Atlanta Public Schools (APS) continued to show overall improvement on the College and Career Readiness Index (CCRPI), according to the 2025 CCRPI data, released by the Georgia Department of Education.
The CCRPI includes five components: Content Mastery, Progress, Closing Gaps, Readiness, and – for high schools – Graduation Rate. APS scored 100 on the Closing Gaps component in elementary schools and improved Readiness and Content Mastery scores at all grade bands. Additionally, students with disabilities and who are economically disadvantaged made gains in 11 of 12 areas.
Principal Dante Edwards details how Garden Hills Elementary School achieved its gains:
Q. What specific strategies or initiatives did your school implement that you believe contributed most to the CCRPI improvement?
A: We utilized a comprehensive, data-driven approach focusing on intentional instruction and targeted intervention across all subjects. A critical change was ensuring that instructional plans were written specifically for students, and teachers were held accountable for their implementation. These K-5 plans were written in both English and Spanish. The International Baccalaureate (IB) coordinator was instrumental in developing these plans.
— Math: We implemented intentional reteaching based on unit assessments.
— Science: We achieved a 10-point gain in a year. We also utilized a “March Madness” competition, leveraging Study Island to motivate continued student growth in Science.
— English Language Arts (ELA):
- We implemented the Flyleaf program daily in K-3. Teachers were responsible for instructing only one level group, with students moving rooms based on their placement assessment. We monitored progress weekly and observed the largest gains among our 2nd and 3rd-graders in the program.
- The ELA Coach maintained digital data, allowing all teachers to access all students’ data.
- The Heggerty program was implemented daily in K-3, and the Bridge the Gap Heggerty groups rolled out in 3rd grade during Semester 2.
- Additionally, we were intentional about analyzing student writing work samples in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to plan next instructional steps for daily, targeted writing instruction in K-5.
Q: Can you share examples of how your teachers are driving student growth and achievement, and any practices that have been particularly effective?
A: We foster strong collaboration across all subjects. All teachers are moving in the samedirection with common lesson plans and common grading. For the reteaching process, we analyze the data to select targeted reteach questions.
Q: What is something impactful/innovative happening in the area of teaching and learning at your school that sets your school apart?
A: We established equitable planning time for Science across all grade levels. The standards and their elements were highlighted. We ensured that the coaches would collaborate cross-curricularly through interdisciplinary planning. In Science and Social Studies, we implemented a weekly focus on listening, speaking, and writing to follow the developmental scope for language learners. Staying the course with Flyleaf implementation increased students’ fluency and closed phonics gaps for older students.
Q: What are your hopes or expectations for student achievement moving forward, and how do you plan to build on this recent success?
A: We implemented the K-5 science lab bi-weekly, and we also facilitate newcomer groups for students who have been in the country for less than two years. Additionally, the instructor attends Friday planning meetings and implements the feedback in the Science and newcomer groups.
We began implementing summative assessments in grades 3-5 using Study Island. We offer unit motivators in Science, where students who score a 70% or higher by the end of the assessment receive a personalized learning experience.
For literacy, we are continuing daily Flyleaf instruction for our 2nd and 3rd-grade students during WIN (What I Need) time. We have significantly more students in the “test out” group this year who are receiving deep comprehension instruction since they have mastered the Flyleaf scope and sequence of skills. We have fully adopted HMH Into Reading, and are continuing daily Heggerty in Kindergarten and 1st grade.