To reward successful schools and school districts for significant progress in improving student achievement and/or significant progress in closing the achievement gap, the Georgia Department of Education (Department) honors K–12 Title I schools and school districts for significant progress in improving student achievement and/or making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.

The Title I Achievement Awards program recognizes and honors three categories of schools:  Title I Distinquished Schools, Title I Reward Schools, and National Title I Distinguished Schools.

  

A Title I Distinguished School is a Title I school among the top 5% Schoolwide and top 5% Targeted Assisted Title I schools in the state that have the highest absolute performance for the all-students group based on the current statewide assessment. A school may not be classified as a Title I Reward School if it is also identified as a Targeted School of Improvement (TSI), a Comprehensive School of Improvement (CSI) or a Promise/Turn-around School.​

• Count the number of Title I schools (SWP and TA separately) in the state for the previous school year.
• Multiply the number of Title I schools (SWP and TA separately) in the state for the previous school year by 5-percent.
• The resulting value is the number of Title I schools (SWP and TA separately) in the state that are to be identified as Distinguished Schools.
• Rank the Title I schools (SWP and TA separately) based on the single assessment score results from highest achievement to lowest achievement.
• Remove schools from the list of schools that have been identified as CSI, TSI, or Promise/Turnaround Schools.
• Identify the top 5-percent of Title I schools in any given fiscal year as Title I Distinguished Schools.

A Title I Reward School is a Title I school among the 5-percent of Title I schools in the state that is making the most progress in improving the performance of the all-students group over the most recent two years on the statewide assessments.  A school may not be classified as a Title I Reward School if it is also identified as a Targeted School of Improvement (TSI), a Comprehensive School of Improvement (CSI) or a Promise/Turn-around School.

• Count the number of Title I schools in the state for the previous school year.
• Multiply the number of Title I schools in the state for the previous school year by
  5-percent.
• The resulting value is the number of Title I schools in the state that are to be identified as Title I Reward Schools.
• At the school level, aggregate the all-student and subgroup achievement results based on assessment data from the previous two-years for all End-of-Course Tests (EOCTs), all Georgia Milestones Assessments, and Georgia Alternate Assessments (GAAs).  For a group (all-students as well as the remaining nine traditional subgroups) to be considered in the calculations, the group must meet the minimum n size of 15, where each member of the group has a valid assessment for each content area.
• Rank the schools based on the greatest amount of progress.
• Remove schools from the list of schools that have been identified as CSI, TSI, or Promise/Turnaround Schools.
• Identify the top 5-percent of Title I schools in any given fiscal year as Title I Reward Schools.

A Title I National Distinguished School is one of two schools selected from the SWP Title I Schools identified Title I Distinguished Schools described above.  All the SWP Title I Distinguished Schools will be invited to make application for the National recognition.​

• Invite all SWP Title I Schools identified as Distinguished (State level) Schools to make application for National Distinguished recognition.
• Applications received will be numbered and redacted to provide complete anonymity to all readers/scorers.
• Received applications will be read blindly by a minimum of four readers and the average of those four scores for initiative numbers 1 and 2 will be added to the other qualifying criteria (CCRPI score for the current year, growth from previous year CCRPI and most recent CCRPI score, and poverty percentage of the school’s population).  Scores received for initiative number 3 will be used as a tie-breaker, if the need arises.
• The top two resulting schools will be named as Georgia’s representatives for the National Distinguished School Award sponsored by the National Association of ESSA State Program Administrators (NAESPA)

Georgia will recognize its Title I Distinguished and Reward schools each year.   The Title I Distinguished schools will receive a reward certificate, a recognition flag, and listing on the Title I Website.  The two schools recognized as Georgia’s National Distinguished Schools will receive $20,000 from state Title I funds to facilitate travel to the NAESPA National Conference to participate in the National Distinguished School Recognition Ceremony.  The two nationally identified schools may also receive recognition paraphernalia (flags, certificates, etc.) from the NAESPA organization.  The Reward schools will receive a reward certificate and listing on the Title I Website.

FY19

A list of all previous year's academic achievement schools can be located Here​.

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