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ral systems don’t have the people or the financial resources to implement this. This is going to be a great thing.”

Teachers are currently training to implement new ELA standards aligned to the science of reading and structured literacy, which emphasize the necessity of systematic instruction on phonics as well as comprehension and vocabulary. The new standards will take effect during the 2025-26 school year.

Dana Rickman, president of the nonprofit Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, said she’s encouraged by this year’s Milestones test results.

“The upward trend, particularly on the Grades 5 and 6 ELA assessments, is promising,” Rickman said. “At the same time, as we dig deeper into the results by district and schools, we see opportunities for growth and improvement. We know that schools still are struggling with the unique challenges that emerged during the pandemic.”

Statewide results as well as district and individual school results are available on the Department of Education website.