Albany, GA – August 8, 2025 – The Dougherty County School System today released its performance data from the Spring 2025 End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) assessments, showcasing significant gains in several key subjects while identifying areas for continued focus. The results reflect the district's commitment to academic excellence and its ongoing efforts to support students and teachers.
DCSS saw numbers of students who scored proficient or higher stay steady or improve in 13 combined end-of-grade and end-of-course areas in the 2025 assessment. State results show that districts across the state saw scores also stay steady or improve across 13 assessment areas.
Notably, the district has met and, in some cases exceeded, its pre-pandemic levels in some academic areas. Specifically, 3rd Grade ELA tied for an all-time high, while 4th Grade ELA performance tied with 2019 levels which directly correlates to the district’s top strategic priority in its strategic plan - improving Early Literacy. Additionally, 5th, 6th, and 8th grade math all achieved all-time highs or were higher than 2019 levels and 5th and 8th grade science reached all-time highs and were higher than 2019 levels.
The district saw particularly strong performance in Mathematics, with students achieving new milestones. Grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 all saw positive changes compared to the previous year, with Grade 6 math hitting an all-time high. The performance in Grade 5 math also surpassed the 2019 benchmark.
In Social Studies, students demonstrated impressive growth. Both Grade 8 Social Studies and U.S. History demonstrated significant increases in proficiency, with U.S. History experiencing a remarkable five-percentage point increase compared to 2024. Both of these subjects also performed higher than in 2019.
The district also saw a major success in the Science department. Fifth Grade students achieved an outstanding seven-percentage point increase, reaching an all-time high proficiency level on the EOG assessment. This exceptional performance is a testament to the dedicated instruction and hard work of both students and teachers. Additionally, Grade 8 Science also showed a positive change, outperforming the RESA.
While celebrating these successes, the district also recognizes the need to address challenges in other areas. In English Language Arts (ELA), while Grades 3 and 4 maintained or improved their standing, Grades 5 through 8 saw a decline in scores. Similarly, the Biology EOC assessment showed a decrease in performance.
"We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by our students, teachers, and staff," said Superintendent Kenneth Dyer of the Dougherty County School System. "The results in math, science, and social studies are a testament to our focused instruction and support systems. While we are celebrating the fact that several of our schools outperformed the state and RESA in various content areas, it is even more significant that the district and many of its schools outpaced the State and RESA in every tested area. This is a testament to the fact that we are increasing performance results at a much faster rate in these areas than the average school in our state, thereby steadily decreasing the performance gap. This kind of accelerated growth demonstrates the effectiveness of our instructional strategies and the dedication of our entire educational community. We are not just meeting standards, but we are actively closing the achievement gap and setting a new trajectory for our students' success. We will now turn our attention to the areas that need improvement, particularly middle school ELA and Biology, to ensure all our students have the resources they need to succeed."
The district will be analyzing the data further to develop targeted strategies and interventions to support student growth in all subjects.