Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA)

Achievement results on the alternate assessment for Georgia students with significant cognitive disabilities, by subject and subgroup, 2004-2024.

Source: Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA)
Year coverage: 2004–2024
Updated: annual
Version: 1.0.0
Schema hash: 0b1b7d2b72d5

Detail levels available

StateDistrictSchool · default

Overview

Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) participation and achievement-level results for Georgia public school students with significant cognitive disabilities, published by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). The GAA is a separate assessment from Georgia Milestones, taken by students whose IEP team determines they cannot access the general assessment. Two measure regimes share one schema: 2004-2007 is a participation summary (enrollment in AYP-applicable grades plus the count of students taking the GAA per school/district/state, no demographics, no subject), while 2011-2024 is a tidy achievement-level fact per (entity x demographic subgroup x subject) with counts and percentages at up to four achievement levels plus two derived cumulative shares. 2011-2018 is the portfolio-based 3-tier GAA 1.0 (no distinguished tier — those metrics are NULL, not 0); the Milestones-aligned 4-tier GAA 2.0 begins in 2019. Coverage: 2004-2007, 2011-2019, 2022-2024 (2008-2010 are GOSA archive gaps; 2020-2021 COVID testing suspensions).

Row grain: One row per year, district_code, school_code, demographic, subject.

Key metric

pct_proficient_learner_or_above — Percent Proficient Learner or Above (proportion)

The single headline value most answers want.

JSON schema →Data contract (YAML) →

Variables

Every column in the fact table. The code is the exact field name the API returns.

