DOE releases list of 156 schools on its new “focus” list

Under its new accountability system, Georgia has created a tier of schools known as focus schools. Today, DOE released the list of 156 focus schools.

Focus schools  — which include schools doing well by a lot of students, but not by all students — will be served by DOE for three years with supports beginning in June.

(Since I posted this yesterday, the AJC has put up a news story that lists the local schools. See it here.)

The new DOE accountability designations — priority schools, focus schools and reward schools — replace the “needs improvement” label that educators deemed unclear and unhelpful. These three designations target  “Title I” schools that have a high percentage of low-income students.

Earlier this month, DOE released the names of the 78 schools on the priority list, a label that brings the greatest level of intervention to address chronic under performance.

The reward designation goes to high-achieving schools. DOE will also designate a fourth category, “alert schools,” so the state can focus on struggling schools that do not have a high percentage of low-income students. .

Schools land on the focus list by one of two reasons:
•Graduation rate less than 60 percent over 2 years  and not identified as a Priority School
•Achievement gap: Largest within-school gaps between highest achieving subgroup and the lowest achieving subgroup.

Clayton has 15 schools in focus status. Cobb has five. DeKalb has 10. Douglas has one. Fulton has 10. Gwinnett has 7. Rockdale has three. Atlanta has seven. Marietta city has two.

DOE is posting the list on its site, but if you can’t find it, email me and I will send you the list.

–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog