Student Performance Soars to New Heights

Our students’ performance has increased to new heights as our School Board’s laser focus on teaching and learning continues to elevate the excellence!
 
Georgia Milestones Assessment results released this week show an increase in 9 of 13 performance areas compared to 2025.  Our students not only continue to outperform state averages in all tested areas for an 11th consecutive year, they also surged even further ahead with double-digit margins over state performance in 11 of 13 areas!
 
“In CCSD, we are focused on learning and driven by joy.  This success is the result of our School Board’s focus, our teachers’ exceptional impact on student learning, the support of our families, and our entire community’s shared optimism about our students’ potential,” Superintendent of Schools Mary Elizabeth Davis said.  “The work our School Board and our employees have undertaken over the past two and a half years to align our vision from the boardroom to the classroom and to shift more funding than ever before into our classrooms is producing an incredible return on investment for our community.”
 
The results released this week are for the Milestones assessments in Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies across all grade levels tested last school year.  Results for the Milestones English Language Arts assessments and reading proficiency will be released by the Georgia Department of Education later this year, as the department cited the need for more review time following the introduction of new standards and assessments last school year.
 
Overall Summary of CCSD Data:
•    In Mathematics, four out of seven categories showed improvement over 2025 (third, seventh and eighth grades, and Algebra);
•    In Science, three out of four categories showed improvement over 2025 (eighth grade, Physical Science, and Biology); and,
•    In Social Studies, two out of two categories showed improvement (eighth grade and U.S. History).

Comparison to State Averages:
•    In Mathematics, the percentage of CCSD students scoring as a Proficient Learner or better exceeds the state percentage by 11.5 for Grade 3, 11.9 for Grade 4, 14.3 for Grade 5, 8.7 for Grade 6, 14.2 for Grade 7, 16.6 for Grade 8, and 14.3 for Algebra.
•    In Science, the percentage of CCSD students scoring as a Proficient Learner or better exceeds the state percentage by 9.1 for Grade 5, 12.6 for Grade 8, 33.1 for Grade 8 – High School Physical Science, and 16.4 for Biology.
•    In Social Studies, the percentage of CCSD students scoring as a Proficient Learner or better exceeds the state percentage by 15.8 for Grade 8, and 17.1 for U.S. History.

Our School Board members have devoted the past two years to strengthening as a team dedicated to accountability for increasing student achievement.  For the first time ever, the board set targets for student learning growth in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Reading.  The board invested in new standards-aligned instructional resources, removed the distraction of cell phones from instructional time, and established an annual third-party personnel survey to seek insights on areas for further improvement to the employee experience.
 
“It was so exciting to see the latest results from the Georgia Milestone Assessments,” School Board Chair Janet Read Welch said.  “Under the leadership of the Superintendent, the focus of our classroom teachers and the support of the School Board to shift more funding to our classrooms, our combined efforts are paying off.  Thank you to every student, teacher, parent, and employee who work together as a team to make our students successful.  I am honored to work alongside so many amazing people who pour into our students every day!”
 
Our teachers are among the most talented in the profession and have grown as instructional leaders through new opportunities for collaboration at the district level.  Equipped with best instructional practices, new resources and, beginning this school year, new standards-aligned student progress monitoring tools, our teachers are ensuring students are learning more, growing more, and achieving more in our classrooms than they could anywhere else. 
 
Highlights from Our CCSD Data:

Mathematics
•    Increases in the percent of students scoring at the proficient and above levels compared to 2025 were noted in third grade (+4.8%), seventh grade (+1.7%), eighth grade (+1.5%) and Algebra (+2.3%).
•    For eighth graders taking Algebra, 99.1% scored at the proficient and above levels while 90.2% scored at the distinguished learner level, the highest level.
•    Grade levels with outstanding multi-year growth (2025 and 2026) included seventh grade (+5.3%), eighth grade (+7.8%), and Algebra (+9.7%). 

Science
•    Increases in the percent of students scoring at the proficient and above levels compared to 2025 in three of the four tested areas (eighth grade (+2.7%), Physical Science (+2.3%), and Biology (+0.6%)).
•    Grade levels with outstanding multi-year growth (2025 and 2026) included eighth grade (+10.4%), Physical Science (+5.2%), and Biology (+4.6%).
 
Social Studies
•    Increases in the percent of students scoring at the proficient and above levels compared to 2025 were noted in eighth grade (+0.7%) and U.S. History (+0.2%).
•    Muli-year increases (2025 and 2026) in the percent of students scoring at the proficient and above levels was seen in eighth grade (+8.3%).
 
The results also point to several areas where our improvement efforts should be focused.  In Mathematics, we saw slight decreases in students scoring at proficient and above levels compared to 2025 in fourth grade (-1.8%), fifth grade (-1.0%) and sixth grade (-0.1%), as well as a slight decrease in students scoring in Science at the proficient and above levels compared to 2025 in fifth grade (-2.1%).
 
A full summary of student achievement results is provided below: 

As we begin our new school year, our School Board remains focused on providing the highest quality education to every student and further improving achievement outcomes.  For this school year, the board invested in teacher salaries, providing both salary longevity “step” salary increases and 3% raises; acquired new assessment resources for teachers to use to develop standards-aligned quizzes and tests; and established new School Board Policies to raise expectations for student responsibility and academic ownership coupled with increased communication between teachers and parents focused on student progress.
 
“The connection from the boardroom to the classroom to the kitchen table will be stronger than ever this school year,” Superintendent Davis said.  “Our new and updated School Board Policies deepen our commitment to families that students learn grade-level material through standards-aligned instruction at the level of the standard and assessment at the level of the standard.”
 
The School Board will hear a full report of the Georgia Milestones Assessment results at its next regular meeting work session at 5:30 p.m. August 20 at the Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo Educational Services Facility, 1205 Bluffs Parkway, Canton, 30114.  Following that report, all details and school-by-school data will be posted on our academic accountability webpage online here.