Column	Type	Unit	Range	Null?	Description
`year`Year	integer	—	—	no	Ending calendar year of the school year (e.g., 2024 = 2023-24). Derived from the filename; for 2011-2024 cross-checked against the source's LONG_SCHOOL_YEAR. 2008-2010 and 2020-2021 are absent from the source. Full description▾ Ending calendar year of the school year (e.g., 2024 = 2023-24). Derived from the filename; for 2011-2024 cross-checked against the source's LONG_SCHOOL_YEAR. 2008-2010 and 2020-2021 are absent from the source.
`district_code`District Code	string	—	—	yes	GOSA district code (FK to districts dimension): 3-digit zero-padded standard code or 7-digit state-charter code. NULL on state-level aggregate rows. Full description▾ GOSA district code (FK to districts dimension): 3-digit zero-padded standard code or 7-digit state-charter code. NULL on state-level aggregate rows. Joins districts; adds its label columns.
`school_code`School Code	string	—	—	yes	4-digit zero-padded GOSA school code (FK to schools dimension as the composite (district_code, school_code) key). NULL on district- and state-level aggregate rows. The 2019 source file ships codes unpadded; zfill(4) restores the dimension's 4-char format. Full description▾ 4-digit zero-padded GOSA school code (FK to schools dimension as the composite (district_code, school_code) key). NULL on district- and state-level aggregate rows. The 2019 source file ships codes unpadded; zfill(4) restores the dimension's 4-char format. Joins schools; adds its label columns.
`demographic`Demographic	string	—	—	no	Demographic subgroup the row reports; 'all' for every 2004-2007 row and for the overall figure thereafter. Full description▾ Canonical demographic subgroup (FK to the global demographics dimension). 'all' for every 2004-2007 row (no demographic breakdown published in those years); 2011-2024 rows carry the full subgroup set (race, gender, economic status, special populations). This topic uses the SPLIT race convention — separate `asian` and `pacific_islander` rows, never the combined rollup. NON-ADDITIVE MILITARY KEYS: `active_duty` (dependents of currently-serving members) is a SUBSET of `military_connected` (any DoD-connected family); both appear from 2022 on — do not sum them across the demographic axis. 22 allowed values▾ `active_duty` `all` `asian` `black` `economically_disadvantaged` `english_learners` `female` `foster_care` `hispanic` `homeless` `male` `migrant` `military_connected` `multiracial` `native_american` `not_economically_disadvantaged` `not_english_learners` `not_migrant` `pacific_islander` `students_with_disabilities` `students_without_disabilities` `white` Joins demographics; adds its label columns.
`subject`Subject	string	—	—	yes	Content area assessed (ELA, math, science, or social studies); NULL for 2004-2007 participation-only rows. Full description▾ GAA content area being assessed — one of the four GAA subjects (english_language_arts, mathematics, science, social_studies). NULL for 2004-2007 rows, which report only overall participation with no subject detail. 4 allowed values▾ `english_language_arts` `mathematics` `science` `social_studies`
`num_enrolled_ayp_grades`Number Enrolled Ayp Grades	integer	count	—	yes	Total enrollment in AYP-applicable grades (grades 1-8 and 11). Published ONLY for 2004-2007; NULL for every 2011-2024 row (GOSA stopped publishing the column). Note: num_tested can legitimately exceed this value (e.g., DeKalb school 644:3058 in 2004-2005) because the GAA is also administered in non-AYP grades while this denominator counts AYP grades only. Full description▾ Total enrollment in AYP-applicable grades (grades 1-8 and 11). Published ONLY for 2004-2007; NULL for every 2011-2024 row (GOSA stopped publishing the column). Note: num_tested can legitimately exceed this value (e.g., DeKalb school 644:3058 in 2004-2005) because the GAA is also administered in non-AYP grades while this denominator counts AYP grades only.
`num_tested`Number Tested	integer	count	—	yes	Count of students taking the GAA in this cell. Always reported 2004()-2023; in 2024 GOSA suppressed it (TFS) on ~84% of rows while still publishing the level percentages, so most 2024 rows have NULL num_tested with non-NULL pct__learner values. () A handful of 2004 rows have NULL metrics as published. Full description▾ Count of students taking the GAA in this cell. Always reported 2004()-2023; in 2024 GOSA suppressed it (TFS) on ~84% of rows while still publishing the level percentages, so most 2024 rows have NULL num_tested with non-NULL pct__learner values. () A handful of 2004 rows have NULL metrics as published.
`num_beginning_learner`Number Beginning Learner	integer	count	—	yes	Count scoring at the lowest achievement tier. Unifies the era namings LIMITED (2011-2018, 2022-2023), Level1 (2019), and BEGIN (2024). NULL for 2004-2007 (no achievement detail) and for suppressed cells. Full description▾ Count scoring at the lowest achievement tier. Unifies the era namings LIMITED (2011-2018, 2022-2023), Level1 (2019), and BEGIN (2024). NULL for 2004-2007 (no achievement detail) and for suppressed cells.
`num_developing_learner`Number Developing Learner	integer	count	—	yes	Count scoring at the second tier (PARTIAL / Level2 / DEVELOPING across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 and for suppressed cells. Full description▾ Count scoring at the second tier (PARTIAL / Level2 / DEVELOPING across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 and for suppressed cells.
`num_proficient_learner`Number Proficient Learner	integer	count	—	yes	Count scoring at the third tier (ADEQUATE / Level3 / PROFICIENT across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 and for suppressed cells. Full description▾ Count scoring at the third tier (ADEQUATE / Level3 / PROFICIENT across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 and for suppressed cells.
`num_distinguished_learner`Number Distinguished Learner	integer	count	—	yes	Count scoring at the highest (4th) achievement tier (Level4 / THOROUGH / DISTINGUISHED across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 AND for all of 2011-2018: the GAA used 3-tier scoring then and the tier did not exist (the source's reserved THUROUGH column, always 0/empty, is dropped rather than served as a phantom all-zero metric). Also NULL for suppressed cells. Full description▾ Count scoring at the highest (4th) achievement tier (Level4 / THOROUGH / DISTINGUISHED across eras). NULL for 2004-2007 AND for all of 2011-2018: the GAA used 3-tier scoring then and the tier did not exist (the source's reserved THUROUGH column, always 0/empty, is dropped rather than served as a phantom all-zero metric). Also NULL for suppressed cells.
`pct_beginning_learner`Percent Beginning Learner	number	proportion	—	yes	Share of tested students at the lowest tier, 0-1 scale (bronze publishes 0-100; divided by 100). NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells. Full description▾ Share of tested students at the lowest tier, 0-1 scale (bronze publishes 0-100; divided by 100). NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells.
`pct_developing_learner`Percent Developing Learner	number	proportion	—	yes	Share at the second tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells. Full description▾ Share at the second tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells.
`pct_proficient_learner`Percent Proficient Learner	number	proportion	—	yes	Share at the third tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells. Full description▾ Share at the third tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007 and suppressed cells.
`pct_distinguished_learner`Percent Distinguished Learner	number	proportion	—	yes	Share at the highest tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007, for ALL of 2011-2018 (3-tier era — tier did not exist), and for suppressed cells. Full description▾ Share at the highest tier, 0-1 scale. NULL for 2004-2007, for ALL of 2011-2018 (3-tier era — tier did not exist), and for suppressed cells.
`pct_developing_learner_or_above`Percent Developing Learner or Above	number	proportion	—	yes	Derived cumulative share at Developing or higher, 0-1 scale. For 4-tier years (2019+): developing + proficient + distinguished (NULL when any summand is suppressed). For the 3-tier 2011-2018 era the absent distinguished tier is omitted from the sum (developing + proficient), so those years ARE populated. Publisher-rounded summands can overshoot 1.0 by up to 0.001; overshoot within 0.005 is capped to 1.0. NULL for 2004-2007. Full description▾ Derived cumulative share at Developing or higher, 0-1 scale. For 4-tier years (2019+): developing + proficient + distinguished (NULL when any summand is suppressed). For the 3-tier 2011-2018 era the absent distinguished tier is omitted from the sum (developing + proficient), so those years ARE populated. Publisher-rounded summands can overshoot 1.0 by up to 0.001; overshoot within 0.005 is capped to 1.0. NULL for 2004-2007.
`pct_proficient_learner_or_above`Percent Proficient Learner or Above	number	proportion	—	yes	Share of tested students scoring Proficient Learner or higher, on a 0-1 scale (the headline GAA proficiency rate). Full description▾ Derived cumulative share at Proficient or higher, 0-1 scale. For 4-tier years (2019+): proficient + distinguished; for 3-tier 2011-2018 it equals pct_proficient_learner. Rounding overshoot within 0.005 is capped to 1.0. NULL for 2004-2007 and when a summand is suppressed.

