Test scores are in, and local school officials have mixed reactions to them.
In Leflore County, schools generally performed as expected. Leflore County High School slid a bit, said Roy Curry, who oversees testing for Leflore County Schools. In Greenwood, Dr. Jennifer Wilson, who oversees curriculum and testing for Greenwood Public Schools, sees improvement districtwide for students attending schools in the city.
State Department of Education officials Thursday released test scores for the grades 2-8 reading, language and math sections of the Mississippi Curriculum Tests as well as the four subject tests students must pass to graduate: Algebra I, English II, Biology I and U.S. history.
The scores are used to determine how well schools are teaching students according to state and federal standards. Schools that perform at the bottom can receive intensive help from the state. Also, schools that do poorly under federal standards can be forced to offer school choice and extra tutoring, and they eventually could have to close or restructure.
State officials will announce the ratings on Aug. 31, although schools are free to announce their own sooner than that.
Curry said preliminary ratings indicate that Leflore County Schools will hold their own except for Leflore County High School.
"The school classification levels for this year are about the same as they were for last year," he said. "One school went from a Level 3 to a Level 2. the other schools remained the same."
Leflore County High School dropped from a Level 3 to a Level 2 designation.
"However, they were so close. They were so close to maintaining that Level 3, and so close, I would say they came within two percentage points of being a Level 3 again," Curry said.
School officials are concerned that the district didn't experience enough growth to move schools to another level, he said.
Leflore County basically follows a statewide trend noted by state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds, who noted that overall, Mississippi school scores remained flat, although there were ups and downs at individual schools.
Greenwood Public Schools declined to release its preliminary ratings, waiting to announce them on Aug. 31.
However, Wilson said that districtwide students performed better "except for a few areas."
In most content areas, more students continued to move into the advanced category. For example, said Wilson, in sixth-grade mathematics, students scored 24 percent in advanced last year, compared to 45 percent this year - a 21 percentage point gain.
The increases are due primarily to the district making an "extensive effort" to focus on teaching the state-required curriculum and using sample tests provided by the state to check students' progress during the school year, Wilson said.
After those practice tests are given, Wilson said, the district analyzes the data and goes over possible weak areas with instructors, who shore up teaching those particular objectives and re-test.
Using this paradigm, the district looks to move more students beyond basic skills in subject areas into the proficient and advanced, she said.
Additionally, those students who test proficient in a subject area are receiving enrichment opportunities in the classroom to help them move toward advanced knowledge categories.
And the district will continue to analyze, adjust and re-emphasize where needed, Wilson said.
"We're in a continuous improvement mode," she said. "We saw gains but we want to improve."
In Holmes County, students continued to perform poorly in many categories, making it unlikely the district will be returned to local control this year.
All three high schools had dismal Algebra I scores.
The state took over the district in March, appointing retired Greenville Superintendent Joe Haynes as conservator.
"When I arrived there, it was just before testing time," Haynes said. "We have things in place to do better. I think it was a matter of having a team effort and getting our curriculum in place. More than anything else, what I have picked up is that attitudes are changing toward positive education."
