- Five schools in Lowndes County were recognized as Math Leaders by the Georgia Department of Education.
- Georgia's updated K-12 Mathematics Standards aim to improve numeracy skills and prepare students for future careers.
- Watch the video to hear from Lowndes educators about score improvement
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
New standards new scores.
And for Hahira Elementary School, Hahira Middle School, Lowndes Middle School, Pine Grove Middle School, and Westside Elementary Schools, it's been paying dividends.
"Here in the Lowndes County School system, we are part of Titletown USA and we are, we are very competitive. We are competitive in athletics and also in academics."
These five schools from Lowndes County have been recognized as Math Leaders by the Georgia Department of Education, which emphasizes numeracy skills in fifth and eighth grades, as well as at the high school level.
Stacey Dickey and Julia Klein work on the district's standards and curriculum and help develop learning in Lowndes classrooms, such as Georgia's new K-12 Mathematics Standards and Milestone exams, which were implemented this past school year.
They say this new approach sets students up for their futures in the workforce.
"The jobs are changing so quickly and technology changes. We're wanting our students to be the best and we want them to have that cutting edge opportunity, you know, to be the best that they can be."
Lowndes' bump in in math scores matches similar trends across the state; thanks' to Milestone's increased focus on key math concepts, the average score of eighth-grade students in Georgia was 271, neck and neck with the 273 score for students in the nation.
Lowndes County Schools superintendent Sandra Wilcher tells me that she hopes her schools will continue with this upward trajectory.
"So next year i would hope that all of our schools would be able to receive this award as well as receive the award in english and literacy again we're always targeting how can we improve in all areas."
With the new standards, many Georgia schools still have a ways to go: Georgia's math proficiency scores in general have about 24% of students meeting the National Assessment of Educational Progress standard as of 2022.
In Valdosta, I'm Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.
