Georgia School Climate Survey and Dawson County's Success
The Georgia School Climate Star Rating is an important tool that helps schools understand how well they're doing and where they can improve. State law (O.C.G.A. § 20-14-33) requires the development and use of a “star rating” to address school climate. The School Climate Star Rating is a diagnostic tool to determine if a school is on the right path to school improvement. Each school receives a 1- to 5-star rating, with five stars representing an excellent school climate and one star representing a school climate most in need of improvement.
The 2023-2024 Georgia School Climate Ratings were released today, and Dawson County has a lot to be proud of when it comes to its schools. All seven schools in the county received either 4 or 5 stars on their 2023-2024 Georgia School Climate Star Rating. This is a big achievement! It means that students, teachers, and parents in Dawson County feel good about their schools. They feel safe, they behave well, they come to school regularly, and they think their schools are doing a great job. Getting such high ratings shows that everyone in Dawson County is working hard to make their schools great places to learn and grow.
Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, Georgia is making some changes to the School Climate Survey. They're combining a few different surveys into one big survey called the Georgia School Climate Surveys (GSCS). This new survey will have fewer questions, which creates a more focused approach to gather climate ratings. The new survey will still give school leaders helpful information to make their schools even better. This change shows that Georgia is always trying to find better ways to understand and improve its schools.