math out of 1,241 school. St. Simons ranked No. 112 for fifth-grade ELA and No. 115 for fifth-grade math.
“You will notice in elementary school particularly we have three to four schools in each of those grade levels that are performing in the top 25% of the entire state, which I think is definitely to highlight,” said Valerie Whitehead, chief of school improvement for Glynn County Schools.
The gap is wide among the highest and lowest rank elementary schools in that analysis.
Goodyear ranked No. 1,025 in third-grade ELA, and Burroughs-Molette Elementary ranked No. 1,151. BMES ranked 1,052 in third-grade math, while Goodyear ranked 1,138.
School board member Mike Hulsey pointed out this continued disparity.
“Obviously, like in third or fourth grade, the concerning thing is there is still a drop off from our top performing elementary schools … You drop way down,” he said.
Statewide, students showed improvement this year in the Georgia Milestones assessments. Scores increased or held steady on 13 of 21 assessments, compared to the previous school year. Clear improvement was seen in third-grade reading, per the Georgia Department of Education.
“I am pleased to see continued evidence of Georgia’s academic recovery in this year’s Georgia Milestones results,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods in a press release. “Even for this year’s third graders, whose entire academic career has been impacted by the pandemic, we can see evidence of growth.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see increases in English Language Arts and literacy, especially in the early grades — given all we know about the importance of learning to read, and then reading to learn, by third grade. Of course, there is still work to do, and we will continue to invest in strategies to address lost learning opportunities.”