The Alabama State Department of Education released its annual report cards last week to grade schools and districts across the state on everything from academic performance to career readiness from the 2022-23 school year.

The reports were made public on Dec. 14, and schools received a letter grade based on academic achievement, academic growth, graduation rate, college and career readiness, chronic absenteeism and progress in English language proficiency from the past year. Last year marked the return of the state report cards after they were not issued for the 2019-20 or 2020-21 school years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a 2016 article from Gulf Coast Media, all public schools receive report cards with the exception of K-3 schools, which are excluded from the reports.

According to data in the reports, both Gulf Shores City Schools and Orange Beach City Schools received an "A" for their district's overall performance. Baldwin County Public Schools received an overall "B" rating.

Six schools — Elberta Middle School, Fairhope High School, Rosinton School, Spanish Fort High School, Stonebridge Elementary and Orange Beach High School — jumped up into the "A" tier, while the other seven schools included in the "A" category maintained their status from last year.

The reports reflect that many of the schools that received higher scores are in areas of lower poverty. For example, Gulf Shores received "A's" for all three schools in their city district, Fairhope received "A's" for all schools except one in their feeder pattern that received a "B," and Orange Beach schools all received an "A" score except one that received a "B."

In Baldwin County, 18 schools received a "B" score, 10 received a "C," and one received a "D." There were no schools rated "F."

Several schools dropped a letter grade in this year's report. Daphne High School dropped from an "A" last year to a "B" this year, and Delta Elementary School, Magnolia School and Swift Elementary School dropped from a "B" to a "C."

In addition to the schools that moved into the "A" tier, other schools also improved their score from last year. Florence B. Mathis Elementary School, Foley Elementary School, Elberta High School, Robertsdale High School and Baldwin County High School all improved from a "C" last year to a "B" this year.

"We improved our overall score as a system. In fact, more than half our schools went up significantly in points, which is a hard feat," Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler said a Dec. 15 news release. "We had 13 schools with a grade of 'A,' and 19 received a 'B.' As of today, Baldwin County ranks second across all county school systems based on academic scoring. That's good, but I want us to be in first place. What a great Christmas present that would be and based on these early test scores. I think these children have been working really hard to make that happen in 2024."

According to Eric Mackey, state superintendent, the reports help the state to provide the public with data that reflects significant details about the state's public education system and learn more about what is happening inside Alabama public schools.

The Department of Education was also included in the report. Alabama public schools across the state received a "B" with an overall score of 83, maintaining the same score as last year's report. Mackey also said the reports help to identify areas within the system that need additional support and resources as well as prompt conversations about what is working in the state's public schools.

"We want everyone to be aware of what is going on in the schools across our state. We are committed to providing easily manipulative online tools that show rich, detailed data in a way that is intuitive, simple, readable and parent-friendly," Mackey said. "This is a useful resource for anyone interested in Alabama's public education data."

For more information on the 2022-2023 state report cards, visit reportcard.alsde.edu.