Columbus Municipal School District ranked fifth among the most-improved districts on English-Language Arts state testing in 2017-18.
The Mississippi Department of Education released test scores Thursday for the 2017-18 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program testing. Results included English-Language Arts (ELA) and math scores for grades 3-8, as well as Algebra I and English II for the high school and middle school levels. The scores are separated into five levels. Students that fall into level 1 and 2 did not pass that state assessments, whereas levels 3, 4 and 5 show students who passed.
The “most-improved” list is based on the increase in students who scored proficient or advanced on the ELA test.
CMSD had 14 percent of its students score in the proficient and advanced categories, levels 4 and 5, on ELA tests during the 2016-17 school year. With a 5.8 percent increase, 19.7 percent of students scored in those respective levels in 2017-18. On the state level, Mississippi had an overall increase of 3.1 percent in ELA.
MDE noted Chickasaw County School District as most-improved, with a 9.3-percent increase in ELA proficiency.
CMSD, ranked as a D district last year, currently has three campuses rated as Fs — Franklin Academy, Cook Elementary and Columbus Middle School. MDE will release accountability scores for the 2017-18 school year within the coming weeks.
CMSD Superintendent Cherie Labat said the proficiency increases are a strong indicator of the district’s future.
“This is start for us as a district, our teachers and principals are motivated and empowered to move forward,” Labat said. “We have some great things that we have in place for implementation to improve instruction. We feel that our growth and proficiency will improve next year.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.