According to the Georgia Milestones state results, in 2022, 36% of third graders and 44% of fourth graders were reading below their grade level.
The State Board of Education has approved changes to the state’s K-12 English Language Arts Standards, a move officials said eliminates the last vestiges of Georgia’s Common Core standards.
State education officials said the agency revised the standard via a “citizen-led, student-focused effort” that Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, announced in 2019. The approach was similar to the process for changing the K-12 Mathematics Standards, which the board adopted in August 2021.
The state will implement the new ELA standards during the 2025-26 school year — after two years of teacher training.
“Georgia’s new ELA standards eliminate the final remnants of Common Core in Georgia, fulfilling Governor Kemp’s and my commitment to Georgia-owned and Georgia-grown, clear, and developmentally appropriate standards for Georgia students,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in an announcement. “Knowing that early literacy is essential to all future learning, the standards place a strong emphasis on the fundamentals in the early grades.”
According to a Georgia Department of Education news release, the standards, initially posted for public comment in November 2022, aim to provide a strong literacy foundation starting in the early grades. In a statement, Kemp said the new standards will “give students a strong foundation for both literacy and success.”