Glynn County Schools outperformed the state on all indicators of a recently released measurement that demonstrates local gains toward academic recovery.
Glynn County Schools outperformed both the state and First District Regional Education Service Agency averages on the most recent College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) report.
The local school district achieved its largest margin over the state’s single score since the CCRPI began in 2012 and surpassed the state in the CCRPI indicators this year.
The CCRPI’s main components are content mastery, progress, closing gaps, readiness and an additional component for high schools, graduation rate.
“I think the fact that we not only out performed the state on all indicators, but compared to 2019 we also increased our margin over the state on 13 of the 17 CCRPI indicators shows that we are moving in the right direction,” said Scott Spence, superintendent of Glynn County Schools. “CCRPI was created in 2012 to take the place of AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). Our single score for 2023 was nine points higher than the state average, and that represents the highest margin over that state average that Glynn County has scored in the history of CCRPI.”
Glynn County’s overall district score was 83 and the state’s score was 74. This is the second highest score ever recorded in Glynn County Schools history.
The district score was 83.7 in 2019 and was the last year that all indicators were used to create the score.
“We have focused a lot of our efforts on improving instruction for all students and subgroups while monitoring students for both growth and achievement to improve our CCRPI categorial scores,” said Eric Benson, assistant superintendent for grades 6-12.
The Georgia Department of Education did not report all indicators for 2020, 2021 and 2022, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first year since scores were reported in 2019.
“In Glynn County, while we did see a learning loss, we did not use that as an excuse,” Spence said. “We actually monitored our scores and created our own system to compare during those years. We kept teaching and moving our students forward.
“Our classroom teachers and building level administrators deserve all of the credit. In addition, we reduced virtual learning options and brought our students back into the classroom much faster than other areas around the state.”
Many will mistakenly monitor one or two areas on the CCRPI, Spence said, but it’s unfair to compare schools without taking into account all CCRPI indicators.
“While content mastery is important, I believe that student growth, progress and closing gaps are also important indicators to take into account when comparing your school or system to others in the RESA and state,” he said. “These indicators tend to take location, demographics and district wealth out of play and instead compare students with common previous academic performance from around the state to each other.”
System scores at the elementary level exceeded state and First District RESA averages in all areas of the CCRPI, with top five rankings in the following components: Closing Gaps (No. 1), Progress (No. 2), Readiness (No. 4), Student Attendance (No. 4), and Content Mastery (No. 5). All elementary schools saw an increase in the number of students reading on or above grade level, with three schools — Burroughs-Molette, Glyndale and Golden Isles — making significant gains in their overall CCRPI scores since 2019.
System scores for the four local middle schools were above First District RESA averages in all areas of the CCRPI with rankings that included No. 3 in Readiness and No. 4 in Content Mastery.
Needwood Middle saw a five-point increase in its CCRPI score, rising from 71.7 in 2019 to 76.7 in 2023. Additionally, both high schools saw gains in their scores, topping both state and regional averages.
High school First District RESA rankings include No. 1 in Content Mastery, No. 1 in Progress, No. 2 in Closing Gaps, and No. 2 in Graduation Rate. Brunswick High rose to a score of 85.4 this year — up from 83 in 2019. And Glynn Academy increased its score to 88.2 — up from 86.8 in 2019.
CCRPI is not a perfect measurement tool, Spence said, but it is a sound way to measure student achievement.
“If you fail to monitor the progress of students in some manner, then there is no accountability,” he said. “Some folks don’t agree with me and I understand that. But there has to be a methodical process of holding schools and school systems accountable, and at this point we have CCRPI.”
There’s still work to be done, he said.
“Our teachers have faced many challenges the past few years, but they have done a great job,” Spence said. “They have weathered the storm and now we are back above where we were in 2019. We will continue to focus on making gradual progress from academic recovery to continuous improvement.”