Pine Belt schools receive grades from Miss. Department of Education

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - The Mississippi Department of Education has posted new grades for schools and districts based on state test scores from the 2021-2022 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program.

The unofficial report was released earlier this week and was approved by the Mississippi State Board of Education on Thursday, Sept. 29.

The grades are on an A-F scale and are part of the state’s accountability system. It is meant to help teachers, school leaders, parents and communities know how well their local schools and districts are serving students.

Below are the official results of the 2021-2022 school year for school districts in the Pine Belt as MDE released them:

The official report also included separate lists for traditional and non-traditional high schools in the state.

According to the report, traditional schools have grade configurations that include grades 9-12 only while non-traditional schools include grades below grade 9.

Here is a list of traditional high school grades in the Pine Belt. (They are listed as they were provided on the list by MDE based on ratings.)

Here is a list of non-traditional high school grades in the Pine Belt. They are listed as provided.

Here are the grades for the other schools listed by MDE in the Pine Belt. They are listed as provided.

The calculation of the state’s A-F accountability grades relies heavily on the amount of progress students make in the English language arts and mathematics from one year to the next, particularly the lowest performing 25% of students.

It includes the following components:

• Student proficiency and growth rates in ELA and Mathematics in grades 3-8
• Growth of the lowest performing 25% of students in ELA and mathematics
• Science proficiency in grades 5 and 8
• English Learner progress toward becoming proficient in the English language
• Performance on the ACT and high school algebra I, English II, biology and U.S. history assessments
• Student participation and performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement and dual credit/dual enrollment courses
• Four-year graduation rate

The grades were also impacted by key factors involving student achievement decline in 2020-21, testing waivers and one-year adjustments to the accountability system.

Overall, students made significant progress between 2020-21 and 2021-22, as schools focused on accelerating learning after the first year of the pandemic. In addition, the passing requirements for high school algebra I, English II, biology and U.S. History assessments were waived in 2020-21, which will affect the graduation rate until all students who tested under the waivers graduate.

Approximately 81% of schools and 87% of districts will be rated C or higher for the 2021-22 school year.

Though overall grades appear to have improved since 2019, state officials advise caution when interpreting score changes between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years. Substantial shifts in performance may be temporarily influenced by factors associated with pandemic disruptions.

“The pandemic not only disrupted teaching and learning, it also impacted the state’s accountability system that evaluates the effectiveness of schools and districts,” said interim state superintendent of education, Dr. Kim Benton. “While we are encouraged by the tremendous growth, it is especially important this year to look at all the components that make up each school and district grade to get a complete picture of student growth and achievement.”

Statewide student assessment data make up a large part of accountability grades.

In 2021-22, the overall percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced mostly returned to pre-pandemic rates; however, the percentage of students scoring in the bottom two achievement levels increased. The state assessment system has five levels: minimal, basic, passing, proficient and advanced.

Dr. Chris Domaleski, associate director of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment and chair of the Mississippi Department of Education Technical Advisory Committee, said the 2021-22 grades should always be viewed in the context of the pandemic.

“Schooling has been disrupted for more than two years, which affected the way students learned and were assessed,” said Domaleski. “However, the department responded to these disruptions by making appropriate adjustments to the accountability system while maintaining consistency where possible. This enables the state to continue to provide valuable information about school and district performance in 2021-2022.”

Federal law requires all states to assess students annually in ELA and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once during high school.

Mississippi law requires schools and districts to earn annual A-F grades based on student performance and growth.

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