Across the state, 155 schools made the Georgia Department of Education’s “literacy leaders” list either for improving proficiency by 15 percentage points or achieving 90% proficiency on this year’s Georgia Milestones tests.

Twenty-two of Fulton County’s 59 elementary schools made the list.

The county credits a new, comprehensive literacy strategy called “the science of reading.” Elementary, and some middle and high school educators, receive training on teaching components of reading, such as phonics, fluency and comprehension.

Fulton spent $90 million of federal pandemic relief money on the program, 95.5 WSB’s Sabrina Cupit reports.

“Students and staff have shown amazing progress,” Fulton Superintendent Mike Looney said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are encouraged to see the early results in our literacy efforts. Our investment into the ‘Science of Reading’ is really paying off.”

The AJC’s Martha Dalton and Josh Reyes add that while several Fulton schools performed well, “some schools in high-poverty areas had more than 50% of third graders reading below grade level.”

Dalton and Reyes explain that across the state, lawmakers have demanded a “sweeping overhaul of the way public schools teach reading.” Read more here.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution contributed to this story.

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