By Chris Kieffer, Riley Manning and Zack Orsborn
Daily Journal
EDITOR’S NOTE: Local high school test scores can be found in today’s edition of the Chickasaw Journal in newstands around the county.
TUPELO – Mississippi high schools received official results Thursday of the first tests their students took on the new, more rigorous, Mississippi College and Career-Ready Standards.
Results reflect tests taken by high school students in algebra and English 2 that were developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Third- to eighth-grade test scores will be released in December.
Across the state, students scored better in English than in algebra, but that was expected because the state’s old English curriculum more closely matched the new standards than did the math standards.
Nearly half of the 32,000 students who took the English 2 state test scored at least a Level 4 on the test, a mark that equates with them having a strong understanding of the subject. About 27 percent of students reached that mark on the algebra test, which was taken by about 40,000 students.
The tests were scored from Level 1 to Level 5. Scores of Level 4 and above roughly equate to the level of “proficient or advanced” on the former test. They are students who met or exceeded expectations.
Educators had expected scores to drop on the new test because it was much harder than what students took in the past. That decline was less than what was anticipated, education leaders said. Last year, 76 percent of Mississippi students were proficient or advanced in algebra and 56 percent reached that mark in English 2.
“I see this test as hitting the reset button and giving us a new baseline,” said State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright. “We expected an implemental dip, and there was a dip, but it wasn’t as big as we thought it would be.
“We’re only going up from here. These scores show our children are just as capable or more capable of performing than students across the nation. That is very encouraging.”
The scores were approved on Thursday morning during a special-called meeting of the Mississippi Board of Education.
Many Northeast Mississippi districts exceeded state and even national averages on the PARCC test. On the English 2 test, the New Albany, Union County and Amory school districts had the top three scores in the state, in terms of percentage of students who scored a Level 4 or better.
“We are satisfied with the results, but we could always do better,” said New Albany Superintendent Jackie Ford, whose district had 80.6 percent of its students reach at least Level 4 in English, the most in the state. “The students did a great job, and I think it’s a reflection of good teaching.”
Booneville, Baldwyn, Prentiss County, Oxford, Tupelo and Monroe County all ranked in the top 20 in the state on the English test.
Meanwhile, Itawamba County had the state’s sixth-highest percentage of students to score at least a Level 4 on the algebra test, with 57.2 percent.
“We tried our best to educate our kids as best we can,” said Itawamba County Superintendent Michael Nanney. “They work hard, our teachers work hard, and we’re glad that came through in the results.”
Union County, Lafayette County, Booneville, Oxford and Amory were all among the top 20 districts in the state on the algebra test.
The tests were developed by the PARCC, a multiple-state consortium formed to create a common test to measure how well students understood the new Common Core State Standards.
In Mississippi, those standards have morphed into the current Mississippi College and Career-Ready Standards.
Although it was the first year Mississippi students took the PARCC test, it also will be the last. The state pulled out of the PARCC consortium last year because of political controversy.
This year, students will take a test developed by Minnesota-based Questar.
“Even though the PARCC assessment is only going to be used one year, we encourage schools to use their results because the standards will still be the standards,” Wright said.
Union County Assistant Superintendent Windy Faulkner said the PARCC test was different than past tests, with a lot more application and writing. Even though there will be a different test this year, she said these results will help the district in its preparation.
“From what we are hearing, the new test, the Questar test, will be very similar to the PARCC test,” Faulkner said. “We will definitely look at the data and will improve areas that were weak.”
Mississippi eventually will be able to compare its scores to other states in the PARCC consortium. It won’t know that for sure until PARCC officially releases scores from all states, but Wright said based on what she has read in newspapers from other states in the PARCC group, Mississippi’s scores may rank second to only Ohio.
Meanwhile, the Mississippi Department of Education is putting a lot of emphasis on aiming teacher training specifically at student deficiencies to bump students who scored Level 1-3 into the 4-5 range, Wright said.
chris.kieffer@journalinc.com
riley.manning@journalinc.com
zack.orsborn@journalinc.com
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