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Butts County students show gains on Georgia Milestones, superintendent says
Summary
Butts County Schools Superintendent Brent Lowe said the district saw increases in the share of students scoring proficient or above on nine of 11 released Georgia Milestones tests, while math results will be released later this fall due to changes in state standards.
Brent Lowe, superintendent of Butts County Schools, said in a recorded fireside chat on Aug. 1, 2024, that students in the district improved their share of proficient-and-above scores on nine of the 11 Georgia Milestones assessments for which results were available.
The Milestones release, Lowe said, was issued by the Department of Education the previous Friday and posted on the district’s social media. “Butts County students increased their level of proficient and above in 9 of the 11 tests,” he said, emphasizing that the district is tracking proficiency (levels 3 and 4) as a primary goal.
The Georgia Milestones system uses two common labels: EOG (end of grade) for grades 3–8 and EOC (end of course) for high school. Lowe reviewed which subjects correspond to which grades: grades 3–5 took English language arts and math (with fifth grade also taking science); grades 6–8 took ELA and math (eighth grade also took science and social studies); high school students took end-of-course assessments such as American literature, biology, U.S. history and Algebra I.
Lowe explained the four-level scoring scale used by the state — 1 = Beginning, 2 = Developing, 3 = Proficient and 4 = Distinguished — and said the district’s strategy is to move students up the scale (for example, from level 1 to 2, and from 2 to 3) and to increase the percentage scoring 3 or 4.
He also cautioned that math scores (both EOG and EOC math) would not be available until later in the fall because the state changed math standards and those tests require extra vetting. “That’s any of, end of the course or end of grade math because they changed the state changed the standards. So those numbers... it takes them a little bit longer to vet those tests,” he said.
For the two tests that did not show gains, Lowe said district leaders have already begun conversations with principals to identify root causes and determine actions to support affected students. He framed those discussions as diagnostic rather than excusatory: “we've already started having some conversations with the principals on what were some root causes, not excuses.”
Lowe closed by praising staff and teachers for extra work and a shift in district culture, saying he is “very proud of my staff” and that teachers are doing more than asked to help students succeed. He thanked parents and the broader school community for their role in the district’s efforts.
The district’s next steps, as described in the chat, include targeted principal-led reviews of the two lagging assessments and continued emphasis on raising students into the proficient (3) and distinguished (4) performance bands.
