The Georgia Department of Education’s initiative to place full-time literacy coaches in 60 high-need elementary schools has shown results in the Bibb County School District, according to recent data. Most of the eight Bibb County schools that received state-funded literacy coaches reported improved reading scores among students this year.
These eight schools—Bernd, Bruce, Hartley, Ingram-Pye, Rosa Taylor, Southfield, Union and L.H. Williams—serve more than 2,200 kindergarten through third-grade students. Olena Stadnik-Floore, BCSD Elementary Services Director, described these as “the foundational years” for reading.
“We want to make sure that all students, by the time they leave third grade, are reading on grade level,” Stadnik-Floore said.
Third grade is also when students first take the Georgia Milestones assessment. The district’s review of its 2025 statewide assessment results showed only a slight improvement overall: 51% of third graders read at or above grade level this year, up one point from last year. The percentage scoring at or above proficient in English language arts was unchanged at 22%.
However, most schools with literacy coaches saw higher gains. At Ingram-Pye Elementary, the number of third graders reading below grade level dropped from 78% to 68%. L.H. Williams Elementary had an 8% increase in students scoring as developing learner or above in English language arts and a 5% rise in those reading on grade level.
Bernd and Hartley Elementary were exceptions; both saw declines in test scores for third graders in English and reading categories.
Stadnik-Floore noted comparisons between different student groups over two years were not exact but provided a starting point for measuring impact. “We’re comparing different groups of students, but it’s a good starting point to see the impact,” she said.
She added that coached schools are those identified as needing improvement and may show faster growth due to targeted support. “But we also need to realize that the schools that do get the structured literacy coaches are the ones that are on the needs improvement list. So, you can see the growth there faster,” she said.
Willette Driskell serves as Southfield Elementary’s structured literacy coach and described significant challenges with foundational skills such as phonics among her students.
“Our students have major deficits with foundational reading skills. That is a major barrier that prevents them from reading fluently,” Driskell said. “And because they read poorly, they struggle with comprehension.”
Driskell leads professional development and collaborates with teachers on lesson planning and instructional strategies based on “the science of reading.” She emphasized supporting teachers so they could better help their students: “Once they realized I was there to support and grow them in their craft, it all started to come together,” Driskell said.
Southfield saw an eight-point gain in third graders scoring at or above Proficient Learner in English language arts and a ten-point increase in those reading at grade level after Driskell’s involvement.
“My breakthrough moment was seeing teachers truly buy into the work and seeing students raising their hands to answer questions,” Driskell said. “The students went from decoding to encoding, (which is) writing the letters of the words and then saying those words.”
She credited Principal Shavone Laney’s support for helping drive these improvements: “We’re looking to go even higher this year,” Driskell said.
This second year of state-funded coaching aligns with Superintendent Dan Sims’ focus on having all district students read at grade level by year’s end. State data shows that while 113 teachers were directly impacted by coaching initiatives across Georgia’s participating schools, Stadnik-Floore estimates about 400 educators benefited within Bibb County alone.
The coaching program supports teacher effectiveness under Georgia’s Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act by requiring early screening and instruction aligned with current research-based practices. According to state officials, participating schools saw a fifteen-point improvement on initial reading screener data during its first year.
Coaches remain assigned as long as their school appears on Georgia’s Comprehensive Support and Improvement list—a designation lasting three years after identification—according to Meghan Frick from the state department of education.
Schools without dedicated literacy coaches use academic coaches instead; evidence-based practices developed at coached sites are being shared district-wide along with new statewide ELA standards for literacy instruction.
“Anything that we’ve used before is really a lot more rigorous now,” Stadnik-Floore said. “We are providing support right now to all of our schools through our teaching and learning departments or the district coaches. We’re working on the teacher clarity of what the new standards are because teacher clarity will lead to the student’s achievement in literacy.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM.
