Henry County Schools is building a foundation for college and career readiness

How one Metro-Atlanta district systematically improved student access to advanced coursework through strategic scheduling

About Henry County Schools

Georgia | 52 schools | 43,000 students | 6,000 employees | 86.8% graduation rate

Key results

• 15% increase in Advanced Placement course enrollment after ensuring all high schools offer a minimum of 12 AP courses
• 40% increase in fourth and fifth-grade students taking accelerated math
• 26% growth in middle school students taking high school courses in math, science, and Spanish
• Identified systemic barriers in scheduling that limited student access to college preparatory coursework

The challenge: ensuring post-secondary readiness for all students

Henry County Schools, like many districts nationwide, faced a fundamental challenge: how to ensure every student has access to the rigorous coursework needed for success after graduation.

The reality was stark. Across the district, only 23% of students were enrolled in advanced coursework, while only 40% of students overall were completing four years of coursework with the rigor that predicts postsecondary success. 

This lack of access to rigorous coursework had tangible consequences: only 54% of students in English Language Arts and 30% in math met college and career readiness benchmarks on the SAT or ACT, while overall academic intensity varied greatly across subjects.

When students at one high school used their voices to highlight the lack of opportunities created by scheduling barriers, the district recognized the urgency of accelerating sustainable change. The pattern was clear—limited access to advanced courses through scheduling meant fewer students prepared for success after graduation.

Henry County faced scheduling challenges common to many districts:

• School leaders often worked without clear systems when building student schedules, making the process laborious and exacerbating inconsistency.
• Strategic planning and goal-setting overlooked the need for rigorous coursework pathways within all subjects. 
• Districts leaders struggled to access leading data like student course-taking patterns that empower leaders to improve postsecondary outcomes. 

Henry County Schools set out to change this reality.

The solution: a foundation built on governance, policy, and data

Henry County Schools transformed student access to opportunities through a systematic five-step approach. The district formed a unified governance partnership between the Board of Education and superintendent to establish clear expectations for student outcomes. They developed board policies that provided guidance on ensuring student access and opportunity, then launched a comprehensive strategic planning process aligned with community goals.

Priority student outcomes

Advance opportunities, access, and outcomes for every student group in three priority outcomes:

• Priority outcome #1: literacy proficiency at every grade
• Priority outcome #2: readiness to learn at every level
• Priority outcome #3: college, career, and life-ready skills post-graduation

To better understand how their systems were affecting these priority student outcomes, they partnered with Abl (a BetterLesson company) for data-driven analysis and strategic advising that is now part of BetterLesson’s Integrated Insights.

Uncovering barriers through comprehensive data analysis

In 2022, Henry County Schools partnered with BetterLesson to understand how their current systems and structures contributed to academic outcome disparities across the district. Supported by a robust body of research, BetterLesson’s three-part data analysis went much deeper than what’s possible within a traditional student information system, while guided action planning with district and school leadership turned insights into improvements.

Understanding academic intensity

BetterLesson’s methodology collects complete course-taking histories for the most recently graduated cohort—including course titles, grades, and test scores. A thorough review of all courses allows for trend and pattern analysis in the course-taking data.

Each student receives an Academic Intensity Measure score based on three key areas: persistence, advanced coursework, and course progressions:

The Academic Intensity Measure (AIM score) quantifies the rigor of a student’s course-taking patterns throughout high school, predicting how well a student is prepared for college or career after graduation. This score can be further broken down into four subgroups: Far from Ready, Approaching Ready, Ready, and Highly Ready for postsecondary.

Identifying trends across schools

In addition to studying the overall academic intensity, BetterLesson uncovered patterns in resource allocation and student outcomes:

• There were large differences between schools in the instructional minutes for core subjects—as great as the equivalent of an extra 42 days of 5th grade literacy instruction within one elementary school compared to another.
• Most schools’ schedules included dedicated time for Tier 2 Interventions—but the amount of time varied: from an average of 81 minutes per day at one campus to 5 minutes per day at another.
• Class sizes varied, especially in advanced courses; for instance, three high schools averaged nearly double the average class size in their advanced core subjects compared to other high school campuses.

Guiding next steps through strategic advising and action planning

Implementing significant change requires strong alignment: from the community through the board of education to aligning district leaders with school teams. This is particularly important for making changes to scheduling, which often touches multiple functions and requires coordinated efforts.

BetterLesson worked with Henry County at multiple levels—from supporting district leadership with strategic advising to supporting instructional leaders with using their school’s data—to lay the foundation for change.

This partnership ensured that areas for improvement were collectively addressed, fostering sustainable change throughout the organization and avoiding isolated decision-making cycles.

Henry County’s executive team coordinated implementation across multiple functions—pulling in the right stakeholders for each facet of improvement work, including:

• Chief Learning and Performance Officer – course descriptions, recommended course progressions, K-5 recommended time by subject, course additions, advanced learning programs, interventions, professional development, instructional expectations, assessment, and accountability
• Chief Family and Student Services Officer – advisement processes, course registration guidelines, eighth and ninth grade matriculation, professional school counseling, Title I programming, special education, and student wellness
• Chief Leadership Officer – principal supervision, school-based systems for scheduling, school adherence to district guidelines, school bell schedules, school improvement, and attendance
• Chief Information Officer – scheduling software system, professional development on building schedules, data systems, and student data security

Results: measurable progress toward college and career readiness

Together, district and school teams developed action plans based on their data. These plans built upon foundational expectations outlined in the strategic plan and guides work that is continuing to unfold—but already, the district has observed measurable positive outcomes:

Immediate impact

• Every high school now consistently offers a minimum of 12 Advanced Placement courses, ensuring access regardless of which high school a student attends. As a result, AP course enrollment increased by 15%.
• In fourth and fifth grades, 40% more students now take accelerated math. 
• At the middle school level, the number of students taking high school courses in math, science, and Spanish has grown by almost 26%.

Shaping future policy

The data analysis is shaping the next phase of board policy reform:

• The Board is revising its graduation policy and requirements to align with insights about course requirements. This ensures the policy reflects the current realities and needs of Henry County students.
• The Board is considering a policy on scheduling for instruction. This policy would address the need for consistent expectations regarding schedule development from kindergarten through 12th grade and promote a uniform structure across all schools within the district.

Moving forward together

Creating favorable district conditions drives system-wide and sustainable change in school scheduling, ultimately enhancing students’ readiness for their futures. The strong partnership between district and school teams in Henry County and BetterLesson is transforming the educational trajectory for thousands of students, preparing them for college and career opportunities after graduation.

Henry County Schools demonstrates that when governance, policy, community engagement, data, and leadership align, meaningful change becomes possible. The result is a district where every student has access to the rigorous, relevant learning experiences that prepare them for success beyond high school.

Discover how BetterLesson’s Integrated Insights can help your district conduct a comprehensive analysis similar to Henry County’s—identifying opportunities for using limited resources more efficiently while maximizing instructional impact.