The Mississippi Department of Education issued the following press release:
Mississippi’s Graduation Rate Improves Significantly, Dropout Rate Shrinks
CLINTON, Miss. – Mississippi’s graduation rate improved significantly from 2011 to 2015, inching closer to the national average.
Districts showed a four-year graduation rate of 78.4 percent for the 2014-15 school year, up from 74.5 in the 2013-14 school. The national graduation rate average was 82 percent for the 2013-14 school year, the most recent statistic reported.
Mississippi’s four-year dropout rate was 12.8 percent in 2014-15, a drop from 13.9 the previous school year. The 2015 rates for graduation and dropouts are based on students who entered Grade 9 for the first time during the school year 2010-11.
The lower dropout rate and higher graduation rates prove that many districts are working to encourage students to stay in school, and they are focusing on attendance and targeting students at risk of dropping out, said Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education.
“Those efforts, as well as the Mississippi Department of Education providing more technical assistance to districts and school counselors to help students explore multiple pathways to college and careers, have contributed to dramatic decreases in students leaving school and increases in graduation,” Wright said. “However, there are districts in the state that still struggle to keep students on the path to a high school diploma, which means we have more work to do.”
The MDE also reported the graduation rate of students with disabilities at 27.5 percent. Wright said the MDE will continue to work with school districts to ensure that all students have the opportunity to graduate from high school.
“We are far from where we need to be when it comes to graduation rates for students with disabilities. The MDE will continue to provide technical assistance to districts to help them support the educational needs of all students,” Wright said.
Kingfish note: How did Jackson do?
The JPS graduation rate was 66.9%. JPS ranked 134 out of 150 school districts. JPS's dropout rate was 23.5%. Only eight districts had a higher dropout rate.
13 comments:
If we all band together, pass new laws, raise taxes, slash spending and fully and over-fund education then maybe, just maybe we will one day be......average.
But, but, but, Republicans in the Legislature are crippling our schools. Improvement will not be tolerated.
A passing grade at JPS is a 50.
Suck an egg, Nancy.
You should see the paperwork involved in failing a student. It is not worth it. Students are encouraged and allowed to retake most any assignment, "accommodations" are implemented (revised grading scale, extra time, assignments modified or made shorter), anything to move students along so that the graduation rate will not suffer.
At one high school where I worked, we were told not to give homework in order to improve our graduation rate. Also, mysteriously, some students who failed my class according to my gradebook at year's end, were passed....pretty sure some administrative gradechanging was happening. Sad.
Mississippi has the worst public schools in the nation. I feel sorry for the families that are stuck in the system.
Mississippi has pockets of terrible and pockets of greatness in public schools. 21 National Merit Finalist at one local, 6 national merit finalist along with two perfect 36 on ACT last year at another. This year NWR has two Naval Academy appointments, one West Point appointment, and 6 National Merit Finalist. My two students graduated with full rides (yes, housing included) to college straight out of public school. (Free school, free college) There are great things happening in public schools in Mississippi.
Certainly there are also districts and schools that are horrible, but don't lump all of them in with your pity.
When you take all the colors represented in a color wheel and mix them in a blender you wind up with something the color of that gunk Jack LaLane used to drink on TV.
Same is true of trying to average all schools and their students and come out with something called Mississippi's average student. It's a meaningless exercise. Some fail and some light up the top end of the scoring charts.
10:28 is exactly correct. Go piss up somebody else's leg 9:07.
I read in the Sunday paper that a woman who had to surrender her teacher's license for ethical/professional violations has now been reinstated and is the director of recruiting at the State Department of Education. Maybe this fits in this discussion somewhere.
10:28 and 5:48 are exactly right. You've got the best and the worst right here in the Metro area.
Some people just don't understand statistics. Given how small Mississippi's population is, it only takes a few districts at the bottom to pull the statewide average down drastically. Put JPS into, lets say Texas, it does not have the race to to bottom effect.
On the news recently. The average across the U.S. has dropped. Is Ms. really getting better or have the other states just dropped down?
Any way you look at it a kid educated anywhere in the U.S. is getting farther behind every year.
Post a Comment