Whitfield County Schools students made several improvements in math during 2024 Georgia Milestones testing, said Michelle Caldwell, the system’s director of accountability and assessment.
During a Board of Education meeting, Caldwell provided updates on system and state performance in math testing from 2023 to 2024.
According to the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Milestones Assessment System is a program for elementary, middle and high school levels that begins in third grade and is “designed to send consistent signals about students’ preparedness for the next level, be it the next grade, course or endeavor.”
The department states the purpose of the Milestones is to “provide information about how well students are mastering the state-adopted content standards in the core content areas,” which include math, English language arts, science and social studies.
Caldwell said system officials are “pleased” with the results in math testing.
“We did not see (a large dip in percentages), nor did the state,” she said.
Milestones testing has four achievement levels: beginning learner, developing learner, proficient learner and distinguished learner.
Caldwell said distinguished and proficient learners, or higher-scoring students, saw the largest increases from 2023 to 2024.
According to data presented, 833 third-grade students in Whitfield County Schools took part in math testing, with distinguished learners, those with a score of 580 up to the highest possible score of 705, increasing from 8% in 2023 to 14% in 2024.
Proficient learners, those with a score of 525 to 579, increased from 35% last year to 38% this year.
“The good news is, for third grade, proficient and distinguished learners were also above the state level (this year),” said Caldwell, with system distinguished and proficient learners surpassing state learners by a combined 7 percentage points.
Caldwell said system fourth-graders in proficient and distinguished achievement levels saw a combined 3 percentage point increase from last year, with distinguished learners increasing from 8% to 10% and proficient learners increasing from 33% to 34%.
Fifth-grade students in higher achievement levels also saw an increase from 2023 to 2024, with distinguished learners increasing from 7% to 8% and proficient learners increasing from 25% to 29%. System proficient learners surpassed the overall state percentage by two percentage points, but distinguished learners trailed by six points.
Caldwell said 830 sixth-grade students participated in math testing, with distinguished learners increasing from 7% in 2023 to 10% in 2024 and proficient learners staying at 24%, one percentage point higher than the state average.
For the 894 seventh-grade students who tested in math, Caldwell said proficient learners increased from 25% last year to 27% this year.
“But this is is one of the areas where we saw a slight decrease in distinguished (learners),” she said.
“This is one of the only grade levels that showed a decline there, so that is something that we will watch and monitor,” she said.
Caldwell said the 869 eighth-grade students who tested saw similar results, with distinguished learners increasing from 15% to 22%, but proficient learners dropping from 32% to 27%.
“However, the combination of those proficient and distinguished learners were above the state (this year),” Caldwell said, with combined state scoring trailing combined system scoring by five percentage points.
Caldwell said 904 high school students in the system participated in math testing, including algebra concepts and connections courses.
“Our distinguished learners increased (from 9% to 13%), but our proficient learners dropped a little bit (from 22% to 20%),” she said.
According to the data, high school students in the system compared to those statewide showed the largest disparity, with Whitfield County Schools distinguished learners trailing overall state scoring by six percentage points and proficient learners trailing by seven percentage points.
Caldwell said overall, math has had “positive movement.”
“Our math data is looking strong,” she said. “We’re continuing to move in the right direction.”
She said that is attributed to “wonderful” professional development.
“We have great instructional coaches and curriculum directors who’ve been leading this work … and it is definitely able to be seen,” she said. “(They) will keep doing great work.”