Priority, Focus, and Alert Schools

Priority and Focus Schools

As a part of Georgia's waiver from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), GaDOE created a one-time designation of Priority and Focus Schools that would receive intensive state support for the next three years. The Priority designation focused on the performance of all students in a school, whereas the Focus designation emphasized within-school achievement gaps between subgroups. Only Title I schools could receive either designation, and it will last for three years. Per US ED guidelines, the GaDOE named 5% of Title I schools as Priority and 10% of Title I schools as Focus.

Using the criteria below, GaDOE named 78 Priority Schools and 156 Focus Schools. The criteria for Priority and Focus Schools are described in the box below.

Priority and Focus Schools
Priority (must meet 1 of 3 criteria)	Focus (must meet 1 or 2 criteria and not be identified as Priority)
The achievement of “all students” in 2010-11 is among the lowest 5% of Title I schools in Georgia, and the school did not make progress in aggregate achievement from the past year (2009-10), The graduation rate has been below 60% for the past two years, OR the school is receiving a federal School Improvement Grant (SIG).	The graduation rate has been below 60% for the past two years, OR the school has the largest within-school achievement gap between highest- and lowest-achieving subgroups, or for high schools, the gap in graduation rates between subgroups.

Alert Schools

Per US ED guidelines, non-Title I schools were not identified as Priority or Focus schools. As a result, the GaDOE created three categories of Alert Schools that will receive the same level of state support as Focus Schools for three years, but they do not have to be Title I schools. Unlike Priority and Focus Schools, which were named once, the state will identify Alert Schools each year.

Unlike Priority and Focus Schools, the US ED did not mandate the creation of Alert Schools.

The GaDOE released the first list of Alert Schools in May 2012. It includes 10 Graduation Alert Schools, 13 Subgroup Alert Schools, and 6 Subject Alert Schools.

Alert Schools
Graduation Alert	Subgroup Alert	Subject Alert
High schools whose subgroup graduation rate falls three standard deviations or more below the statewide subgroup average.	Schools whose subgroup performance on any statewide assessment falls three standard deviations or more below the statewide subgroup average.	Schools whose subject area performance on any statewide assessment falls three standard deviations or more below the statewide subject area average.

State Support of Priority, Focus, and Alert Schools

Priority Schools receive more intensive GaDOE support than Focus Schools. First, districts must work collaboratively with the GaDOE to assess the leadership of the current principal. The GaDOE also recommends that the district hire an instructional coach to support teachers in the school. Some of the remaining requirements include participating in a GAPSS analysis of school performance and needs, developing a school improvement plan, providing additional learning time, attending mandatory GaDOE professional learning, facilitating collaborative planning among faculty, offering a Flexible Learning Program, and developing a plan for parent and community engagement. To support these interventions, the GaDOE has assigned a state school improvement specialist (SIS) to each Priority School.

Focus and Alert Schools must implement many of the same requirements as Priority Schools. However, the state does not assign a SIS to each school or require the district to review the current principal’s performance. Instead, the state supports the district and provides professional learning for school-level staff.