The Decatur County School System finally received its corrected CCRPI scores this month after administrators noticed the original scores released last December were not correct.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. April Aldridge said that she had been following the scores closely and was expecting a slight increase in Bainbridge Middle School’s score, but a decrease from last year’s score tipped her off that something was wrong.
It was chalked up to an unintentional “glitch in the system,” and the Georgia Department of Education corrected the BMS score, but did not correct the other school’s scores when they were re-released in February. The system was able to get corrected scores along with the release of the first School Climate Star Ratings.
“Originally they told me there was no fix for it, and I said, ‘That’s unacceptable,’” Aldridge said. “We did the work; the teachers and students did the work. It is not fair for a school to be penalized. It was frustrating.”
College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) is a “comprehensive school improvement, accountability, and communication platform for all educational stakeholders that will promote college and career readiness for all Georgia public school students,” according to the GDOE.
The adjusted system-wide score, which was the same as the state score, was 72.3. The scores for individual schools were:
•    Bainbridge High School – 61.9
•    Bainbridge Middle School – 72.4
•    Hutto Middle School – 75.5
•    Elcan-King Elementary – 65.5
•    John Johnson Elementary – 90.7
•    Jones-Wheat Elementary – 71.4
•    Potter Street Elementary – 77.2
•    West Bainbridge Elementary – 87.3
“The overall score is what the state puts out. It says if you’re an ‘A’ school, ‘B’ school, ‘C’ school or ‘F’ school, but that’s not really a true picture,” Aldridge said. “There are a lot of pieces that go into it.”
The total scores are comprised of scores based on three primary sections: achievement, progress and achievement gap. Each of the three sections is made up of several requirements that vary by elementary, middle and high school grades. Breaking it down even further, some scores are based on the achievement and progress of students who fall into specific demographics like students with disabilities, English language learners or economically disadvantaged students.
“We’re looking at our data and trying to pinpoint what we’re doing well to keep doing it, and we’re looking at what we need to improve on,” Aldridge said. “It’s important that you know and understand the pieces and factors so that you can address them. It’s very complicated. It is not as easy as saying these kids are doing great or not.”
Aldridge said that the system tries not to get lost in the numbers, because at the end of the day, it’s about the kids.
“I believe in the power of understanding, and we take a lot of time to understand what the pieces are that make up the factors,” Aldridge said. “We’re really honest about the pieces where we can make a difference for kids, not about the numbers, not about the data. Where can we go in and make a difference for kids and instruction?”
Along with CCRPI, the state has also begun using School Climate Star Ratings that are based off of surveys of students, faculty and staff. The 1-5 star ratings do not impact CCRPI
“School climate refers to the quality and character of school life – the ‘culture’ of a school,” according to a GDOE news release.
Aldridge said that with any accountability system, it’s not about the numbers, but about the data and what educators do with them to help students, and that takes cooperation from everyone in student’s lives from parents to teachers and administrators.
“The power of any accountability system is knowing what you’re being judged on and what you should be able to know and do. That’s what we’re trying to do. Our schools are working hard, doing good,” Aldridge said. “You find me two great schools, and they’re probably not doing the same things to get great results. What we’re doing is making sure that we meet the needs of the kids that we serve, and that takes a community.”