‘Unfair Grading Criteria’

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – One Northeast Mississippi public school superintendent says the current system of grading K through 12 schools does not put those schools on a level playing field.

For Itawamba County Schools Superintendent Michael Nanney, the system MDE uses puts K through 12 schools at a disadvantage.

“Right now we’re asking K through 12 schools, if this was a football game, to get 20 yards for a first down, maybe 30, whereas the other schools, K 6 or 7 through 12 school just have to get that ten yards,” Nanney said.

The MDE looks at many factors when grading schools and districts, such as;  how students perform on state tests, how students are doing in science and U S history and students’ performance on the ACT.  The threshold for an individual school, for instance the high school, to earn an A rating is higher than the combined district. Nanney says, that causes a problem, especially for K to 12 schools.

“At Mantachie and Tremont, what we found, whenever we took our K through 12 school, and made it two different schools, where together they were a C school by state standards, when you broke them down you had two B schools or an A and B school. The date changed, that to us is important because that’s how our schools are judged by our communities,” he said.

Without a doubt, public perception about a school or district’s academic ranking is important, but there are also financial implications for teachers.

“The state has a school recognition program now that awards teachers at A and B schools and we want to make sure those teachers who have worked to make improvements at their schools, are recognized,” Nanney said.

Nanney, and other superintendents have asked the MDE to consider grading K through 12 schools on the same scale as districts.

Nanney says the MDE has been given the data showing flaws in the current ranking system and he is hopeful changes will come in the next year or two.