Atlanta Public Schools has the most diverse portfolio of schools in the state. We have schools in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Georgia and schools in some of the poorest. The graph below shows that these schools have very different math achievement levels:

Use the filters on the right to select different grades, subjects, or performance metrics.

The challenge index measures the percentage of students who are either directly certified¹ for free lunch or English language learners. Only about 4% of APS students are English Language Learners, so for most schools the challenge index can be thought of approximately as a measure of poverty.

Comparing schools with similar challenge indices is helpful for understanding school performance. A school that is above the trend line has higher test scores than other schools with a similar level of poverty. But of course this view isn’t conclusive- two schools with similar challenge indices might differ in other ways that is not captured by the challenge index.

The first graph uses percent proficient and above to show performance. The next graph uses percentage of students scoring distinguished. Notice that this metric emphasizes differences between the low-poverty schools on the left hand side. Lin and Springdale are highlighted to show their change over time. Both schools had a decrease in percentage of students scoring distinguished between 2019 and 2021, but their 2022 rate has exceeded their 2019 rate. Click on other schools to see their change over time.

The next graph shows the percentage of students scoring developing and above in math. Notice that although there is a strong relationship between school-level poverty and test scores, there are schools with the same poverty level that have more than a 40-point difference in the percentage of students scoring developing and above.

The last graph shows the percentage of high school students scoring proficient and above across all subjects². Use the subject filter to see how schools compare for specific subjects.

For more information on Milestones results, see the district’s press release. To receive an email about similar posts, please subscribe to the blog.

1. Students are directly certified for free lunch if their household receives state anti-poverty aid (SNAP or TANF) or if they are identified as homeless, unaccompanied youth, foster or migrant. See this link for more information.
2. Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year students enrolled in the Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Dual Enrollment equivalent of U.S. History course are exempt from participating in the U.S. History Milestones End-of-Course exam.