Students in Cox Elementary's Robotics Club use Vex Robotics Kits to learn key STEM and critical thinking skills as they explore engineering. Pictured are Ethan Collins, Principal Jim Horne and Ricardo Salas.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — A Moultrie elementary school that has received significant criticism in The Observer’s Rants and Raves column got some good news recently with the release of an analysis from the state Department of Education.

Cox Elementary School is one of 21 “chronically failing” schools on the state’s Beating the Odds list.

The analysis is based on the College and Career Ready Performance Index — a statistic the state uses to rank schools’ performance. The CCRPI is calculated using several factors, but a big component is students’ scores on state assessments.

The state DOE makes statistical projections for each school’s CCRPI based on the school’s size, grade cluster, student mobility, and student demographics (including race/ethnicity, disability, English learners, and poverty). If an individual school’s actual CCRPI is above the predicted range, then that school beat the odds.

The Colquitt County School System has eight schools on the Beating the Odds list for 2015-16, according to a press release from the school system. That’s up from six in 2014-15, which was the baseline year.

Charter school systems — such as Colquitt County — must increase the percentage of their schools on the list each year, the press release said.

In 2014-15, Colquitt County schools on the Beating the Odds list were Colquitt County High School, Odom Elementary School, Okapilco Elementary School, Stringfellow Elementary School, Sunset Elementary School, and R.B. Wright Elementary School.

The following year, which was the system’s first as a charter system, Sunset Elementary fell off the list, but Cox, Funston Elementary and C.A. Gray Junior High joined it.

“The Department of Education’s recognition of Cox Elementary School’s achievement of beating the odds in 2016 is a reflection of the dedication of the students, the teachers, and the administration to developing and participating in a system of supports that promote a positive school climate and a collaborative learning environment that fosters literacy and respect,” said Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Marni Kirkland.