Area schools make list

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Education has released its list of the state’s top Title 1 schools — including a handful from Southwest Georgia.

According to the department’s website, the top category is reserved for schools with the highest performance or the biggest academic gains by students in the last three years.

A “Highest-Performing School” is a Title I school among the 5 percent of Title I schools in the state that have the highest absolute performance over three years for the “all students” group on the statewide assessments.

A Highest-Performing School must have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the “all students” group and all of its subgroups in 2011. A school may not be classified as a Highest-Performing School if there are significant achievement gaps across subgroups that are not closing in the school.

No area schools made the “Highest Performing School” list.

A “High-Progress School” is a Title I school among the 10 percent of Title I schools in the state that are making the most progress in improving the performance of the “all students” group over three years on the statewide assessments. A school may not be classified as a High-Progress School if there are significant achievement gaps across subgroups that are not closing in the school, according to the DOE website.

Six area schools made the “High Progress” category, including Clay County Middle School, Lee County High School, Miller County High School, North Mitchell County Elementary, Calhoun County Middle/High School and Thomasville High School.