Thirty-six Cobb County schools have been honored for academic success by the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The awards are based on student performance on the 2008-09 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT, for elementary and middle schools) and the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT, for high schools). These state assessments help determine a school’s status under federal No Child Left Behind. Each award has four honor levels – Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze – that correspond to a school’s consistent performance and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status. The Cobb County schools, 14 more than were honored in 2007-08, are among just 327 schools throughout Georgia to receive the awards.
The Greatest Gains award is given to schools that showed the greatest improvement in CRCT or GHSGT scores and had a significant percentage of students exceeding standards. The Cobb County winners are:
- Platinum: Wheeler High School; McCleskey Middle School; King Springs Elementary School; McCall Primary School
- Gold: Mableton Elementary School
- Silver: Brown Elementary School
The Highest Performance award is given to schools that have a very high percentage of students meeting test standards. The Cobb County winners are:
- Platinum: Harrison, Lassiter, Pope and Walton high schools; Mt. Bethel, Murdock and Timber Ridge elementary schools
- Gold: Hillgrove and Wheeler high schools; Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools; East Side, Garrison Mill, Mountain View, Shallowford Falls and Tritt elementary schools
- Silver: Kennesaw Mountain High School; Hightower Trail and Simpson middle schools; Davis, Ford, Rocky Mount and Sope Creek elementary schools
- Bronze: Allatoona and Kell high schools; Durham Middle School; Addison, Bullard, Due West, Kemp, and Vaughan elementary schools
The school recognitions are part of the state’s release of the 2008-09 K-12 Report Card, which provides data for Georgia’s preschools, K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. Information about the awards and the Report Card is available at The Governor’s Office for Student Achievement Web site at http://www.gaosa.org.
