Lipsey Named Assistant Superintendent
Lipsey Named Assistant Superintendent
By David Howell
Editor
Water Valley School District Curriculum Director Sharon Lipsey was named as assistant superintendent during a noon school board meeting held Thursday. School board members voted unanimously to approve Superin-endent Dr. Michael McInnis’ recommendation for the hiring.
“This is something we have talked about a long time. We feel she is well suited and she is a tremendous asset for our district,” Board President Taylor Trusty said prior to the vote.
The hiring came before Lipsey and McInnis presented results for state’s second round of testing for third through eighth graders from the 2014-2015 school year. The data was released last week by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE).
“This is raw data,” McInnis told the school board, explaining school administrators had poured over the results for hours. “We can look at this and see some of the strengths and some of the weaknesses,” he added.
School trustee Pierce Epes added the test data had little meaning for the school district for planning or moving forward.
“It is just a stick to use to beat you over the head with,” Epes added, referring to MDE.
“I wish they would provide the data in a useful format and in a timely manner where it is useful for the distinct.” Epes added.
McInnis also expressed frustration about the ability to compare the test scores with previous years, because the tests were changed from year to year.
“Thank goodness we are a progressive district. We are using internal assessments to gauge our student growth with I-Ready,” Mcinnis added. I-Ready is a diagnostic assessment given to students in the district to evaluate their learning level and appropriate intervention needed.
Lipsey and McInnis presented I-Ready testing data in math and reading for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, showing growth from initial testing at the start of the school year to the latest testing completed before Christmas break.
The data showed the percentage of students showing improvement, and indicated significant growth for students who started the year performing below grade level on the assessments. The Herald will feature an in-depth look at the testing data in subsequent editions.
