Two local school districts were recognized by the Mississippi Department of Education when it released its Mississippi Academic Assessment Program test scores last Thursday.
Union Public School District ranked eighth overall in mathematics proficiency and was third in growth on the English/language arts proficiency. Nearly 64 percent of Union’s students were proficient in mathematics, and the number of students who were proficient in English grew by 6 percent and now stands at nearly half of the students being proficient.
The Newton Municipal School District made huge strides in mathematics and was ranked No. 1 in growth among all school districts. While it’s proficiency still lagged behind the state average, the district doubled the number of proficient students from last year, going from 19 percent proficient to 38.7 percent proficient.
Newton Municipal School Superintendent Nola Bryant said she attributes the success to not only the students, teachers and administrators commitment to improvement, but also how the community has bought in.
“The biggest difference that I noticed is that we were very data driven in our approach,” Bryant said. “We let the data drive our instruction, and our students, parents, administrators and community really bought in. I’d like to congratulate everyone on a job well done. Obviously, we’re not where we want to be right now, but we made a giant leap forward to our goal.”
Union Public School Superintendent Tyler Hansford said they were pleased overall with the performance of our students and teachers on the assessments.
“In most grade levels, our math scores highly exceeded the state average,” Hansford said. “In ELA, we are still working to adjust our writing instruction, but we feel good about the direction we are heading there. As is true every year, there are spots with which we are thrilled and spots that need adjustment and further attention. This year is no different. We're channeling our resources where they are needed most.”
Overall, students showed statistically significant gains in both ELA and mathematics. The percentage of students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations on ELA assessments increased from 36.7 percent in 2016-17 to 39.8 percent in 2017-18, and from 38.6 percent to 43.9 percent on mathematics assessments.
Mississippi’s plan for improving student achievement calls for 70 percent of all students to be proficient in ELA and mathematics by 2025.
“This year’s assessment results show the major strides students, schools and districts have made toward improving student achievement statewide,” said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education.
