GA education system compared to other states (Atlanta: schools, colleges)

[Diggy520]

Thank you all for your post. I was looking more for a comparison of state education systems not individual school .. I'm guessing this doesn't exist. I will be looking into some of the school districts mentioned

[LovelySummer]

Why does it matter what the state looks like as a whole? Is not the actual school that your kid would attend of most importance?

Originally Posted by Diggy520

Thank you all for your post. I was looking more for a comparison of state education systems not individual school .. I'm guessing this doesn't exist. I will be looking into some of the school districts mentioned

[Newsboy]

//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...y-overall.html

[Diggy520]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...y-overall.html

Thanks this is just what I was looking for. It says georgia school system is comparable to NY, Nj and MA. The reason why this is important is a good friend of mine moved from SC to NJ and her daughter was placed a grade behind in NJ. Don't want my child to be in a worst position if we move. Thanks for all your help.

[LovelySummer]

Diggy, your friend moved SOUTH to NORTH. You are going in the opposite direction - big difference.
Maybe you don't know it but schools in the south have historically been behind those in the north bc industry came to the north first and school was less important in the south as it was still an agrarian society. The siuth is still largely behind the north. Ask anyone who has moved their child. Present company included. This was my own experience. Me and everyone of my sibling was given an opp to skip a grade when we got to Ga from the north. It seems that you are not aware that schools in the south have been behind the north. Bit of advice, there's no way I believe Ga schools are on par with NJ and NY. I have family in the educ system. The state is trying to catch up but it's got a way to go. Ga early standards for toddlers, for example, don't even mention letters or numbers until chikdren are pre-k and kidnergarten. That's really late. I think the most imp thing u can do is make sure u place ur child in a good school "for Georgia standards" and go from there. At least if ur children is in a good school for georgia standards, u r doing the best u can public school wise and can supplemt as necessary.

Originally Posted by Diggy520

Thanks this is just what I was looking for. It says georgia school system is comparable to NY, Nj and MA. The reason why this is important is a good friend of mine moved from SC to NJ and her daughter was placed a grade behind in NJ. Don't want my child to be in a worst position if we move. Thanks for all your help.

[FromGA]

I wonder if there is a place to look up a school district's syllabus by grade. I think I have seen that in certain large school districts.

Diggy, are you concerned that if you move back to NY, your kid might get behind? Or are you concerned that your kid is in a good NY charter school, and whether education in GA will be on par? Or that GA education may be ahead of what your kid is getting right now.

[deacongirl]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Diggy, your friend moved SOUTH to NORTH. You are going in the opposite direction - big difference.
Maybe you don't know it but schools in the south have historically been behind those in the north bc industry came to the north first and school was less important in the south as it was still an agrarian society. The siuth is still largely behind the north. Ask anyone who has moved their child. Present company included. This was my own experience. Me and everyone of my sibling was given an opp to skip a grade when we got to Ga from the north. It seems that you are not aware that schools in the south have been behind the north. Bit of advice, there's no way I believe Ga schools are on par with NJ and NY. I have family in the educ system. The state is trying to catch up but it's got a way to go. Ga early standards for toddlers, for example, don't even mention letters or numbers until chikdren are pre-k and kidnergarten. That's really late. I think the most imp thing u can do is make sure u place ur child in a good school "for Georgia standards" and go from there. At least if ur children is in a good school for georgia standards, u r doing the best u can public school wise and can supplemt as necessary.

This is not entirely true. There was a poster on this forum whose children came from a top public school system in MA whose (bright) kids were actually slightly behind when they came to East Cobb. I am confident that my kids are at schools comparable to my hometown in NJ known for its excellent schools (high school is always in the top 100 in country). GA students actually ranked quite high in comparison on AP tests with scores above a 3. So, I wouldn't assume this is always the case. It depends which schools, and I strongly believe that East Cobb public schools are competitive with those in the NE.

[Diggy520]

Originally Posted by FromGA

I wonder if there is a place to look up a school district's syllabus by grade. I think I have seen that in certain large school districts.

Diggy, are you concerned that if you move back to NY, your kid might get behind? Or are you concerned that your kid is in a good NY charter school, and whether education in GA will be on par? Or that GA education may be ahead of what your kid is getting right now.

I'm concerned that if we moved and my daughter is placed in a 9th grade class that is far behind what she is learning now she will become bored and lose focus .

[cwkimbro]

Here is the thing...

Most of our rural schools are a bit behind. They simply can't compete with states that are mostly urban/suburban (NJ, Mass. and Conn. come to mind specifically).

Our urban/urban schools are very comparable. You generally have a bad side of town that is underperforming and many people avoid and a good side of town where everyone wants to be. In Georgia the schools on the good half of our cities compete fairly well and have student populations that mostly become university students and can get into some top colleges.

Our university system and our Hope Scholarship program are pretty strong.

You don't need to worry about your child getting bored in class here. We actually have schools that heavily separate the education level of students via honors, AP, and governor's honors programs. It might take a year or two to get in the right place. I know teachers personally that have had personal problems with students that transfer expecting to be a top student and failed the harder classes and cases where someone got put into a general prep class and should have been in an honors course.

What I will warn you of... and this goes for moving to any other new region. Many schools systems have subtle differences in how and when they first bring up information in their courses. It is very common for a sophomore that just moved to a new region to take a math class be re-taught some things, learn new things, as well as not having been taught something their freshman year they didn't get in another region.... all at the same time.

With any move it is important you communicate with teachers and sit down with your student work over homework and make sure to fix any deficits fast and make the student realize if they relearn a few topics... not to get cocky... that can be short-lived as it might just be a few topics... not a whole course.

[LovelySummer]

This is why I said what does a statewide rank matter? Ur child is going to be going to ONE school, not the average of ALL the schools in GA. U have to look at where she would eb attending. I encourage u to figure out where u'd want to and can afford to live and see if THAT area compares to ur NY school. Then u have ur answer. Again, no way that Ga AS A STATE is on par with the NE AS A STATE. This is exactly what I have already said and others have come behind me and said that what I said was not true then essentially said the same thing..it depends on where ur daughter attends. The implication - some suck, some don't. Again, it deoends on ur particular school of interest. Someone said their kid's school in East Cobb is great. The problem with that is that is THEIR kid's school. That has NOTHING to do with where YOUR kid will be going ... And if u don't have East Cobb money or enjoy living in a bastion of conservativeness with pretty much all one race all around u, then u r not going to be in East Cobb so the comment helps u not one drop. Figure out where u'd want to live and where u can afford to live, look at the schools and then compare. You will have ur answer.

Originally Posted by Diggy520

I'm concerned that if we moved and my daughter is placed in a 9th grade class that is far behind what she is learning now she will become bored and lose focus .