The Webster County School District has maintained its B accountability rating and both its elementary schools increased their letter grades from the previous academic year.
The state Board of Education approved letter grades for schools and districts Thursday based on Mississippi’s A-F accountability system that evaluates how they performed in the 2017-18 school year. Board members had voted Sept. 20, shortly before a news embargo on release of the accountability results was to be lifted, to delay consideration of their approval until October.
Accountability grades are based, in part, on how well students perform and progress from year to year on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program tests for English language arts and mathematics.
The tests are aligned to the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards, and are administered annually to students in grades 3-8 and in high school. Overall, students showed statistically significant gains in both ELA and mathematics from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
Local Ratings
The WCSD maintained its B rating from the previous school year.
“I am very proud of our teachers and students, and the hard work they did for the district to be rated a B,” said Webster County Schools Superintendent Brian Jones.
Jones also said he was extremely proud of both elementary schools. East Webster Elementary improved from a C to a B rating and Eupora Elementary moved up from a D to a B.
East Webster High School maintained its B rating but Eupora High School declined from B to C.
“Both high schools had gains in many areas, and with the accountability model it is harder for 6-12 schools to reach the top two letter grades," Jones explained. "EWHS staff and teachers maintained their B, which again was hard to do. EHS didn't miss the mark by much."
Mississippi grades schools using a point system based on student achievement and student progress. EHS received 607 total points, out of a possible 1,000. To have received a B rating, the school needed 648 points.
“As a district we will enjoy our successes and continue to work hard for the future,” Jones added.
High Expectations
Statewide, Mississippi had 18 A districts, 42 B districts, 37 C districts, 28 D districts and 21 F districts. The state board delayed approval of unofficial grades for four schools and one district that had not received grades in previous years.
“The 2017-18 accountability grades reflect the hard work that our teachers and school leaders do each day on behalf of their students,” said Dr. Jason Dean, board chair. “Mississippi students have achieved unprecedented outcomes in recent years, and these grades prove they can meet, and exceed, high expectations.”
Along with the release of accountability grades, the Mississippi Department of Education launched the new Mississippi Succeeds Report Card (msrc.mdek12.org), an interactive online tool designed to help parents and communities more easily evaluate schools across the state.
The tool includes detailed information about each school and district’s academic performance, and new indicators of school performance including chronic absenteeism rates and teacher qualifications.
Baseline Scores
The SBE voted in August to reset the baseline scores for establishing accountability grades for schools that have a 12th grade. The reset of the bar by which schools are measured addressed the lack of comparability to growth scores in prior years.
According to an analysis by The Parents’ Campaign, a public education advocacy group, no districts rated B (such as Webster) would be rated A if 2016-17 baseline cut scores had remained in effect.
The accountability system places an emphasis on the progress students make in ELA and mathematics from year to year, particularly the lowest-performing 25 percent of students, and factors in how well students perform on science tests in grades 5 and 8.
Accountability grades for high schools and districts include the four-year graduation rate, student performance on biology, U.S. history and ACT tests, and student participation and performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement and dual credit/dual enrollment courses.
According to MDE data, the Webster County School District’s graduation rate is 89 percent and its dropout rate is 7.9 percent.
