Washington Park Shows Improvement

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) recently announced that Washington Park Elementary School (WPES) is one of 74 schools removed from the Priority and Focus list.

WPES no longer meets the definition of a Priority or Focus school and has made the required improvements to exit the program.

As part of Georgia’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) waiver, which granted flexibility from some provisions of No Child Left Behind, the GaDOE was required to identify Priority and Focus Schools. Priority Schools represent the lowest-performing five percent of Title I schools based on achievement data, plus schools with a graduation rate below 60 percent for two consecutive years. Focus Schools represent the lowest-performing 10 percent of Title I schools based on achievement gap data. That data examines the gap between a school’s lowest performing 25 percent of students and the state average, and the extent to which that gap is closing.

“Every school that made the necessary improvements to exit Priority or Focus School status deserves to be commended,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods. “The ongoing work of these schools, coupled with supports from GaDOE staff and RESAs, continues to move the needle and prove that under performing schools can improve, even when they face difficult odds.”

As Georgia transitions to the ESSA, GaDOE will no longer identify Priority and Focus schools. Instead, it will be required to identify and support Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools.