Representatives of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) briefed the Education Appropriations Committee on organizational staffing, literacy contracts, coach funding and statewide screening.

Organization and contracts: Fran Dunder (GOSA) introduced Jackie Lundberg (operations and data) and Stacy Lutz (coaching coordinator). GOSA presented an org chart showing vacancies in its policy, research and evaluation team and described two DEAL Center contracts: an FY25 scope funded at about $250,000 and a larger FY26 legislative appropriation of approximately $2,000,000 to support statewide literacy-plan development and coach competency work.

Coach funding and structure: GOSA said the larger literacy initiative totals about $21 million. Of that, about $18.48 million is directed to state-funded literacy coaches (about 164 positions funded at the RESA level and other configurations), while the remainder supports coordination and research. GOSA described three coaching models in use: DOE CSI coaches (one-to-one support for CSI schools), RESA-level coaches (paired professional development and coaching), and a larger "triage" pool (Let's Read Georgia coaches) that provides district- and school-level support depending on local need.

Coach competency and evaluation work: GOSA said it is launching a literacy coach competency task force to define core competencies, align existing endorsements (dyslexia, reading, teacher-coaching) and develop a common evaluation approach so coach effectiveness can be measured across different district contexts. The DEAL Center will facilitate a landscape analysis, competency development and research/evaluation supports for coach systems.

Universal screener (Amira) uptake: GOSA said the legislature budgeted $1.9 million for an Amira universal screener contract. Because of timing and district sign-up patterns, about 42% of students were screened with Amira in the current year. Among those screened, GOSA reported initial flags of roughly 11.4% for dyslexia indicators and roughly 14% for students flagged as significantly below grade level; staff emphasized these are initial screening flags that require diagnostic follow-up and intervention. GOSA said screener uptake is expected to increase next year and that screening coverage determines how much of the $1.9 million contract is used in any single year.

Metrics and next steps: Committee members pressed GOSA for clear, measurable outcomes. GOSA said evaluation will include multiple, tiered measures such as reductions in screener flags over a school year, classroom observation data, cohort comparisons where coaching is present versus absent, and birth-to-5 metrics (for example, increases in children served in quality-rated early care) to track readiness. GOSA offered to provide the committee a metrics dashboard and the literacy plan draft ahead of council approval in November.

Follow-up actions: members asked GOSA to supply the committee with the DEAL Center scopes of work, the Amira uptake numbers by district, the literacy-coach allocation by district/RESA, and clearer outcome measures the committee can use in future appropriations deliberations.