Gwinnett Schools still not at pre-pandemic levels for Georgia Milestone test scores.

ATLANTA — Gwinnett County's 2023 Georgia Milestone results were a mixed bag.

On Thursday, Gwinnett County School board members listened to an hours long presentation on the district's 2023 Georgia Milestone results. The results saw some upticks, declines, and limited growth year-to-year.

The key takeaways were that among students in third through eighth-grade, just under 50% were at or above proficient in language arts. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, just over 50% of students performed at or above proficient in language arts. 

The results also show that 71% of students read at grade level, compared to 79% in 2019. Thirty percent of Hispanic students and 40% of Black students are considered proficient in language arts. Both of these populations saw a decline since last year and students are still not performing at pre-pandemic levels. The district did see an increase in math scores in overall student year-to-year performances.

Former Gwinnett County teacher and parent to three students in the district, Missy Purcell, said she's frustrated with the data.

"It was disheartening for me because if our kids can't read, they cannot be productive citizens in Gwinnett County future," Purcell said.

During a presentation of the data last week, Board Chair Member Tarece Johnson-Morgan called for an equity audit to address the performance declines seen in Black and Hispanic students.

"The feedback that I've gotten from families and students is that their experiences in their schools is not equal to that of other schools," Johnson-Morgan said.

District officials said they are using a multi-tiered approach to improve literacy rates -- including launching district data review cycles and working directly with school staff on how to improve specific test scores.

A district spokesperson said they are still reviewing the data at this time.