(The Center Square) – Georgia’s high school graduation rates rose 1.5 percentage points to 87.2%, according to the results of the 2025 College and Career Ready Performance Index released Wednesday.
The index also shows improvements in content mastery, which includes scores in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, among elementary, middle, and high school students.
Students across all levels also boosted their readiness scores, which measure a long list of achievements, including how many students are at or above grade-level when it comes to reading, attendance, and accelerated enrollment, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
The only decreases were in the progress component, which tracks growth in English Language Arts and mathematics, and the progress of how well English learners are towards proficiency, according to the department. The scores were down 0.1 percentage points for elementary school students and 0.5 percentage points for high school students, according to the results.
“This year’s College and Career Ready Performance Index scores show strong improvements in our students’ academic achievement and their preparation for life,” state Superintendent Richard Woods said. “They also point the way toward areas where we can continue to grow and expand opportunities in all of Georgia’s public schools.”
Calhoun County, a small county in the southwestern portion of the state, had content mastery scores increase by 11.8 percentage points for elementary students, 7.1 percentage points for middle schoolers, and 12.4 percentage points in the county’s high school, according to information provided by the education department.
“Either they will become employed, they will enroll in a postsecondary institution, or they will enlist in the military,” Calhoun County School Superintendent Pamela Quimbley said in a statement. “That is the vision I have for our students – for them to become productive citizens.”
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The education department announced in September that the state’s graduation rate of 87.2% was an all-time high. The 2024 graduation rate was 85.4%.system
Every state school system is required to measure accountability as a provision of the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015. The index is the measuring tool for Georgia, according to the department.