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Report: Georgia leads nation in efforts to connect education to world of work

MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358,mcardoza@gadoe.org
Dorie Turner Nolt, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 656-5594, dnolt@gadoe.org  
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Jan. 10, 2013 – Georgia is leading the nation in connecting its K-12 education system with early learning, higher education and the world of work, according to an Education Week report released today.

The state was the first ever in the country to score a 100 in the “transitions and alignment” category on the annual “Quality Counts” report. Georgia jumped from sixth in the nation to first in the “transitions and alignment” category, moving from a B+ to an A and becoming one of just eight states to score an A in this section. The national average was a C+. Georgia’s score comes from the state enacting the 14 policies examined by Education Week, including curriculum alignment from prekindergarten through college and programs to help students not meeting school-readiness benchmarks.

The report is an investigation of key education outcomes that provides ranks and grades for each state based on their commitment to improve educational policies and practices.

“We are very pleased that Education Week recognizes the hard work and collaboration that’s been happening among the education agency chiefs in Georgia,” said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. “Early education, K-12 education and higher education are all inextricably linked. The success of our state depends on all of us partnering to make education work for all Georgians.”

Governor Nathan Deal added, “Georgia’s ranking in this new report is very encouraging. This is recognition that we have put the right policies into place and that our educators, across the pre-school to college pipeline, are working hard to execute them.”

That work started with the Alliance for Education Agency Heads, which is composed of Georgia government agencies and departments: the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the Georgia Department of Education, the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the Georgia Student Finance Commission and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The group has been working since 2005 to create a smooth education pipeline from preschool through college and to unite the education community in Georgia.

In the report, Georgia also held its ranking as seventh in the nation in overall education quality for the second year in a row. The state received a B-, or 81 percent, on the national report card, compared to the national average of C+, or 76.9 percent.

View the report here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2013/state_report_cards.html?intc=EW-QC13-LFTNAV

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