Accountability Ratings for Mississippi Schools and School Districts 2013

posted 9/13/2013

Student achievement is on the rise in Mississippi!

The Mississippi Department of Education has released the 2013 school and school district accountability ratings.

Eighteen districts received the state’s highest rating of A, a tremendous achievement for those communities! Congratulations to the students, teachers, principals, superintendents, and parents in these outstanding school districts. More good news: the number of schools with the highest ratings continues to increase while the number of schools rated below C, the midpoint rating, is decreasing.

School District Ratings

Find your school district’s rating listed either alphabetically by performance label or
sorted by QDI (Quality of Distribution Index).

School Ratings

Click here to see all school ratings listed alphabetically by district.

This year, graduation rate was included in the model for all school districts and served as a reward for districts with high rates. In prior years, graduation rate was primarily a punitive component of the model and applied only to districts with the top two ratings (A and B).

When more rigor is introduced, students achieve more

Achievement in Mississippi has been on the rise since the adoption of more rigorous standards and assessments In 2009. Following the adoption of those higher standards, Mississippi schools saw an initial drop in their ratings as students and teachers adjusted to the demand for higher level thinking. As predicted, over the intervening years, student achievement has shown a steady increase.

In 2009, 216 schools were awarded designations that now fall into the F category. This year, that number has dropped to 92, less than half the number in 2009.

In 2009, 175 schools fell into the top two categories, now designated as A and B. Today, at 327 A and B schools, that number has nearly doubled.

Click here to see graphic representations of these positive trends. These gains are particularly impressive given the dramatic levels of underfunding that schools have suffered in recent years. Kudos to the dedicated teachers who have worked so diligently to ensure that our children’s education continued to improve!