by Hunter Dawkins

For the second consecutive year, the Pass Christian School District unofficially received an “A” grade among the state’s 140 school districts in Mississippi.  Of the school districts that finished at the top of the list for the Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) accountability grades for the 2018-19 school year, Pass Christian finished tied for 11th with a total point performance of 704.

32 school districts received an “A” grade for providing outstanding accountability results, but Pass Christian was second in the state for college & career readiness and fifth in reading growth plus acceleration.

Among individual schools within the district, Pass Christian High School came in 7th out of 877 schools in the state by scoring 789 total points.  Additionally, the high school achieved the highest ranking math growth rate at 104.3.

Delisle Elementary was the next highest rated school in the school district attaining a score of 493 total points followed by Pass Christian Elementary finishing with a state score of 472.

The Pass Christian Middle School completed the state accountability results with 417 points, resulting in a “B” grade, but did come out with a strong 80 percent science proficiency.

Mississippi’s A-F accountability system evaluates how well schools and districts are performing each year. Accountability grades are based on how well students perform and progress from year to year on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) tests for English language arts (ELA) and Mathematics.

These tests are aligned to the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards and are administered annually to students in grades 3-8 and in high school.

The accountability system places an emphasis on the progress students make in ELA and Mathematics from year to year, particularly the lowest performing 25% of students, and factors in how well students perform on science tests in grades 5 and 8, and the progress that English Learners (EL) make toward achieving proficiency in the English language.

Accountability grades for high schools and districts include the four-year graduation rate, student performance on Biology, U.S. History and ACT tests, and student participation and performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement and dual credit/dual enrollment courses.

View the unofficial 2018-19 accountability results for schools and districts: https://www.mdek12.org/OPR/Reporting/Accountability