The Georgia Department of Education has released its 2021-2022 list of Title I Distinguished Schools – a designation that recognizes the highest-performing Title I schools in Georgia. Brooklet Elementary School is one of seventy-one schools across the state that earned the recognition this year.
The designation is based on a combined English language arts and math achievement rate score from the Fiscal Year 2021 College & Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) data of student’s academic content mastery.
The state released limited CCRPI data earlier this month. Full CCRPI reports are not available for 2021 due to data limitations resulting from the pandemic and an associated federal waiver. Content Mastery data was available since students took the Georgia Milestone assessments.
The Bulloch County School System had 13 Title I schools in the 2021-2022 school year, which included all of its elementary and middle schools and Portal Middle High School. Schools must be Title I to be eligible for the Distinguished School designation and must not currently be identified for the state’s list of Comprehensive Support & Improvement or Targeted Support & Improvement schools.
Title I is a federally funded program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It is the largest federally funded program for elementary, middle, and high schools.
Through Title I, money is given to school districts around the country based on the number of low-income families in each district. Each district uses its Title I money for extra educational services for children most in need of educational help. The focus of the Title I program is on helping all students meet the same high standards and expectations.
According to the Georgia Department of Education, each of the state’s Title I School Distinguished School may now apply for the Fiscal Year 2022 National Elementary and Secondary Education Act Distinguished School Award, which publicly recognizes two schools from each state for their outstanding achievements in education each year. Georgia’s National Distinguished School representatives will receive a monetary award of $20,000 from Georgia’s Title I, Part A funds. A portion of this funding will be used for a school team to be recognized by the National Association of Elementary & Secondary Education Act State Program Administrators at the National Distinguished Schools awards ceremony during the National Elementary & Secondary Education Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana in February.
