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Monroe, Bleckley schools celebrate gains in Georgia Milestones test scores

But five Central Georgia schools ranked among the state's worst, based on this year's results

The state has given Georgia's school districts their report cards for 2019.

That means some Central Georgia schools are celebrating, while others have some studying to do.

One website that analyzes the annual Georgia Milestones results says the latest results put Monroe and Bleckley County schools among the state's best.

At the other end of the rankings, Hancock, Dooly, Baldwin and Macon County and Dublin City schools ranked among the state's bottom dozen.

This is the fifth year that students across the state have taken the annual Milestones. Students in grades 3-12 are tested in English, Math and other subjects.

Statewide, the Georgia Department of Education says 2019 was their strongest showing yet.

They say students showed strong gains or held steady on 25 or 26 test markers. 

Some of the big increases, they say, came in ninth-grade literature, sixth-grade English, third-grade math and third-grade English.

Bibb and Houston counties both said this spring's results showed continued improvement.

Bibb County says they're closing the gap with the statewide results, especially for reading and English. Students set new high scores for English and Reading for every level from third through ninth grade.

But the ranking site SchoolDigger.com says Bibb's scores placed them 166th out of 193 districts and charter schools statewide. That's five spots lower than last year.

Houston County says their students improved on 18 of 24 content areas and rated above the state average on 22 of 24 measures. Their elementary and middle-school students outperformed the state average on every level.

SchoolDigger says Houston County ranked 62nd statewide, down three spots from 2018.

For the second year in a row, the website says, Monroe County schools ranked among the state's top 20 -- jumping from 19th last year to number 11 this year.

"It's a culmination of a lot things, a lot of hard work, a lot of detail work with lesson planning and making sure that our teachers are teaching the standards that are aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence," said Monroe County Schools Superintendent Mike Hickman.

Monroe County Middle teacher Daphene Coleman credits the district's communication for their success.

"We actually meet with elementary school teachers or we'll meet with high school teachers to find out what works, what didn't, what can we improve on [or] what we can expect for the next year," Coleman said.

Bleckley County jumped 28 spots into the state's top 20 -- from 44th last year to 16 this year.

And Laurens County also ranked high in the state, rising from number 46 a year ago to 33rd this spring.

Here's how SchoolDigger.com ranked Central Georgia districts based on their 2019 Milestone results:

Monroe 11 19 8Bleckley 16 44 28Laurens 33 46 13Houston 62 59 -3Wilcox 65 73 8Jones 70 67 -3Johnson 98 115 17Telfair 106 123 17Dodge 110 78 -32Wheeler 121 119 -2Pulaski 128 143 15Putnam 133 103 -30Wilkinson 138 125 -13Washington 146 146 0Crawford 147 141 -6Taylor 149 170 21Peach 154 135 -19Treutlen 162 144 -18Bibb 166 161 -5Twiggs 179 172 -7Dublin City 181 177 -4Baldwin 185 xx xxMacon 191 182 -9Dooly 192 184 -8Hancock 192 185 -8

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