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Mississippi education board approves statewide accountability results; timeline set to review standards
Summary
The Mississippi State Board approved statewide accountability results for the 2023–24 school year, with officials reporting that 70.3% of districts and 66.7% of schools received A or B ratings; the Accountability Task Force will finalize business rules in spring 2025 and the board expects to set new standards in summer 2025.
The Mississippi State Board of Education approved the department’s statewide accountability results during its Sept. 17 meeting, receiving data officials said show substantial progress while outlining a timetable for possibly resetting the state’s standards. Dr. Vandiford, who led the presentation, said the results reflect the 2023–24 school year and the model’s focus on academic growth as well as proficiency.
"These results are based on the grades, how students performed, during the 2023–24 school year and the academic growth that they made throughout the year," Dr. Vandiford said, explaining the model components and how growth and proficiency interact in the accountability system. He reported that 93.9% of districts are rated C or higher, 85.7% of schools are C or higher, 70.3% of districts are rated A or B and 66.7% of schools are rated A or B.
The numbers matter because state law, as recited during the presentation (spoken in the meeting as "statute in '30 seven-seventeen-six-five'"), includes thresholds that inform when the department can reset standards. Dr. Vandiford said the Accountability Task Force is considering methodology options — currently a hybrid of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced approaches — and plans to complete proposed revisions to the accountability model this fall, finalize business rules in spring 2025, and set new standards in summer 2025. He said any new standards would be communicated with results so districts could see the impact, with fall 2026 identified as the reporting period for standards set using 2025 data.
Allen, the data presenter, walked the board through tables showing grade movement and top-performing districts and schools, noting that the packet included 148 districts (10 of which are charter districts) and data for 186 schools in specific reports. "We will post the accountability data file to the website shortly, at 10:45," Allen said, and noted the online report card was scheduled to post at 3 p.m. that day.
Board members moved to approve the statewide accountability results after the presentation; the motion carried by voice vote. The meeting minutes and public materials indicate the approval was by voice rather than a roll-call tally on the record.
Next procedural steps described by staff include finalizing the Task Force recommendations, routing the changes through the technical advisory committee and the Commission on School Accreditation for approval, completing the APA public-comment process, and then setting and communicating any new standards according to the schedule described by department staff.
