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JPS details reading interventions, cautions on new state accountability baseline
Summary
District leaders told the board a new Mississippi accountability baseline will make 2025-26 letter grades not comparable to prior years and outlined K-12 reading interventions, including UFLI, targeted intervention blocks, high-dosage tutoring and staffing changes alongside financial system migration to Munis.
Superintendent Dr. Green and school improvement lead Dr. Knox told the Jackson Public School District board that changes to the state accountability model will raise the statewide performance baseline and can cause letter grades to drop even where student growth continues.
"Because of the changes in the new accountability system, the new standards for achievement, schools or districts may receive lower letter grades than what they earned in previous years," Dr. Green said, playing a recorded message from State Superintendent Dr. Lance Evans and adding district context for JPS.
Dr. Knox presented the district's monthly school-improvement report and described a multi-tiered strategy to address reading proficiency at all levels. Key steps include strengthening tier-one instruction (everyday core teaching), implementing targeted intervention blocks (example: Johnson's three-day intervention block), adopting the UFLI foundational literacy program at some elementary schools, expanding high-dosage tutoring in ELA and math for small groups, and using detailed item analysis to reteach specific subskills. She gave one diagnostic example where students performed well at identifying central ideas but scored just 14% on "objective summary," and said instruction plans were adjusted to focus on those precise skill gaps.
Dr. Knox also flagged operational items: the district has switched financial systems from Marathon to Munis and is finalizing FY24 and FY25 revisions; she provided per-school FY24 fund-balance examples included in the board packet (Blackburn ~ $10,000; Kirsy ~$26,000 with a $15,000 equipment purchase; Cardozo ~$18,000; Jim Hill ~$110,000). The district set a May 8 deadline for completing budget revisions to present updated FY26 plans for board approval.
Board members asked about the timing of benchmark and MAP testing and how to message the accountability change to families; members urged clearer public communication that the new baseline will affect letter grades. Dr. Knox and Dr. Buchanan (assistant superintendent for middle schools) said the instructional approaches now in classrooms look different and are intended to produce durable growth rather than one-off test preparation.
The board did not vote on new instructional policy during the presentation but praised the district's move toward prescriptive, data-driven instruction and invited school leaders to share classroom demonstrations and follow-up data.
