ATLANTA— Statewide scores on the Georgia Milestones tests continued to rise in math as teachers adapted to standards that were updated several years ago.
The 2025-26 results for every subject but English were released Thursday.
The Georgia Department of Education said it needs until November to assess the English Language Arts scores before a public release because the teaching standards for that subject were recently updated, with students taking their first tests on them this past school year.
Georgia began rewriting its math standards in 2019, with the first testing after implementation coming during the 2023-24 school year.
Scores in that subject have been climbing ever since, reaching record highs in grades four through six and in high school Algebra.
State School Superintendent Richard Woods attributed the gains to hard work.
Experts pointed to other positive trends, such as the use of data from other types of testing throughout the school year to tailor instruction to each student’s evolving needs.
“Since the pandemic, districts have been paying a lot more attention to individualized learning plans — how we use data throughout the year to assess where students are and how we can bring them forward,” said Mary-Kate Starkel, chief of staff for redefinED Atlanta, an education advocacy group that promotes data analysis in education.
Matt Smith, policy and research director for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, pointed to Georgia’s ongoing success at reducing chronic absenteeism.
The chronic rate, defined as missing at least 10% of the school year, fell in Georgia to 17.7% in 2025-26, down from a peak of 23.9% in 2021-22.
Unlike many other states, Georgia’s chronic absenteeism rate has continuously declined since then, but it remains above the pre-pandemic rate of 12%.
Despite the record gains in math, about half of Georgia students were performing at levels that are considered not proficient.
The state divides students into four categories based on their scores. From highest to lowest score, the categories are distinguished, proficient, developing and beginning.
The highest rate of students who scored proficient or distinguished was in fourth grade, at 50%. Third and sixth grades had the largest increases, with the rate of students scoring proficient or better rising 4 percentage points in each from 2024-25 — to 48% and 41% respectively.
In high school Algebra, the increase was 3 points, to 48%.
Gains in other subjects also were accompanied by large groups of underperforming students.
For instance, the proportion of students scoring proficient or better in high school physical science rose 4 points to 61%, meaning 39% were not proficient. High school biology rose 3 points to 47%, and U.S. history was flat, at 39% proficient or better.
Many students may be scoring above pre-pandemic levels, but that is not a high bar, Starkel said. “We still have a long way to go for many kids in the metro area and the state.”
Smith warned that the reporting of average statewide scores can mask poor performances in some school districts and also within school districts.
Like they did with the math scores during the 2023-24 school year, state education officials will assess the recent results in English Language Arts to determine where to set the scoring thresholds for placing students in one of those four performance categories.
English has not been a highlight for Georgia, with scores falling in all but two of the seven grade levels that were given a Milestones exam on the subject under the old standards in 2024-25.
Smith attributed that at least in part to the “swirl” of rapid changes, after the Georgia General Assembly began mandating new teaching methods for English. After many years of unsatisfactory literacy scores, lawmakers decided it was time to shift to more phonics-based instruction, especially in the lower grades.
Teachers in kindergarten through third grade were trained in the new methods. The release of the exam results in November will be the first to put that training to the test.