Muscogee County reports lower-than-state Georgia Milestones; district pins gains on attendance and targeted programs

Tim Smith, chief academic officer for the Muscogee County School District, opened the Aug. 11 board work session with a detailed review of Georgia Milestones results showing the district trailing state averages in many tested grades and subjects.

Third-grade English language arts scores, Smith said, were 54.4% reading on or above grade level compared with a state rate of 64.6%. Middle- and elementary-grade math and ELA measures likewise trailed the state in most cohorts; Smith summarized a wide set of grade-by-grade results in the presentation and said the district sees a clear pattern of improvement for students who remain in Muscogee County schools over multiple years.

Why the results matter: the district identified chronic absenteeism and gaps in writing and math implementation as primary drivers of low proficiency. Smith told the board that 22.9% of district students were identified as chronically absent — defined as missing at least 10% of school days — and said the district’s lowest-performing students also had the highest absenteeism rates. "What we know is we've gotta get our kids to school so we can teach them and and get them, learning what we need them to learn," Smith said.

District response and instructional priorities: Smith and other staff outlined a multi-pronged approach the district will emphasize this year: - Strengthened, ongoing formative assessment and school-level "data notebooks" to monitor progress across the year rather than waiting for end-of-course scores. - Increased classroom observations and feedback cycles led by content specialists and teacher-quality staff. - Expansion of the district’s MCSD blueprint course builds (ELA and math course materials) and continued rollout of structured literacy cohorts focused on early reading (pre-K–2) with a planned third cohort this year. - A 3–12 component of structured literacy to address reading comprehension across grade bands. - Continued use of the Georgia Numeracy Project and state math learning plans, with a renewed focus on the fidelity of implementation in math classrooms after state standard changes.

Writing and a districtwide pilot: Christine Hull, executive director of curriculum and instruction (PreK–12), described a one-year, districtwide pilot of the Writable platform for grades 3–10 that the administration recommended this month. "Writable will take them through that crafting and drafting process all the way to the end draft of what it would look like for proficiency on the GMAS, and it gives them feedback in real time," Hull said. The finance materials presented later in the meeting listed a proposed purchase not to exceed $188,838 for the Writable implementation (purchase described as a districtwide, Grades 3–10 license and associated supports).

Attendance and community-level strategies: Superintendent Dr. Lewis emphasized attendance as a central lever. He placed chronic absenteeism in context — noting national increases since the pandemic — and said the district is deploying wraparound services (hygiene and clothing repositories, school washers/dryers, health clinics, mobile dental services) to reduce nonacademic barriers that keep students home. "I can't make an empty chair to learn," Dr. Lewis said, framing attendance as a prerequisite to any instructional gains.

Targeted schools and programs: Smith and the superintendent highlighted targeted initiatives already underway: Brewer Early Innovation Academy’s intensive literacy work (which Smith said produced an average 172-point Lexile gain in a recent year), the Button School(s) of Excellence at MLK Jr. Elementary focused on poverty-related barriers, and the district’s phased Rollins science-of-reading professional development cohorts. Smith told the board these targeted efforts show that when curriculum and supports are implemented with fidelity, measurable gains follow.

Board questions and concerns: Board members pressed for granular data and next steps. Board member Chambers asked for student-count breakdowns for each performance band and for comparisons with demographically similar districts to test whether absenteeism or other factors explain the gap. Board member Tillery urged caution about increasing curricular and testing requirements for teachers and students already below grade level and asked for clarity on how the district groups and differentiates instruction to accelerate students who are several years behind. Several members asked for school-level resource inventories and implementation plans that spell out who is accountable for each school’s supports.

Next steps and reporting: District staff told the board they will return with additional materials. Smith said a separate presentation on attendance actions is scheduled next month, and the administration agreed to provide school-level inventories of resources, the number of students at each performance band by grade, and follow-up analysis comparing Muscogee County with similar districts. Finance committee materials included the writable purchase as a recommended purchase-exception item; the board has not recorded a formal vote on that item in the work session transcript.

The district framed this year as a step toward addressing multi-year learning losses and system-level barriers: officials tied improved outcomes to better attendance, more consistent implementation of state-aligned learning plans and the MCSD blueprint, targeted school interventions, and new instructional tools and assessments.

Ending note: Board members and staff agreed on an immediate priority: increase attendance and return to the board next month with an attendance plan and more granular, school-by-school data so the board can track implementation and outcomes.