Georgia Milestones test scores were released today for the Bibb County School District and the state. These scores reflect the first full school year since 2018-2019 and will serve as a new baseline for progress and growth moving forward. While scores are not all back to pre-pandemic status, Bibb students demonstrated considerably better results in 2021-2022 as compared to 2020-2021. What is most impressive is that Bibb’s student achievement data in the Developing Learner and above categories increased on all 19 End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) Milestones assessments for 2021-2022.

In Bibb, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a general positive trend in Milestones results. When results were released last year, the District experienced a dip in average scores – a trend seen on some level state-wide. Kevin Adams, the District’s Chief Information Officer, pointed out, “our teachers and students worked hard to overcome the challenges presented over the past two years, and we were pleased to see average scores bounce back closer to our pre-pandemic types of achievement numbers. We expect that positive trend to continue this year as our resilient students and determined educators continue meeting the needs of each individual student.” “We look forward to using these results as a baseline for continued growth during the upcoming year and beyond for all of our students.

While we continue to assess students’ needs using these EOG/EOC outcomes and other achievement measures, we are excited about the opportunity to tailor our instruction and supports to specifically meet our students where they are to take them to higher levels of achievement. This, combined with our emphasis on student-centered staff training and development, will position us well to meet identified targets. We are counting on our entire community to join us in this journey toward great gains and more victory for our most precious resources – our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Dan A. Sims.

The tables at the end of this press release demonstrate how 2021-2022 data compares to pre-pandemic data but the data does not adequately capture the progress of Bibb students during these challenging times. When drilling down to specific data from individual schools, further evidence is seen of how some schools were able to overcome setbacks created by the pandemic, with some schools even excelling beyond pre-pandemic achievement levels. At Appling Middle School, for example, the ELA average scale score and average Lexile score were higher for 2021-2022 than recent pre-pandemic data for the school, demonstrating great improvements and dedicated, hard work by staff and students.

“Appling’s instructional leadership team spent the year focused on creating a student-centered culture dedicated to community, professionalism, student growth and achievement. We were purposeful in our work surrounding Accelerated Reader (AR) by providing a set time in the school day for sustained reading to foster a love for reading. In addition, we intentionally celebrated those students taking AR Quizzes and passing them, which resulted in creating several millionword readers,” said Appling Middle School Principal Sally Moody. “Additionally, Appling began work on Teacher Clarity, ensuring that teachers were clear on what the standards expected the students to know and be able to do. Lastly, Appling teachers focused on building a positive relationship with their students and parents. It is a fact that students need to know that their teachers care.” Another example – at the elementary school level, this time – is the achievement data by students at Alexander II Magnet School.

Alex II’s math data showed a surge in students scoring in the Distinguished Learner category for Math – 27.4% overall. Only 5.7% of students scored in the Beginning Learner category. In ELA, only 7.7% of students scored in the Beginning Learner category. “Alexander II's growth can be attributed to our ongoing review of our students’ assessment data, which helped us keep a pulse on our students’ needs,” said Alexander II Magnet School Principal Walsetta Miller. “Our staff participated in quality professional learning that supported our implementation of STEM. This made learning more relevant and personalized, which aided in meeting our students’ individual needs.” An example from the high school level can be seen at Rutland High School in math. While high school students struggled overall in math, at Rutland, the number of students performing at the Beginning Learner category decreased beyond prepandemic levels, while the percentage of students scoring in the Distinguished and Proficient Learner categories for math almost doubled compared to recent pre-pandemic data.

“We implemented a Saturday School program to provide remediation for those students who struggled with foundational mathematical computation,” said Rutland High School Principal Dr. Wendy Pooler. “We then provided school day intervention opportunities to address the overall learning loss students developed during the pandemic. Students that had significant deficits were given one-on-one support. Additionally, our teachers were provided training to best support students with algebraic deficits.”