State’s Accountability System Is Not Fair For Smaller Schools
Water Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Michael McInnis (right) provided an overview of the school test scores for 2017-18 during Monday night’s school board meeting.
By David Howell
Editor
JACKSON – Discussion about the 2017-18 school test scores released by the Mississippi Department of Education earlier in the month was included on Monday night’s school board meeting agenda as Superintendent Dr. Michael McInnis updated board members on the data.
As reported in last week’s Herald, McInnis explained that both the Water Valley School District and Davidson Elementary School (DES) showed small gains on the point system for Mississippi’s A-F accountability system, while Water Valley High School decreased.
DES increased 20 points, and will remain a C-rated school, and the overall district score increased 13 points and will also remain a C-rated district. Water Valley High School dropped from a C to D.
One issue, cited by local school officials as well as officials from other small schools across the state, is the state’s accountability system is biased against rural schools that educate K-12 grades in one place, and for high schools that have grades 7-12 in one school.
All high schools across the state are graded on a 1,000 point scale that measures growth and proficiency in reading, math, science and U.S. History, as well as graduation rates, college and career readiness, and participation and performance in special courses such as advanced placement and international baccalaureate.
However larger school districts that operate a separate middle school that typically includes seventh and eighth grade students are graded on an 800-point scale for the stand-alone middle school, which can provide an advantage for the junior high grades when students’ scores often dip. This means schools like Water Valley High School, that educate students in grades 7-12, can be at a disadvantage on the 1,000-point scale, compared to a 9-12 school that is graded on the same point scale without the junior high grades.
“MDE has established a work force that is supposed to be looking at a more fair system,” McInnis explained at Monday’s meeting after discussion on the scores. The superintendent added that if Water Valley had a separate middle school, the score would have likely remained a D while the high school score would have been jumped to a B.
“It is what it is, we have already identified what the weaknesses are and that is what we are addressing this year,” McInnis added. “Overall I feel like we are going in the right direction.”
