Elementary Schools in Paulding County

The Paulding County school district in Georgia is home to 19 elementary schools serving students from pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. The data reveals significant disparities in academic performance across these schools, with a few standout institutions like Burnt Hickory Elementary School and Union Elementary School consistently ranking among the top elementary schools in the state. In contrast, schools like Dallas Elementary School and Allgood Elementary School struggle with lower proficiency rates and statewide rankings.

The data suggests that factors beyond just funding and resources, such as school leadership, teaching practices, and curriculum, play a significant role in student success. Schools with higher percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, a proxy for lower socioeconomic status, tend to have lower academic proficiency rates, highlighting the importance of addressing socioeconomic inequities to improve educational outcomes. The wide range of student-teacher ratios, from 12.1 to 16.0, also appears to be correlated with school performance, with the lower ratios associated with higher-performing institutions.

The Paulding County school district has an opportunity to identify and share the best practices of its top-performing schools with the lower-performing ones, potentially helping to raise overall academic achievement and close the achievement gap across the district. Additionally, targeted interventions and support may be necessary for the lowest-performing schools to help them catch up with their higher-achieving counterparts.