Starting in 2018-2019, Mississippi's high schoolers could have the opportunity to earn endorsements alongside a traditional diploma. Wochit
Five months after resetting the targets for Mississippi’s accountability model, state education officials are acknowledging the possibility they might have to start over in 2018.
The announcement of that the state Department of Education must make changes that will impact how schools and districts are graded came during Thursday’s state Board of Education meeting.
Nathan Oakley with the Mississippi Department of Education says the state was told in December by the U.S. Department of Education that modifications are needed to the state’s accountability model.
“The goal is minimal disruption,” Oakley told the board. “The requested change in the model is significant in nature. This is not a small adjustment.”
In the “worst case scenario,” he said the state might have to set new targets for its A-F grading scale assigned to schools and districts.
More: School grades released: As increase, Fs decrease ahead of new baseline
The request to make modifications follows a review by the federal education agency of Mississippi’s plan detailing how the state will comply with a new federal education law called Every Student Succeeds Act that replaces No Child Left Behind.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education declined to discuss the agency's concerns with Mississippi's plan, stating "in terms of any particulars you’ll want to reach out to the state."
Mississippi rates schools on an A-F scale based on the academic performance on state subject tests. Some of those points derive from the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level. Districts also receive points for students who show growth by advancing to a higher performance level than the one they were in the previous year.
More: Numbers show broad achievement gaps in Miss. schools
The state breaks that number out into two sections for math and reading. The first shows the growth overall among all students in each subject. The second shows the growth of students in the bottom quartile or 25 percent.
In a letter to MDE, federal reviewers said the metric does not meet statutory requirements “because this indicator does not consider the performance of all students.”
“It’s got to be inclusive of all students,” Oakley explained.
One option the state is considering, he said, is to show the growth of all students in the category but to give a higher weight to students in the lowest 25 percent. That could allow the state to make the required changes without changing the model.
Less than a year has passed since board members reset the cut scores on the state’s accountability model, and it was evident the possibility of making the model a moving target again could cause heartburn for the board.
“The idea of changing the cut scores again makes everybody go a little bonkers,” said board member Jason Dean. “If we could (let’s) err on the side of not changing the cut scores, as we go through this.”
One change that will have to happen involves students learning English or English language learners. MDE had planned to assign districts a plus or minus based on the how those students performed on state exams. But federal education officials have said those students should be assigned points starting in the 2018 school year.
That caught MDE, which planned to start assigning points by 2022, off guard.
“We felt we had a runway to do that,” State Superintendent Carey Wright told the board.
Describing a concern from a committee working with the state’s grading model, Wright said, “If it becomes its own separate component and has to be assigned a point value, we are going to have to step back and reset the cuts.”
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After the discussion, Accountability Chief Paula Vanderford predicted the frustration that many districts would have with the change.
“This is January and districts are being informed that the EL (English language learner) component is going to count during this school year, when we thought we were going to have the option to phase it in over a three-year period,” she said. “We’re changing the cuts in the middle of the game.”
Last year 30 districts in the state were eligible for federal funds to educate ELL students, but the amount of students in each district varies greatly.
Board member Karen Elam asked how the new weight would be applied fairly.
Wright acknowledged the challenge, saying there is a difference between a school that has 12 percent of students as English language learners and one that has three.
The federal government also clarified that Mississippi will not have to develop an Algebra II test for students who take both 8th grade math and Algebra I.
"As such, Mississippi will not move forward with development or administration of an Algebra II assessment for advanced mathematics students, which means that the state will continue to double test 8th grade students who take Algebra I and bank scores for later use in the accountability model," the MDE said in a statement.
Vanderford said she expects to come back to the board by April with a plan detailing the required modifications.
Depending on the amount of change that happens, the release of school grades could be delayed until November.
Mississippi will send an updated plan to the U.S. Department of Education by Feb. 1.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of districts eligible for funds for English language learners.