The Georgia Department of Education began releasing information on Georgia Milestones, and Fulton County Schools “knocked it out of the park,” Superintendent of Schools Mike Looney said.
Looney called on Brannon Gaskins, Fulton County Schools chief academic officer, to offer a 2025 Georgia Milestones update to the Fulton County Schools Board of Education during its Aug. 12 work session.
The percentage of students in Fulton County Schools reading at or above grade level in grades four through seven in English language arts increased, Gaskins told the board of education.
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“More than 71 percent of students demonstrated typical or high growth, which is amazing, outpacing both the state benchmark and all other large Atlanta districts,” Gaskins said. “Finally, in math and science and social studies, every grade level and subjects show gains in the percentage of students scoring at the proficient or distinguished levels.”
Gaskins’ update showed FCS continues to exceed state levels in all Georgia Milestones scores. Systemwide, students have shown increases in academic growth proficiency in reading, math, science, and social studies.
Reading achievement improved in grades three through seven, Gaskins said. Eighth-grade students showed year-over-year cohort growth, an increase from 77.2 percent to 77.7 percent. ELA proficiency remained steady, with more than 71 percent of students in grades four through eight demonstrating typical or high growth. They outperformed the state average of 65 percent.
Gaskins reported that the school district’s highest achievement was in mathematics, where 54.5 percent of students reach proficient or distinguished levels. Eighth-grade social studies showed the highest gain, with the scores increasing 5.2 percentage points from last year.
“One area of celebration for our district is that we exceeded the state and metro recent performance levels in every subject for both the end-of-grade and the end-of-course assessment,” Gaskins said.
Board member Kimberly Dove asked for data about how student proficiency is affected by attendance.
Gaskins said the school district has the performance level data for students who are chronically absent and will be able to provide the board with that information. Chronic absenteeism has gone down, with a corresponding increase in achievement.