According to Superindent John Daley, all Jefferson Davis County schools and the district are currently rated a “C”.  Each district and school in the state is rated at one of five levels by the Mississippi Department of Education’s Accountability ranking system.

“J E. Johnson Elementary would have been a ‘D’, but remained a ‘C’ due to a state-wide waiver that allowed schools to keep the higher of the two ratings from 2012-2013 and 2013-2014,” said Daley.

The waiver was given due to implementation of Common Core State Standards during the 2013-2014 school year, even though schools still tested on the Mississippi Framework Standards.

The Mississippi Statewide Accountability System rates schools and school districts with the letter grades A, B, C, D, and F.

The 2013-14 school year is the first year the state assigned letter grades using a new accountability model that meets both state and federal reporting requirements. The scales below were used to assign the letter grades.

Key differences in the new accountability model:

The new model emphasizes student growth, particularly the lowest performing 25% of students.

The previous system calculated student growth using a prediction equation. Now, students meet growth if their scores improve from one proficiency level to the next, or move sufficiently within the lower proficiency levels.

The previous system included a “completion index” for the 12th grade score, which gave schools partial credit for GED completions and other types of non-traditional diplomas.

These students do not accumulate credit in the new system, per state statute. The federally approved 4-year graduation rate is now used.

The 2013-14 year is considered a transitional year for letter grades because it is the first academic year that schools were expected to fully implement Mississippi’s college- and career-ready standards. Because of this transition, the U.S. Department of Education granted Mississippi a one-year waiver from school letter grades for the 2013-14 school year.

The waiver allows a school to retain the letter grade it received in the 2012-13 school year if the 2013-14 grade is lower as a result of assessment results.

 

For more information visit http://reports.mde.k12.ms.us/report/report2014.aspx.