Filters

Query parameters the fact endpoint accepts. Comma-separated values are OR within a parameter; multiple parameters AND together.

Parameter	Kind	Allowed values	Notes
`year`	year_exact	any value	—
`year_min`	year_range	any value	—
`year_max`	year_range	any value	—
`detail`	detail	`districtsschoolsstates`	enum-enforced, default: schools
`district_code`	foreign_key	any value	multi-value
`school_code`	foreign_key	any value	multi-value
`demographic`	foreign_key	22 allowed values▾ `active_duty` `all` `asian` `black` `economically_disadvantaged` `english_learners` `female` `foster_care` `hispanic` `homeless` `male` `migrant` `military_connected` `multiracial` `native_american` `not_economically_disadvantaged` `not_english_learners` `not_migrant` `pacific_islander` `students_with_disabilities` `students_without_disabilities` `white`	multi-value, enum-enforced
`subject`	categorical	`english_language_artsmathematicssciencesocial_studies`	multi-value, enum-enforced, pick one
`district_type`	dimension_attribute	7 allowed values▾ `commission_charter` `resa` `standard` `state_agency` `state_charter` `state_school` `state_special`	multi-value, enum-enforced
`demographic_category`	dimension_attribute	12 allowed values▾ `aggregate` `disability` `economic_status` `esol` `foster_care` `gender` `grade` `homeless_status` `migrant_status` `military` `race` `sped`	multi-value, enum-enforced

Example requests

Run these against the base URL — they return live data.

All rows (first page), schools level

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/education/georgia_alternate_assessment"

schools data for 2024

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/education/georgia_alternate_assessment?year=2024"

Filtered to subject = english_language_arts for 2024

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/education/georgia_alternate_assessment?year=2024&subject=english_language_arts"

One district (code 601), 2024

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/education/georgia_alternate_assessment?district_code=601&year=2024&detail=districts"

Download 2024 as CSV

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/education/georgia_alternate_assessment?year=2024&format=csv"

Notes & limitations

NULL handling

Suppressed cells (too few students to report) are NULL, never zero.
Zero is a real, reported value.

Limitations

Suppressed cells are NULL (not zero). State rows have NULL district_code and school_code. District rows have NULL school_code.