Eric.ed.gov – Citywide Education Progress Report: Atlanta

The Citywide Education Progress Report looks at how a city is doing across three goals: (1) The education system is continuously improving; (2) All students have access to a high-quality education; and (3) The education strategy is rooted in the community. Across each goal it presents indicators of what the city is doing and how it is doing. The reports focus on education strategies for the 2017-18 school year. The analyses reflect developments through June 2018. These are updates to the original reports from the 2016-17 school year. Between 2017 and 2018 Atlanta Public Schools deepened its commitment to improving persistently low-performing schools, took steps to increase school-level autonomy, and put new strategies in place to support families through the school choice process. However, a number of barriers still stand in the way of all families to having access to high-quality school options. Increasing citywide engagement in education marks a positive direction for Atlanta, and sets the foundation for addressing persistent student achievement gaps. School proficiency rates in math and reading improved across the city. However, progress has been uneven. Proficiency and graduation rates remain below the state average, and some high school students have had inequitable access to advanced coursework. [For the main report, “Stepping Up: How Are American Cities Delivering on the Promise of Public School Choice?,” see ED578178.]