Strategic Waivers School Systems (SWSS) Evaluation
NOTE of COVID-19 Impact:
In 2019-2020, the spring administration of the Georgia Milestones Assessments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the cancelation, 2020 CCRPI scores were not calculated. Because the evaluation of progress toward SWSS targets and the Beating the Odds designations are based on CCRPI Single Scores, the 2019 publication provides the most recent data available.
Strategic Waivers School Systems (SWSS) Evaluation
Strategic Waivers School Systems (SWSS), formerly referred to as Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2), performance contracts provide local school districts with greater governance flexibility as a means to increase student achievement. SWSS performance contracts provide local school districts with governance flexibility as a means to increase student achievement. Progress toward meeting those goals is monitored by Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) on an annual basis and reported to the State Board of Education (SBOE). Local Boards of Education (LBOE) can enter into multi-year contracts with the State Board of Education (SBOE) based on strategic plans developed in partnership with GaDOE and Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). Such plans must identify specific school-level student achievement goals that are in addition to current federal accountability requirements. GOSA sets CCRPI target scores for SWSS schools and monitors which schools have met their annual targets. For more information on SWSS, visit GaDOE’s SWSS page.
2019 SWSS Updates
On December 19, 2019, GOSA published updated CCRPI target Single Scores for SWSS schools, along with results for Year Three of the SWSS contracts based on the 2019 CCRPI scores and BTO designations. The following files are available for download:
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Updated
SWSS Baselines and Targets by School
- Note that the baseline was reset based on the 2018 CCRPI Single Scores. Targets were only updated in 2019 for schools affected by GOSA’s 2019 Policy on School Code Changes, charter schools that converted to join SWSS districts, schools that received Single Scores in 2019 but not in 2018, schools that were new in the 2018-2019 school year, and schools that closed at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
- Note that the baseline was reset based on the 2018 CCRPI Single Scores. Targets were only updated in 2019 for schools affected by GOSA’s 2019 Policy on School Code Changes, charter schools that converted to join SWSS districts, schools that received Single Scores in 2019 but not in 2018, schools that were new in the 2018-2019 school year, and schools that closed at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
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Year
Three Results by School
SWSS Resources and Evaluations
GOSA
SWSS Evaluation Policy
(Updated March 2019)
- The evaluation policy is not yet updated for the 2019-2020 school year. Note that GaDOE is now responsible for consequences under SWSS contracts, including improvement plans for schools that did not meet targets. For more information, please contact GaDOE.
GOSA monitors the evaluation of SWSS districts to ensure that the school-level student achievement goals are sufficiently rigorous to warrant granting the flexibility requested by the local school district.
SWSS schools have an annual goal to achieve either a target CCRPI Single Score or a designation of “Beating the Odds” under GOSA’s Beating the Odds analysis. GOSA monitors progress toward these goals on an annual basis and reports this evaluation to the State Board of Education (SBOE) and GaDOE. SWSS districts and schools may face consequences from the SBOE under their contracts based on these evaluation results.
Note that annual targets were initially set using the 2016 CCRPI as a baseline. To account for the new 2018 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) formula under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), GOSA recalculated the target CCRPI Single Scores targets using the 2017-2018 CCRPI as the new baseline year. Given this baseline reset, Year Two (2017-2018) of the SWSS contract is a baseline reset year that does not count for or against a school.
To account for the new 2018 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) formula under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), GOSA recalculated the Strategic Waivers School Systems (SWSS) targets using the 2017-2018 CCRPI as the new baseline year.
Given the recalculated targets using 2017-2018 as the baseline, Year 2 (2017-2018) becomes a baseline reset year that does not count for or against a school. As a result, a school will be deemed as meeting the terms of its contract at the end of the contract term if it meets its targets or “Beats the Odds” in two of the four other years (Years 1, 3, 4, or 5), or it shows three years of growth by meeting the revised Year 5 target, which will represent three years of growth from the Year 2 baseline, or “Beating the Odds” in the fifth year.