More than 150 schools across the state are on the Georgia Department of Education’s so-called “Focus List.” The new designation is for schools with achievement gaps.

The focus schools have big disparities between kids who do well and kids who don’t. They’re different than so-called “priority” schools made up of the state’s lowest performing five percent of public schools overall. Both receive federal Title 1 funding.

Four Houston County schools in Middle Georgia are on the list. The system’s Eric Payne says some kids will get extra help during and after school to help narrow the gaps.

“It can still be a high performing school, but in this area with this one sub-population we want you to focus on those students and see what we can do to get those students to be more successful and improve in those areas.”

The new designations are required as part of a waiver Georgia received from the Federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Tags: education, Georgia Department of Education, Houston County schools, Josephine Bennett, achievement gap