Georgia Low Performing Schools List: How GOSA Determines the Bottom 25%

What the GOSA List Is and Why It Matters

The Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) publishes an annual list of public schools performing in the bottom 25% statewide. This list is the geographic gate for the Georgia Promise Scholarship — your child must live within the attendance zone of a school on it to be eligible.

The list doesn't mean your child attends that school. It means your home address falls within the geographic boundary that school serves. A student enrolled at a higher-performing school across town still qualifies if their home is zoned for a bottom-25% school.

How GOSA Calculates the Rankings

For the 2026-27 academic year, GOSA finalized the list on February 26, 2026. The calculation averages two years of College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) Single Scores — in this case, 2024 and 2025 data.

CCRPI scores integrate several component metrics:

• Content Mastery — how well students demonstrate proficiency on state assessments
• Progress — year-over-year growth in student achievement
• Closing the Gaps — performance equity across student subgroups
• Readiness — measures beyond test scores (attendance, literacy, etc.)
• Graduation Rate — for high schools only

Schools are ranked against all other traditional public schools statewide. The bottom quarter lands on the list.

Which Schools Are Excluded from the Calculation

GOSA excludes certain school types from the bottom-25% ranking regardless of their raw scores. Even if one of these schools performs poorly, it won't appear on the Promise Scholarship eligibility list:

• State and locally authorized charter schools
• Conversion charter schools
• Online and virtual public schools
• Non-traditional and alternative schools
• Primary schools serving only Pre-K through 2nd grade
• Residential treatment facilities
• Department of Juvenile Justice schools
• State schools for the Blind and Deaf
• Magnet schools
• Schools missing one or both years of required CCRPI data

This matters because if your child attends a charter or magnet school, that school won't be on the list — but the traditional public school your home address is zoned for might be.

How to Check Your Attendance Zone

1. Find your zoned school. Go to your local school district's website and use the school zone finder or boundary map tool. Enter your home address and note which traditional public school (elementary, middle, or high) your address is assigned to.

2. Check the GOSA list. Visit MyGeorgiaPromise.org or the GOSA website and search for that school. If it appears on the current year's bottom-25% list, your attendance zone qualifies.

3. Document your address. You'll need property tax records, a lease agreement, or utility bills that match the address to the zone when you apply.

If your address is near a district boundary, confirm which school your side of the line is zoned for. District zone maps can be counterintuitive, and a one-block difference can determine eligibility.

The List Changes Every Year

GOSA recalculates the bottom-25% rankings annually. A school that qualifies one year might improve its scores and drop off the next. A school that was previously above the cutoff might decline and appear.

For current Promise Scholarship students, this doesn't matter. Under O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-22(d), a student already in the program is grandfathered — they keep their scholarship even if their zoned school improves and leaves the list. The annual list change only affects new applicants.

For families considering applying, check the list as soon as GOSA publishes the new year's rankings (typically in February). If your zoned school is on it, apply during Window 1 for the full $6,500 award.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Parent Guide includes a zone verification walkthrough and explains how to handle edge cases like recently redistricted zones, split boundaries, and out-of-zone enrollments.

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