The Mississippi Board of Education recently adopted new, higher performance cut scores – the scores that determine whether a school or district is rated A, B, C, D, or F. The change comes on the heels of nationally recognized achievement gains in our state’s public schools.
“As Mississippi continues our educational marathon, we need to keep pushing toward higher goals,” said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education.
The new performance cut scores were determined using a hybrid methodology that considers both norm referencing and criterion referencing. In prior years, resetting cut scores meant that, in the first year following the reset, the top 10 percent of schools and districts were rated A, the next 27 percent of schools were rated B, the next 25 percent of schools were rated C, the next 24 percent of schools were rated D, and the lowest scoring 14 percent of schools were rated F – regardless of how well or how poorly they performed. The board’s move away from the forced distribution of ratings to the use of criterion referencing (establishing fixed, descriptive definitions of the performance required for each category of A, B, C, D, or F) is something that public school advocates, including The Parents’ Campaign, long have urged. It is a significant victory for public schools that this methodology is now being used to reset cut scores. Schools will know in advance what is required for a given rating and will earn the grade that aligns with that level of proficiency and academic growth. See the new performance cut scores and how they compare to the current scores.
Mississippi’s accountability cut scores were raised in compliance with state law, which mandates that state standards for public schools be raised when 65% or more of schools or school districts earn a grade of “B” or higher. Our public schools met that target in 2023 and have surpassed it since. The new cut scores will be in effect for 2025-2026 ratings.
It is worth noting that some of those who pushed and supported the law mandating regular increases in standards for public schools now are pushing to give private schools, with no state standards or accountability at all, the same per-student state funding that public schools receive. To be clear, The Parents’ Campaign supports fair accountability for public schools, and we support periodic increases in state standards so that students remain challenged and Mississippi remains competitive. We do not support a hypocritical double standard that creates two state-funded, separate, and unequal systems of education, with ever-increasing standards and accountability for one and no standards or accountability at all for the other.
When school and district ratings are announced next year, many schools and districts may receive a lower letter grade. This does not mean that the quality of education has declined, rather, it more likely will indicate progress toward – while not yet meeting – the new, higher standards. It is typical to experience some growing pains when standards are raised. Please be sure to offer your strong support to your local teachers and students as they strive again to meet a higher academic bar.
Please also remind your legislators that what is required of one state-funded school should be required of all schools that receive state funding. Together, we’ve got this!
