State superintendent Dr. Carey Wright has announced a “listening tour” to solicit input from parents, educators, and others about the way Mississippi assesses student learning and rates schools and school districts. Meetings are scheduled in seven cities around the state. The feedback provided will be used to devise a state accountability plan that will be […]
MDE Listening Tour Seeks Input on Accountability Plan Read More »
Mississippi public school students and teachers had another good year, continuing the trend of better achievement and higher test scores. That is great news for our state! You can see here how schools and districts scored on the 2016 Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) tests. This was the first administration of the MAP assessment. The true year-over-year comparison in
Good News on Mississippi Test Scores Read More »
Get this: if your third grader is reading at a seventh-grade level, Mississippi does not consider her to be “advanced.” She won’t hit the advanced mark unless she reads at the nationally-normed 8.1 grade level, according to the cut scores set for Mississippi’s 2015 state test. To be considered proficient, your third grader had to perform at
Study Says Mississippi’s Proficiency Bar is Set Above Grade Level Read More »
Wow! What a terrific start to the school year! We have loved seeing the amazing back-to-school photos and videos lighting up Facebook and Twitter: colorful classrooms, creative getting-to-know-you games, and brain-stretching learning activities. Teachers are fired up and ready for another outstanding year. Be sure to check out your own school district web site for
School ratings for 2015 are out. See district ratings here and school ratings here. “Yep, just what we thought.” That’s the likely response to today’s ratings from Mississippi parents and educators who feel their public schools have been set up to fail by a hostile legislature. While our national test scores are steadily rising, ratings governed by state officials
Accountability Ratings for Mississippi Schools and School Districts 2015 Read More »
School district ratings for 2015 are coming later this week. And it just got a whole lot harder to make a good grade. This is the first set of grades for schools using a new assessment (2015 PARCC) and the first state test given online. Both are likely to drive down district grades. Fewer than one percent
2015 School Ratings Coming Read More »
Today, Sen. Hob Bryan held the charter school bill (SB 2161) on a motion to reconsider, giving senators another opportunity to vote on it, probably tomorrow. Please give your senator a call! As this bill stands now, even some districts currently rated A and B could be cannibalized by charter schools seeking high-performing students. How? Educators predict that changes
Charter School Bill Will Get Another Vote Read More »
Today, the Senate narrowly voted to concur with the House version of SB 2161, the charter school bill that allows students in districts rated C, D, and F to cross district lines to attend charter schools. The vote was 24-21, with seven senators not voting. Educators tell us they fear that districts now rated A
Senate Votes on Charter Bill Read More »
The Senate charter school bill, SB 2161, has not yet been taken up for a vote. Please continue to contact the senators who represent your school district about this bill. SB 2161 threatens to siphon resources away from the C-rated districts that are doing some of our very best work with high-poverty students, allowing their
Keep Calling on Charter Bill, News from House Read More »
Governor Bryant signed Senate Bill 2438 into law, providing for the appointment, rather than election, of all school district superintendents, effective January 1, 2019. The Parents’ Campaign has advocated for this change since 2008. Updated 4/24/2012 There are about 60 school districts in Mississippi in which superintendents are elected. Throughout the US, with over 14,500 school districts,
Appointed Versus Elected Superintendents Read More »
