Poplarville School Board hears about state rating and middle school

Published 7:00 am Thursday, October 17, 2019

Poplarville School District’s Board of Trustees heard a presentation on the District’s A rating at Monday’s meeting.

Over the past three years, the District has improved in most areas, said Assistant Superintendent Konya Miller. The District received an A in 2017, a B in 2018 and is back up to an A in 2019.

The points the District earned in reading and math proficiency took a less than 1 percent dip, but the District has a plan to improve those points, Miller said. Student proficiency in math was at 45.8 percent, compared to the state average of 47 percent.

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The science assessment has changed, but the District performed as well this year as it did the previous year, Miller said. The District’s science proficiency was 68.2 percent, while the state’s science proficiency was 56.2 percent. U.S. History scores in the District improved, Miller said. The District’s U.S. History proficiency was at 66.9 percent, while the state average was at 55.7 percent.

The graduation rate for Poplarville High School is the highest it has been in a long time, Miller said. The graduation rate in the district is at 94.7 percent, while the state’s graduation rate is at 84 percent.

Both the biology scores and the graduation rates are among the highest in the state, Miller said. The four Career Technical education programs scored in the top 10 in the state, Miller said.

Poplarville Middle School Principal Heidi Dillon updated the Board on the school’s inclusion in the Additional Targeted Support and Improvement program. Schools are put in the program when their three year average subgroup performance is at or below all students in the lowest performing schools, according to the Targeted Support and Improvement quick reference.

The Poplarville Middle School was put into ATSI beginning in the 2016 to 2017 school year to improve the school’s test results for students with disabilities, Dillon said.

To get out of ATSI, the school needed both a three year average score of 249 and to improve the school rating by a proficiency level or past the midpoint of a proficiency level.

The school’s three year average was 246, just below the needed average, which means the school will continue in ATSI. The score has improved over that time, however. In 2016 to 2017, the school’s score was 236, and in 2017 to 2018 the score was 242, Dillon said. The school made changes in the middle of the 2018 to 2019 school year and saw huge improvements in test scores for students with disabilities, Dillon said. The 2018 to 2019 score was 260.

Putting students with disabilities into small group instruction every day is making a difference in their performance, Dillon said, and the school hopes to get the points and proficiency rating it needs to exit the ATSI program in the next school year.

The next Board meeting will be Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. in the District office on Julia Street.