Evaluation of Innovative Programs

The Georgia Governor’s Honors Program is a challenging academic summer experience that offers a diverse group of gifted and talented high school students the opportunity to focus on a specific field of interest. GHP was not held in 2020 due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, so there will not be a 2020 annual report.

GSLA targets five levels of educational practice to support and develop educators in all phases of their careers – from induction to school and district leadership. The five components of the GSLA are designed to strengthen instructional and leadership practices in order to retain teachers in their first years of practice and to offer pathways for teachers to become transformational leaders in a variety of roles throughout their careers. 

Graduates Ready to Attain Success in Postsecondary (GRASP) provides grant funding to selected high schools in Georgia for one additional guidance counselor and is administered through the Georgia Department of Education as of 2022. Each GRASP counselor is responsible for a caseload of at-risk students identified with achieving academic, personal/social, and career development success. The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) continues to be responsible for the program review and evaluations.

Growing Readers is a targeted professional learning and support system for classroom teachers who are working to improve literacy rates within their kindergarten through third grade classrooms.

The Innovation Fund Foundation dissolved January 1, 2022. Jaclyn Colona, former Executive Director of the IFF, is now with the Georgia Foundation for Public Education (hosted at Georgia Department of Education). If you have questions, please contact Joy Hawkins, Executive Director, GOSA, at [email protected].

This page contains more information regarding the past outcomes and evaluations of Innovation Fund grant programs.

Georgia’s RT3-ELCG application, which won the state $51.7M over a four-year grant period, outlined several comprehensive initiatives that the State would create, redesign, or scale-up in an effort to increase the quality of and access to early learning and development options for all children and families.

Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE) released its summative evaluation report, Race to the Top: Georgia's Vision for Educational Excellence.

The Reading Mentors Program provided support in literacy instruction for selected K-3 schools. Language and Literacy Specialists (LLSs) were assigned to selected schools across the state for three years to serve teachers and administrators during the school year.

In December 2016, the Georgia State Board of Education (SBOE) approved the creation of two courses, Technical College Readiness (TCR) English and Mathematics. The courses aim to ensure high school students who lack the skills needed for admission into technical colleges attain those skills while still in high school, removing a barrier to postsecondary entry. The SBOE requested that GOSA monitor course implementation and evaluate outcomes. 

YouScience was an online career and personal planning discovery tool that enables teens and adults to identify their potential aptitudes and careers.