DECA students Marquis Griffin, left, and Arely Lopez review class materials with program coordinator Kathy Hall. (photo by Bill Roa)
DECA students at Georgia Perimeter College's May 2013 Commencement earned their associate degrees the same year as their high school diplomas. (photo by Bill Roa)
DeKalb Early College Academy leads state in performance
DeKalb Early College Academy, a joint venture between Georgia Perimeter College and the DeKalb County School District, outscored every school in the state on the latest College and Career Ready Performance Index, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
The DOE released results earlier this week for the 2013 CCRPI, with DECA scoring the state’s highest rating of 99.3 from 110 possible points. Comparatively, the CCRPI overall score for Georgia high schools is 72. For middle schools, the overall score was 75; and for elementary schools, it was 78.5.
The performance index measures how well K-12 public schools fare in terms of standardized test scores, academic progress, graduation rates and closing the achievement gap between different groups of students. Last year, the DOE cited DECA for having the highest graduation rate among high schools in DeKalb County based on 2012 data.
DECA enables college-ready high school students from underrepresented groups to spend their first two years of high school at the academy campus in Stone Mountain and their final two years of high school at Georgia Perimeter College's Clarkston Campus. These students earn high school and college credits simultaneously through dual enrollment. Of this year’s 37 DECA high school graduates, 16 also will graduate from Georgia Perimeter College with associate degrees in May.
Last fall DECA was named by the state Department of Education as a Georgia School of Excellence for the 2012-13 academic year.
“I am proud of the partnership with GPC and DECA,” says Kathryn Hall, GPC’s DECA program coordinator. “I am thankful to the GPC staff and professors who assist and inspire the students with not only the completion but also the level of success they achieve in their 11th and 12th grade years at GPC. The fact that DECA students are able to earn over 48 hours of college credits before graduating from high school is a huge benefit and contributing factor to the high score in the CCRPI.”
For more information, visit the Georgia Department of Education CCRPI website and check out the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Get Schooled” column by Maureen Downey.