Memo from Dr. Paula Vanderford of MDE inviting comments
Details of the proposed components of the new accountability model
Presentation to the State Board of Education about the proposed model
Noteworthy changes in the proposed accountability system include:
Academic growth calculation –the new model will move away from the use of predictive scores and will measure academic growth based upon a student’s movement within and among proficiency levels. Additional credit will be awarded to schools and districts when students improve more than one level or move to the highest proficiency level.
Focus on growth among lowest scoring 25%– the new model will place additional emphasis on the academic growth of students scoring in the bottom 25% of the school and district. The growth of these students will, effectively, be counted twice for the purposes of accountability ratings.
Acceleration component – the proposed model would, beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, grade high schools and districts in part on the percent of students enrolled in accelerated courses and the percent of those students passing the national exams. Accelerated courses include Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), industry certification courses, etc. It is important to note that state funding has a dramatic impact on districts’ ability to hire additional teachers and to provide them the training required to teach these high level courses, as well as the ability to cover the cost of the national exams. Currently, many districts are prevented from offering these courses due to chronic underfunding of schools by our Legislature.
College and career readiness– the proposed model will include a “college and career readiness” component that will score high schools and districts in part based upon students’ performance on the ACT in math and English/reading. This component is contingent upon the Legislature mandating ACT testing for all high school students and providing the appropriate funding.
The State Board welcomes your input on these and other important changes in the accountability model. (Follow the links above to see a complete description of the proposed model.) Please submit your comments, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, to the Office of Accreditation and Accountability at:
or mail written comments to:
Dr. Paula Vanderford, Education Bureau Manager
Office of Accreditation and Accountability
P.O. Box 771
Jackson, MS 39205-0771
Questions may be directed to the Office of Accreditation and Accountability at 601-359-3764 or topvanderford@mde.k12.ms.us.
