No Excuses for Georgia Schools

Forty-four schools from across Georgia were announced as "No Excuses" schools today at a news conference by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation at the Gainesville City School System's Fair Street International Baccalaureate World School.

Fair Street International Baccalaureate World School was selected to host the announcement because of the school's outstanding student achievement. Ranked in the Foundation's 2009 Report Card for Parents as 103rd for achievement among the state's public elementary schools, Fair Street is a leader among the No Excuses schools – schools that have above-average percentages of low-income students with significantly higher academic scores than statistical projections based on the statewide relationship between poverty and test scores.

The elementary school with an enrollment of 635 students in pre-K through fifth grade is 68 percent Latino, 25 percent African-American and 7 percent other students, with 95 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

The selection of No Excuses schools is based on the Foundation's 2009 Report Card for Parents, available at www.gppf.org. A No Excuses school has a poverty rate above the state average of 51 percent, meets Adequate Yearly Progress as defined by the No Child Left Behind law, and has a Poverty Indicator of 2 or above on the Foundation's Report Card for Parents. These schools are highlighted for demonstrating the impact of highly motivated, highly qualified, dedicated teachers, dynamic school leadership and high expectations for all students.

“We're honored to be the host school site for the No Excuses announcement,” said Fair Street Principal William Campbell, who said he adopted the “No Excuses” mindset and expectation for all learners upon arriving in Gainesville in 2005, when he read the book, “No Excuses,” by Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom.

“Research shows that the No. 1 indicator for student success is effective teaching and practices,” Campbell added. “I attribute all of our academic success to our dedicated and professional teaching and support staff, in conjunction with the International Baccalaureate framework. Due to our professional educators' reflective efforts and their ‘No Excuse' mindset, our students continue to have outstanding academic and social achievement.”

“These schools show that a culture of high expectations, strong leadership and quality teaching can overcome poverty, even in populations where a majority of students don't speak English as their first language” said Kelly McCutchen, executive vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

“This is good news for education in Georgia. Our challenge now is for local school boards, superintendents and state policy-makers to adopt the ‘No Excuses' philosophy.”

The 2009 Report Card for Parents numerically ranks 1,208 public elementary schools, 501 middle schools and 353 high schools in the state by an achievement score based on high school graduation rates and the percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards. Because there is a strong link between poverty and test scores (the higher the poverty rate, the lower the test scores), the report includes two other criteria for information purposes only. The first is the poverty rate – the percentage of students in each school who qualify for the federal free/reduced-price lunch program. The second is a poverty index that measures how well a school is performing relative to its poverty rate.

"The good news is that the number of 'No Excuses' schools we honor increases every year, reflecting growing commitment and rising standards," said Rogers Wade, president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. "And these schools demonstrate that while poverty, cultural background or family problems may be a challenge, they don't need to be an excuse.

”Now, let's do that to every Georgia school.”

The Foundation, formed in 1991, is a nonpartisan, member-supported research and education foundation that promotes free markets, limited government and individual responsibility. 

For more information on the No Excuses schools or the 2009 Report Card, please contact Kelly McCutchen at 404-256-4050 orkmccutchen@gppf.org.

The 2009 No Excuses schools are:

System                   School

Atlanta City             Adamsville Elementary School

Atlanta City             Blalock Elementary School

Atlanta City             C.W. Hill Elementary School

Atlanta City             Capitol View Elementary School

Atlanta City             Connally Elementary School

Atlanta City             East Lake Elementary School

Atlanta City             F.L. Stanton Elementary School

Atlanta City             Fickett Elementary School

Atlanta City             Gideons Elementary School

Atlanta City             KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy

Atlanta City             M.A. Jones Elementary School

Atlanta City             Toomer Elementary School

Atlanta City             Towns Elementary School

Atlanta City             Venetian Hills Elementary School

Atlanta City             Woodson Elementary School

Burke County          S G A Elementary School

Coffee County        Ambrose Elementary School

Coffee County        West Green Elementary School

Decatur County       Lillian E. Williams Elementary School

DeKalb County        Atherton Elementary School

DeKalb County        DeKalb PATH Academy Charter School

DeKalb County        Oakcliff Elementary School

Dougherty County   Alice Coachman Elementary School

Dougherty County   Int. Studies Elementary Charter School

Dougherty County   Lincoln Elementary Magnet School

Dougherty County   Magnolia Elementary School

Dougherty County   Sylvester Road Elementary School

Fulton County         KIPP South Fulton Academy School

Gainesville City       Fair Street Int. Baccalaureate World School

Grady County          Northside Elementary School

Gwinnett County      Beaver Ridge Elementary School

Gwinnett County      Susan Stripling Elementary School

Jefferson County    Carver Elementary School

Jenkins County        Jenkins County Elementary School

Laurens County       Northwest Laurens Elementary

Laurens County       Southwest Laurens Elementary

Muscogee County   Rigdon Road Elementary School

Rome City               Anna K. Davie Elementary School

Union County          Woody Gap High/Elementary School

Valdosta City          Nunn Elementary School

Walker County         Stone Creek Elementary School

Ware County           Williams Heights Elementary School

Webster County      Webster County Elementary/Middle School

Wilkes County         Washington-Wilkes High School