MACON, Ga. — Many Central Georgia counties are gearing up to go back to school next week.
Parents students and educators can find motivation in new data released by Georgia's Board of Education.
Friday, the Board of Education released milestone scores from the last school year, which show improvement in the classroom since the Covid-19 pandemic.
72% of state fifth graders are reading at grade level or above. It's a 3% increase from last year.
More than 51,000 kids make up the Bibb and Houston County school systems, and both districts say their students have a lot to be proud of as they approach the start of a new year.
Here is an overview of the 2024 scores.
Georgia:
- 67.1% read at grade level or above
- 74.9% developing or higher in American Literature
- 72.1% developing or higher in Science
- 72.9% developing or higher in History
Houston County:
- 70% read at grade level or above
- 78.5% developing or higher in American Literature
- 75.5% developing or higher in Science
- 58.9% developing or higher in History
Bibb County:
- 45.2% read at grade level or above
- 53.2% developing or higher in American Literature
- 45% developing or higher in Science
- 45.5% developing or higher in History
Everyday schools have the chance to be better, by producing better teachers, leaders and readers.
"We have outpaced the state, (and) we have outperformed ourselves from 2023 levels," Houston County Assistant Superintendent of District and Student Effectiveness Lazunia Frierson said.
She says that they're especially proud of growth they are seeing among fifth grade.
"We're eight points above where we were last year, and eleven points above the state average," she said.
Frierson says sixth and eighth graders are stars in reading too.
"We are above pre-COVID levels and that's something we have been striving for since the pandemic," she said.
Across the district, students are outperforming others in the state, but there is still room for improvement in science and math.
"When we think about the jobs of today and the future for our students, STEM jobs are very pivotal and they're going to be the types of jobs that are going to be the higher paying jobs," Frierson said.
They aren't the only shining stars. Bibb County's third, fifth, and eighth graders are testing better in English language arts.
"We see increases in students performing in 'developing' or above," Superintendent Dan Sims said.
That means more students are able to read and write about text that's close to their grade level. However, district-wide only 42% of students read at grade level, which Sims says they want to improve this year.
"When that happens, they have full access to all curriculum, all teaching and learning experiences," Sims said.
However, it takes a village to raise a child, so they plan to engage more with community programs and parents to raise scores.
"Using technology to reach those individuals who can't physically come out, producing good messaging on what it is we need, but also what parents need from us," Sims said.
Math scores are delayed because of changes in the testing. Those are due out in a few months. Georgia milestone testing for this school year start April 7.