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 Dr. Kristen Horton details how Continental Colony 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 made a major change in our coaching model for staff. We split all the teachers among the three literacy coaches (Structure Literacy K-1, Readers are Leaders 2-3, ELA Coach 4-5). Instead of coaching teachers, the principal shifted to coaching the coaches and ensured the coaching for the teachers aligned, from the data meeting to planning, then to classroom practice.
Teachers reflect on student discourse in the classroom using the TeachFX app. This allowed teachers and leaders to reflect on audio recordings during professional learning. Teachers and leaders can reflect on their practice and apply the skills and pedagogical methods from training to their practice. They can HEAR the gap for themselves using their audio recording and insights provided through TeachFX.
Last year was our first year having a reading and math specialist on staff who focused on a specific group of students based on MAP assessments.
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 partnered with UGA to create reliable, rigorous unit assessments. These assessments were given every six weeks in reading and math. Teachers participated in data meetings to determine student gaps based on the standards for the given six weeks. During the six-week period, teachers analyzed student work to ensure students were on the right track and developed a plan to close the gap using guided discourse or modeling.
Q: What is something impactful/innovative happening in the area of teaching and learning at your school that sets your school apart?
A: Teachers reflect on student discourse in the classroom using the TeachFX app. The app provides teachers with insights regarding giving students an opportunity to respond, open-ended questions, pressing students to explain, praise, wait time, and academic praise. The app also shares the percentage of teacher talk, student talk, silence, and group talk. Teachers can audio-record as often as they like to reflect on student discourse. This allows teachers and leaders to reflect on audio recordings during professional learning. Teachers and leaders can reflect on their practice and apply the skills and pedagogical methods from training to their practice. They can HEAR the gap for themselves using their audio recording and insights provided through TeachFX. Additionally, students are made aware of the talk time ratio to encourage them to share their thinking and encourage equity of voice.
Q: What are your hopes or expectations for student achievement moving forward, and how do you plan to build on this recent success?
A: My hope is that by embedding high, clear, and supported expectations into our daily practice, we can build on our recent achievements and ensure that academic success is a continuous and compounding process for every student. Our plan is to have and uphold the expectation that every student, regardless of their background or current achievement level, will experience accelerated, meaningful progress and reach their full potential. This involves a shift toward higher-order thinking and application of knowledge. We have a large percentage of students at the developing level. This calls for three areas of focus for us:
- Mastery of higher-order skills with students moving beyond just remembering and understanding to consistently demonstrate the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create new ideas.
- Cultivating a growth mindset and self-efficacy for students and staff. Students and staff internalize the belief that effort and persistence lead to growth, seeing challenges and setbacks not as fixed limitations, but as opportunities for learning.
- Fostering a culture of reflection to include incorporating student-led reflection using prompts like, “What went well?” and “What could you do differently next time?” to encourage metacognition and ownership of their learning, as well as the use of TeachFX to foster reflection with staff.