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State board adopts higher A–F accountability cut scores effective 2025–26
Summary
After a multi-month standard-setting process, the Mississippi State Board of Education voted to raise statewide A–F accountability cut scores; staff said the change reflects a hybrid norm-and-criterion approach and will take effect with the 2025–26 school year.
The Mississippi State Board of Education voted Nov. 20 to adopt new statewide cut scores for A–F accountability ratings, a change officials said is intended to raise expectations for student proficiency and growth.
Staff and outside consultants outlined a multi-step standard-setting process that began in January 2025 and included two rounds of committee deliberations, review of district-level “heat map” impacts, and an independent memo from the Center for Assessment. Allen, who led the presentation, described the committee’s hybrid approach — a mix of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced methods — and the use of impact data to test cut-point effects on school and district distributions.
“We want standard setting to reflect policy priorities for the state, and then we want them to be informed by judgments from a group of experts,” Allen said, describing performance-level descriptors the committee used to define what it means to be an A, B, C, D or F school. Allen noted the state’s long-term goal — “that all students and student subgroups will reach a 70% proficiency in all assessed subject areas by 2027” — as the reference point for gap-to-go reporting used in the analysis.
Board members who served on the standard-setting committee described robust discussion and a defensible process. One board member emphasized the long-term nature of the work and urged continuation of supports and interventions to help districts meet higher expectations.
The board moved, seconded and approved the recommended cut scores by voice vote; the board stated the change will be effective with the 2025–26 school year. Staff said they would run 2024–25 data through the new cuts as a planning exercise so districts can see where they would have fallen under the revised standards.
The board’s action alters how the statewide accountability composite is translated into letter grades and was framed by staff as part of a broader strategy to raise expectations while providing targeted supports such as literacy coaches, adolescent literacy initiatives and synchronous learning programs.
What’s next: staff will publish 2024–25 results under the new cuts as a planning tool, continue to brief districts on the operational changes and return with implementation details as needed.
(Approved on a voice vote; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded on the public transcript.)
