July 26, 2022

Greensboro, Ga.—The Greene County School System’s 2022 Georgia Milestones test results show that at the elementary level, the system has closed the COVID gap and made significant improvements in addition. This is better than Georgia’s statewide results, which improved from the previous year but remain below the last pre-COVID year of 2019. The overall percentage of elementary students who scored a Level 3, “Proficient, or a level 4, “Distinguished,” on the Milestones increased by 9 points from the pre-COVID year of 2019 to 2022.

These improvements are particularly evident in Greene County Primary School’s 3^rd grade math scores, which are in the top third in the state and saw a 19-point increase in the percentage of students scoring a level 3 or 4, from 41% in 2019 to 60% in 2022, far exceeding the state average of 43%. Similarly, the number of 5^th graders who scored a level 3 or 4 on the English Language Arts portion of the Milestones scores more than doubled. Both of these cases illustrate how the elementary grades have made significant gains from 2019 to 2022.

While the district’s middle school and high school scores show improvement from 2021 in closing the COVID gap, the 2022 scores came in at just under the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, with the averaged scores at Carson Middle School level coming in 5 points below 2019 levels and Greene County High School’s averaged scores just 2 points below its 2019 scores. Their performance was similar to statewide results.

Dr. Chris Houston, GCSS Superintendent, stated, “Our scores remain below where we want them to be, however, we are more than pleased with the elementary results, which show substantial progress toward our key strategic plan objectives to achieve literacy mastery by the 3^rd grade and math by the 5^th. Research has shown their mastery is critical to downstream success. The elementary performance should improve with the proposed new elementary school that achieves the seamless Pre-k—5 structure that other outstanding school systems employ. We are confident of significant improvement in the middle and high school results as these elementary students continue to matriculate with their improved basic skills.”

The GCSS recovery is progressing at a faster pace than the state of Georgia, which has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic achievement levels. The Georgia Department of Education and the federal government anticipated a two-year process of recovery and funded efforts to this end under the CARES Act, but the GCSS should accomplish this in less than the expected time.

“We are focused on providing every student what they need to be successful,” Dr. Houston said. “These improvements show that our teachers know their students, meet them where they are, and work with them and their parents to get them where they need to be.”

For a more detailed look at the district's Milestones results, click here to view a presentation on our Simbli site.