Scintilla: Student performance up
Published 9:00 am Thursday, July 28, 2022
VALDOSTA – Scintilla Charter Academy is touting its student performance in the 2022 Georgia Milestone Assessment.
Scintilla had a higher number of students reading on grade level or above than students in the state of Georgia as well as the districts within Scintilla’s attendance zone, which includes Valdosta, Brooks County and Lowndes County school systems.
Scintilla reported a higher number of students scoring at both the developing learner and above and the proficient learner and above in all grade levels and in all content areas as compared to the state of Georgia and the districts within Scintilla’s attendance zone.
Georgia Milestones scores show that 75-90% of scholars at Scintilla are reading on grade level or above. This range is well above the 55.1-69.7% range of students at the state level who are reading on grade level or above, according to the Milestones report.
Scintilla also had a greater percentage of students reading on grade level or above in all grade levels and content areas of the districts within Scintilla’s attendance zone, school officials said.
“We attribute our success and growth in student achievement to using data to make real-time decisions to best support the needs of our school. We believe in empowering our teachers and our staff by providing education and training on the research and evidence that supports our instructional practices,” Amanda Miller, SCA assistant superintendent, said. “It’s not just about adopting a program or curriculum resource, it’s about equipping teachers with the true understanding of the research and the ability to apply this knowledge to support our scholars individual academic needs and prepare them for the future.”
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Milestones Assessment System is a comprehensive summative assessment program and represents a single system of summative assessments that span all three levels of the state’s educational system – elementary, middle and high school.
Miller said although Scintilla saw student achievement growth in GMAS performance from 2020-21 to 2021-22, the state has “cautioned schools in interpreting changes from 2020-21 state-level results, due to reduced test participation and pandemic-related impacts on students’ learning environments. In general, comparisons to 2020-21 school- and district-level results should not be made,” according to a recent statement from the state education department.
Miller said 2022 GMAS information which focused on comparing its performance to the performance at the state level and of districts within Scintilla’s attendance zone rather than comparing performance to 2020-21 results.
Brooke Knight, dean of elementary grades, said Scintilla began the work in 2016 to provide training and resources aligned to the Science of Reading.
“We attribute the significant growth over the past several years in reading proficiency to our alignment of instructional practices with the Science of Reading,” Knight said. “We are thrilled to see initiatives across the state to support schools in implementing instruction aligned to the Science of Reading.”
Since the charter school opened in 2015, Scintilla has grown from grades K-4 to grades K-8. According to SCA administration, with this year’s expansion, the school is focused on continuing to design educational programming to prepare scholars for the 21st century.
Superintendent Mandy Brewington said, “This level of student achievement would not be possible without our staff and their dedication, commitment and belief that all children can be successful.”
Anyone interested in applying for the school can do so in the front office or online at www.scintillacharteracadey.com/admissions. Tours are available by appointment by calling 229-244-5750. Read more about the 2021-2022 Georgia Milestones Assessment scores at www.gadoe.org.