Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and many students being forced to learn remotely, graduation rates held steady for Georgia students from 2020 to 2021. According to state education officials, the 2021 rate is 83.7, compared with 83.8 in 2020. This reflects a 14 percent increase since 2012 when Georgia students had a graduation rate of 69.7 percent.
“Given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am pleased to see Georgia’s graduation rate holding steady,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods. “Combined with the class of 2021’s increases in ACT and SAT scores, this is an encouraging indicator about the work being done in public schools. Teachers and students have continued to succeed in the face of challenging circumstances.”
While the state average is at 83.7 percent, 98 Georgia schools recorded rates at or above 95 percent and another 223 schools topped the 90 percent graduation rate.
Each year, the Georgia Department of Education releases lists of schools that have been identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI), along with a list of schools who have made the improvements needed to exit CSI or TSI status. However, because Georgia received a waiver of some federal accountability requirements for the 2021-2022 school year, new CSI and TSI lists will not be calculated this year. The lists were not calculated last year as state assessments were not administered in spring 2020.
However, the U.S. Department of Education has informed states they are permitted to exit CSI schools identified for low graduation rates from the list, provided those schools’ 2021 graduation rates meet the exit criteria.
Both Berrien Academy Performance Learning Center in Berrien County, and Clarkston High School in DeKalb County met the criteria to exit CSI status this year.
“An exit from CSI status means a school has done hard work that produced measurable improvements for their students,” Woods said.
