The Georgia Department of Education has released its latest statewide College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores, and Newton County Schools continues to demonstrate significant improvement across all grade bands - elementary, middle, and high school.
The state’s CCRPI formula, which is used to provide insights into a school district’s impact on improving college and career readiness, provides a comprehensive assessment of performance based on five key components. They include,
Content Mastery, which measures student performance on statewide assessments in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Progress, which measures student growth in English language arts and mathematics, as well as the advancement of English learners toward language proficiency.
Closing Gaps, which assesses how effectively schools are meeting improvement targets for student subgroups.
Readiness, which evaluates literacy scores, student attendance, participation in accelerated coursework, pathway completion, and college and career readiness, and
Graduation Rate, which accounts for the four-year and five-year graduation rates for high schools.
Based on recent reporting, Newton County Schools is showing noteworthy improvement, and in some areas, gains that outpace the state.
2024 Performance Summary; Elementary, Middle, and High Schools
Elementary Schools – The district’s elementary schools showed strong growth across every CCRPI component. Notably, Porterdale Elementary and Newton County STEAM Academy led the district with double-digit gains in Content Mastery. Science proficiency also saw significant improvement, with Porterdale Elementary once again leading the way with a 24.75 percentage point gain. Additionally, and most impressively, each of the district’s 14 elementary schools achieved perfect scores in the Closing Gaps category, underscoring their success in the development of all student groups. Furthermore, Livingston Elementary in particular stood out with a 30.4-point increase in Progress, while two additional elementary schools exceeded state averages in Readiness - the Newton County STEAM Academy and Mansfield Elementary.
Middle Schools - Similar successes were reported at the middle school level as well, where there were substantial gains produced across all CCRPI components. Liberty Middle School demonstrated strong performance in both science and social studies, while all district middle schools collectively experienced a district-wide improvement of nearly 75 points in overall CCRPI scores, resulting in a district score of 94 on a 100-point scale. Newton County STEAM Academy and Veterans Memorial Middle School’s performance were particularly outstanding - both of whom surpassed state averages in both Progress and Readiness.
High Schools – Finally, Newton County high schools also delivered strong performance, with strong improvements in both Content Mastery and Progress. All three high schools - Alcovy High, Eastside High, and Newton High - showed gains in these areas. Of note, Alcovy and Eastside High School achieved scores above 90 in Progress, highlighting their ability to support students in meeting academic milestones and preparing them for success beyond high school. Newton County High School also produced a collective 91% graduation rate which far surpasses the state average. Eastside High School carried the banner for the district, graduating 94 percent of its students for the class of 2024.
Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley, III commented, “The CCRPI index can be difficult to understand. There are several components to weigh, and from year-to-year, presents a challenge to reach clear understanding of precisely where we stand as a district. Even if all aspects of state reports are not immediately understandable, our community should know that every objective measure used to evaluate Newton County Schools indicates that we are moving in the right direction and making strong progress toward our goals.” Even more, I am excited about our future. The leadership of our Board cannot be overstated, the impact of our teachers and leaders has been phenomenal, and our community’s support is invaluable.”
Board Chair Abigail Coggin stated, “Going forward, our focus will remain on continuous improvement, but for now, it’s nice to know that we are on the right track.”
