Last week the Mississippi Department of Education released the 2013-2014 grades based on the state’s new accountability system.
Last year, schools implemented state and federal guidelines that included more rigorous college-and-career-ready standards.
The 2013-2014 school year is considered a transitional year for the letter grades because it was the first year Mississippi schools implemented the new accountability models, a MDE press release stated. The U.S. Department of Education granted Mississippi a one-year waiver allowing them to keep their letter grades from the 2012-2013 school year.
The 2014 grades with out the waivers are:
Picayune School District: “D”
Pearl River Central School District: “C”
Poplarville School District: “C:
The waivered scores for the school districts in Pearl River County are as follows:
Picayune School District: “C”
Pearl River Central School District: “B”
Poplarville School District: “B”
Along with the overall district scores, the state released grades for each school in the district. These grades were included in the waiver as well.
There are four schools in the Pearl River Central School District and Assistant Superintendent Nina Guthrie said that their schools have done quite well with the changes and the new accountability model.
The 2014 without waiver grades for those schools are: Pearl River Central High School “B”, Middle School “B”, Lower Elementary “C”, and Upper Elementary received a “C.”
The waivered grades for those schools are: Pearl River Central High School “B”, Middle School “B”, Lower Elementary “C” and the Upper Elementary received a “B.”
“Anytime you implement changes there are growing pains,” Guthrie said. “As we continue to transition into the new accountability model it will be little more difficult, but our teachers are working hard and are well-trained and we are capable of meeting that task. Our high school continued to improve and earned a “B” rating without the waiver.”
The grades for the schools in the Poplarville school district for 2014 without the waiver are: Poplarville High School “B”, Middle School “C”, Lower Elementary “C” and Upper Elementary “C.”
The Poplarville High School’s waivered grade was an “A.” The Middle School received a “B”, Lower Elementary a “C” and the Upper Elementary a “C.”
“We’re using these test scores to find out what we need to be doing in the new accountability and meet the standards that have been put in play,” Superintendent Carl Merritt said. “We’re pleased at where we landed and willing to work hard to be where we need to be and make sure that our children and parents can benefit from the curriculum that’s been set forth to us.”
There are seven schools in the Picayune School District.
The 2014 grades without the waiver for these schools are: Picayune Memorial High School “B”, Picayune Junior High School “D”, Nicholson Elementary “D”, Roseland Park Elementary “D”, Southside Upper Elementary “C”, Southside Lower Elementary “C” and Westside Elementary “C”.
These schools received the following waivered grades: Picayune Memorial High School “B”, Picayune Junior High School “C”, Nicholson Elementary “C”, Roseland Park Elementary “C.”
Southside Upper Elementary “C”, Southside Lower Elementary “C”, Westside Elementary, “C.”
Picayune Memorial High School Principal Kent Kirkland said he is extremely pleased with the school’s rating.
“Our students, teachers and administration worked hard to achieve this high performing rating and we hope to continue it,” Kirkland said. “It makes a difference in the whole school climate when our students excel.”
View the complete 2014 Accountability results for schools and districts at http://reports.mde.k12.ms.us/report/report2014.aspx