Department of Education releases accountability results


Thursday, September 7, 2006
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Department of Education releases accountability results

The number of Mississippi schools rated Successful, Exemplary and Superior-Performing under the Mississippi Accountability System has increased over last year.

A total of 759 schools were rated Successful and above with the following breakdown:

2006 School Performance Classifications

Level 5 - Superior Performing, 228 schools, 27 percent.
Level 4 - Exemplary, 225 schools, 27 percent.
Level 3 - Successful, 306 schools, 37 percent.
Level 2 - Under-Performing, 70 schools, 8 percent.
Level 1 - Low-Performing, three schools, 1 percent (these three schools may be Priority Schools).

The number of schools in the Level 1 Low-Performing category dropped significantly from eight schools last year to only three schools this year.

Only schools with grade three and above are assigned a level. Test scores of students attending alternative schools are included with their home school.

“We are pleased that our schools have maintained their school levels and even improved slightly,” said Dr. Hank M. Bounds, state superintendent of education. “These results demonstrate that our students, teachers and administrators worked very hard to increase student achievement, even when faced with many challenges brought on by Hurricane Katrina.”

Last year, there were 224 Level 5 schools, 214 Level 4 schools, 319 Level 3 schools, 73 Level 2 schools and 8 Level 1 schools.

The number of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind guidelines dropped slightly from the 2005 results. This year, 709 schools (83 percent of 851) met AYP in all three areas: reading/language arts, mathematics, and other academic indicators.

“While we are pleased that our schools have held their own through a very difficult year, we must increase the rigor of our curriculum and assessments if we are going to turn slight improvement into profound improvement,” said Dr. Bounds. “Our goals are to reduce the dropout rate by 50 percent in five years and reach the national average on national assessments in the next seven years. Clearly, our schools are on the right track, but we must accelerate student achievement substantially to achieve these goals.”

District and school information is available on the Mississippi Department of Education’s Web site by clicking on following link: http://orsap.mde.k12.ms.us:8080/MAARS/index.jsp and selecting the “reports” option from the main menu.

Ratings for Marshall County schools include:

Byhalia High, Level 3 Successful.
Galena Elementary, Level 3 Successful.
H.W. Byers Elementary, Level 3 Successful.
H.W. Byers High, Level 3 Successful.
Henry School, Level 2 Under-Performing.
Mary Reid School, Level 3 Successful.
Potts Camp Attendance Center, Level 3 Successful.

Ratings for Holly Springs schools include:

Holly Springs High, Level 2 Under-Performing.
Holly Springs Intermediate, Level 2 Under-Performing.

These results are unofficial pending approval by the Mississippi Board of Education. The Mississippi Board of Education will meet on Thursday, Sept. 7, and Friday, Sept. 8, in the Fourth Floor Boardroom at the Central High School Building, 359 North West Street, Jackson. The Thursday meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and the Friday meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m.

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