{"id":3685,"date":"2025-09-25T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/?p=3685"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:36:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:36:41","slug":"mde-releases-school-and-district-accountability-grades-for-2024-25-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/2025\/09\/25\/mde-releases-school-and-district-accountability-grades-for-2024-25-school-year\/","title":{"rendered":"MDE releases school and district accountability grades for 2024-25 school year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Immediate Release: Sept. 25, 2025<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3690 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/MDE-releases-school-and-district-accountability-grades-for-2024-25-school-year_3.png\" alt=\"Donut charts show accountability grade improvements from 2016 to 2025. Schools with A\u2013C grades rose from 62% to 80%, while D\u2013F dropped from 38% to 19%. Districts with A\u2013C grades rose from 62% to 87%, while D\u2013F dropped from 38% to 10%. Three charter schools too new to be graded, and one district and high school will receive grade after locally selected performance data is available.\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/MDE-releases-school-and-district-accountability-grades-for-2024-25-school-year_3.png 700w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/MDE-releases-school-and-district-accountability-grades-for-2024-25-school-year_3-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>MDE releases school and district accountability grades for 2024-25 school year<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>JACKSON, Miss. \u2013 The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) released accountability grades for the 2024-25 school year, which show 80.1% of schools and 87.2% of districts earned a grade of C or higher. This represents a decrease from the 2023-24 school year, when 85.7% of schools and 93.9% of districts earned a C or higher.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, the Mississippi State Board of Education set a goal that all schools and districts be rated C or higher. At that time, 62% of both schools and districts met this standard.<\/p>\n<p>Statewide student assessment data make up a large part of accountability grades. The <a href=\"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/2025\/08\/21\/2024-25-mississippi-academic-assessment-program-scores-show-mixed-results\/\"><u>2024-25 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) results<\/u><\/a>, released on August 21, 2025, showed both increases and decreases in proficiency rates across all grades and subjects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Mississippi has made historic progress over the past decade, the areas of declining achievement demand our immediate attention,\u201d said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education. \u201cThe accountability grades provide important data to guide our work moving forward. Mississippi students have proven they can achieve at higher levels, and we owe it to them to continue challenging and supporting them so every graduate is prepared for lifelong success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi\u2019s accountability grades are designed to help teachers, school leaders, parents and communities know how well their local schools and districts serve their students. The components are based on state and federal law and State Board policy. For the 2024-25 school year, those components include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Student proficiency and growth rates in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics in grades 3-8<\/li>\n<li>Growth of the lowest performing 25% of students in ELA and mathematics<\/li>\n<li>Science proficiency in grades 5 and 8<\/li>\n<li>English Learner progress toward becoming proficient in the English language<\/li>\n<li>Performance on the ACT, ACT WorkKeys and high school assessments in Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History<\/li>\n<li>Student performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education programs and dual credit\/dual enrollment courses<\/li>\n<li>Four-year graduation rate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The MDE has been working with stakeholders and technical experts over the past year to update the accountability system to raise the bar for school and district performance and to increase the ways to measure college and career readiness. Starting in 2025-26, the accountability model will include the following changes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Expanded college and career readiness measures including industry certifications, military readiness, diploma endorsements, and on-time and five-year graduates<\/li>\n<li>The elimination of the high school U.S. History assessment<\/li>\n<li>Increased standards for the assignment of A-F grades. These standards will be finalized in late fall and will be used in addition to the current point system for earning accountability grades.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWe will maintain rigorous academic standards through new minimum proficiency targets while we expand recognition for graduation achievements and industry certifications that lead directly to good-paying jobs,\u201d Dr. Evans said. \u201cThis balanced approach will ensure we are measuring what matters most for each student\u2019s individual path to success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State law allows charter schools to apply to open in areas where the school district is rated D or F. Nine districts earned a D or F grade in 2024-25. All but one of the state\u2019s seven existing charter schools that received grades in 2024-25 were rated D or F.<\/p>\n<p>All four Districts of Transformation under state leadership saw a drop in letter grade in 2024-25 after making improvements in previous school years:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3699\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/Districts-of-Transformation-Performance_2.png\" alt=\"Districts of Transformation Performance\" width=\"636\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/Districts-of-Transformation-Performance_2.png 636w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2025\/09\/Districts-of-Transformation-Performance_2-300x92.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransforming districts that have struggled for years is complex work that does not happen overnight,\u201d Dr. Evans said. \u201cWhile we are disappointed to see declines in our Districts of Transformation this year, we cannot lose sight of the significant progress these communities have made. The MDE is committed to the long-term work of building sustainable systems that supports consistent and sustained student achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State-level plans to address student achievement include seeking legislative funds for an adolescent literacy initiative for grades 4-8 and a math initiative for grades 2-6, encouraging more districts to adopt high-quality instructional materials, and supporting the implementation of literacy instruction based on the science of reading (SOR).<\/p>\n<p>The MDE is also working with stakeholders to create a new Strategic Plan for PreK-12 Education in Mississippi, scheduled for release in early 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi\u2019s education progress over the past decade has been recognized nationally. Results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed Mississippi fourth-graders ranked 9th for reading and 16th for math scores, while making the nation\u2019s largest gains since 2013. In 2025, the Annie E. Casey Foundation&#8217;s KIDS COUNT\u00ae Data Book ranked Mississippi 16th in the nation for education, compared to 48th in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi credits the rise in student achievement to the implementation of higher academic standards and statewide support to teachers to help students reach higher standards. Other factors include the effective implementation of laws and policies that developed or strengthened early childhood education, literacy instruction, school and district accountability, and advanced learning opportunities for high school students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe foundation we have built over the past decade remains strong,\u201d Dr. Evans said. \u201cHigher academic standards, targeted support for teachers, and a strong accountability system have improved student achievement in Mississippi over the long term. This year\u2019s results do not change our commitment to these proven strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>School- and district-level accountability results: <a href=\"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/publicreporting\/accountability\/\"><u>mdek12.org\/publicreporting\/accountability<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdek12.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Offices\/MDE\/OCGR\/understanding_accountability.pdf\"><u>Understanding the Mississippi Accountability Grading System for Schools and Districts<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/msrc.mdek12.org\/\"><u>Mississippi Succeeds Report Card<\/u><\/a>, includes additional information about the performance of schools and districts, will display official accountability results after Mississippi State Board of Education approval on Sept. 25, 2025: <a href=\"http:\/\/msrc.mdek12.org\/\"><u>msrc.mdek12.org<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Find all MDE news releases at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdek12.org\/news\"><u>mdek12.org\/news<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">###<\/p>\n<p>Jean Cook, APR<br \/>\nChief of Communication<br \/>\n601-359-3515<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:jcook@mdek12.org\">jcook@mdek12.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Shanderia Minor<br \/>\nPublic Information Officer<br \/>\n601-359-3515<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:sminor@mdek12.org\">sminor@mdek12.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JACKSON, Miss. \u2013 The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) released accountability grades for the 2024-25 school year, which show 80.1% of schools and 87.2% of districts earned a grade of C or higher. This represents a decrease from the 2023-24 school year, when 85.7% of schools and 93.9% of districts earned a C or higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3685"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3705,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685\/revisions\/3705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdek12.org\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}