This is the third consecutive

year that Rising Starr has received PfP. The PfP program is a voluntary

school improvement program designed to promote exemplary school achievement

as well as faculty collaboration. Awards are made to schools, not to individuals.

Successful schools receive

awards using the number of persons in positions requiring certification

to determine the distribution of the budgeted grant total appropriated

series of rigorous examinations by a PfP reader panel. Members of the

reader panel are exemplary educators recommended by local school system

superintendents. The final composition of the panel is representative

of school systems in the state.

To attain a PfP award, a school

must identify and subsequently meet a comprehensive set of exemplary performance

objectives. Members of the PfP Evaluator Panel score initial applications

and final reports. Performance objectives must be developed in four categories:

academic achievement, client involvement, educational programming, and

resource development.

Taken as a group, the total

set of performance objectives must be exemplary and comprehensive in scope.

They must also have impact on a significant portion of the school population

and show promise for improving the educational program(s) in the school.

Applications must also describe

clearly the method of measurement that will be used to evaluate each performance

objective as well as the criteria that will be used to determine whether

or not each objective has been achieved. Schools with approved applications

have a school year to achieve their performance objectives.

At the end of the school year,

on June 15, a final report must be submitted which documents status for

each performance objective in the approved application. To be eligible

for a Pay for Performance award, at least 80 percent of the performance

objectives specified in the approved application, including at least 50

percent from state-mandated assessments, must be achieved.

Rising Starr is also one of

the first four schools in Georgia to be named an exemplary middle-grades

school as part of a recognition program originally developed by the National

Forum to Accelerate middle-Grades Reform. Rising Starr has been awarded

the recognition of Georgia Lighthouse Schools to Watch.

In 2002, the National Forum

selected Georgia as one of three states to replicate the national Schools

to Watch program as a way to introduce the Forums criteria for high-performance

and identify middle-grades schools that meet or exceed that criteria.

Rising Starr and the other three schools, Hart County Middle (Hart County)

Chapel Hill Middle (Douglas County) and Mercer Middle (Chatham County),

were selected by state leaders for their academic excellence, responsiveness

to the needs and interests of young adolescents, and their commitment

to helping all students achieve at high levels. In addition, each school

had strong leadership, teachers who work together to improve curriculum

and instruction, and a commitment to assessment and accountability in

order to bring about continuous improvement.

School selection was based

on a written application showing how the school met various criteria developed

parents and students, and looked at sample lessons and student work. The

schools represent urban and rural communities.

Rising Starr will be featured

in a video that will be distributed and used by both the National Forum

and the Georgia Middle School Association, will be on the websites of

both of those organizations, as well as the Georgia Department of Education

Web site, and will serve as a mentor for other schools aspiring to this

status.