When it comes to public education in metro Atlanta, the outcomes are mixed.
For the past seven years, Learn4Life has been tracking key education metrics among students in the five-county Atlanta metro area — a region that encompasses eight school districts.
Learn4Life, founded in 2016, has been tracking six key indicators — kindergarten readiness, 3rd-grade reading, 8th-grade math, high school graduation rate, postsecondary enrollment and postsecondary completion.
It just published its 7th annual report on the State of Education in Metro Atlanta, which shows improvement in three of the indicators, almost no change in literacy and a decline in both postsecondary indicators.
Learn4Life is a novel nonprofit that is a collaboration between the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Atlanta Regional Commission.
It held its annual event on Dec. 17 at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, where it released its findings to a full room of educators and stakeholders. It also featured several panel discussions on various parts of the reports.
Ken Zeff, executive director of Learn4Life, set the stage by saying that 574,322 students are enrolled in public schools in the five-county area. Eighty percent are students of color, and 59 percent are low-income.
“We spend 52 percent of our state budget on education,” Zeff observed.
Then he explained Learn4Life’s approach. “We are not looking for things that are broken,” Zeff said. “We are looking for things that are working.”
The report said only 41 percent of students can read proficiently by third grade compared to 40 percent when the first report was published.
“Why are we stuck at this 40 percent number,” Zeff asked with a tone of frustration in his voice.
Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), said part of the problem is a lack of consistency. School systems do not stick to particular methods of learning long enough to have success.
Because Learn4Life focuses on solutions, it highlighted the Atlanta Vision Project – a partnership with the national Vision to Learn. More than 38,000 pairs of glasses have already been provided to metro Atlanta students.
“If children cannot see, they cannot learn,” said Rebecca Parshall, Learn4Life’s director of strategy and development. “The Atlanta Vision Project’s goal is to provide free glasses to all elementary school students in need.”
The project involves vision screening to identify who needs an eye exam by an optometrist. A few weeks later, students receive glasses with their choice of frames.
That’s how Grant Rivera, superintendent of Marietta City Schools, found out that his daughter needed glasses. Rivera called the Atlanta Vision Project a “turnkey” program that has an immediate impact.
Another challenge is teacher retention.
Tenicia Winston, a Learn4Life project manager, said less than 60 percent of teachers indicate they want to stay in the classroom for five years. Also, 48 percent of teachers said they feel burned out.
APS Superintendent Johnson was blunt in his analysis.
“There has never been a more challenging time to be an educator,” he said. “The expectations have never been higher. And student behaviors are more challenging.”
One solution is The Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI) program called RETAIN, which focuses on improving teacher morale.
Bunche Middle School, part of APS, is a place where RETAIN is working. Teacher Sheronda Cooper credited her principal, Kimberly Terry Whitfield, for seeking feedback from teachers and listening to their needs.
“We are really good about focusing on the teacher’s needs and supporting the teacher,” Cooper said. “That also helps teachers feel important and feel heard.”
The Dec. 17 program also highlighted the challenges of postsecondary education. Only 69 percent of high school graduates are enrolled in a postsecondary institution. But it’s projected that by 2031, 85 percent of quality jobs will go to workers with some form of postsecondary education.
One program that’s working is the Grady Health System’s Teen Experience and Leadership Program, which offers high school students 40-plus hours of exposure to 70 healthcare careers through immersive experiences, workshops and shadowing. The result? Ninety-five percent of those students reported increased interest in healthcare careers.
Dr. Yolanda Wimberly, a senior vice president at Grady, spoke to the program’s success.
“The first year, we had about 80 students. I put the program together in about five days,” Dr. Wimberly said. “The next year, we had 276 students. This past year, we had 597 students.”
The program received 1,700 applications from students. “We are trying to figure out how it looks like going forward,” she said.
Princess Barge, a college sophomore at Rice University, is an alumna of the program. She credited Grady TELP with giving her the motivation to pursue medical education in college.
“These bright spots remind us of what’s possible when we work together,” said Frank Fernandez, president and CEO of the Community Foundation, who serves on Learn4Life’s executive committee. “Learn4Life is uniquely positioned to scale these proven strategies to the benefit of all students in metro Atlanta.”
