Thursday, September 20, 2012

JPS: New ratings? What new ratings?

The Jackson Public School system avoids using the new ratings system on its website. A new law states the Department of Education will rate schools as either A,B,C,D, or F. The old system issued the ratings Star, High Performing, Successful, Academic Watch, Low Performing, At Risk of Failing, and Failing. The press release announcing the new report cards for the JPS District does not mention any letter grades but instead uses the old terms. Superintendent Cedric Gray mentions the new system only once (3:00)for twenty seconds in the eight-minute video. Earlier post with ratings for all schools.



The press release states:

"Twenty-nine JPS schools achieved successful or higher ratings in the state accountability results released September 14, 2012, by the Mississippi Department of Education. The ratings are based on the results of tests administered in spring 2012.... (schools are listed)....

JPS has 18 Academic Watch and 11 Low Performing and no schools labeled At Risk of Failing or Failing. Although JPS has no schools labeled as “Failing” or “At Risk of Failing,” the District overall label is “Academic Watch.” What this means is that although JPS experienced improvement in academic achievement, it did not meet the challenge of academic growth. As a consequence, JPS is currently integrating classroom instruction with rigor through the Common Core State Standards ( CCSS). CCSS provides a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to know and be able to do. ..." Press release

Dr. Gray states in the video:The Mississippi Department of Education "uses seven classifications to rate Mississippi schools". Dr. Gray says (4:14) "there are no schools at risk of failing or failing. This is a drastic and dramatic improvement."

However, 82% of JPS middle and high schools were rated for "D" or "F" and 45% of all schools rated "D" or "F". Only 3 middle and high schools are "C" and none are "A" or "B". Dr. Gray does not mention anywhere in the video the letter grades for the schools themselves nor the district. Dr. Gray instead states the district is rated "Academic Watch". He says "We are proud of our accomplishments but not proud of our results." The video then scrolls through all of the schools with their ratings under the old system.

The report cards for all schools are:

A:3
B:5
C:16
D:13
F:10

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you have an elected official who has run around Jackson and the nation for years impersonating a police officer then it becomes obvious to scam artists that if you are black you can say anything in Jackson and no one will hold you accountable.

ophie f said...

Yup,yup,yup. Bombproof by virtue of dark skin. Ship of fools, the entire system. "And for THIS we pay taxes?" as my mother often sighs...

Anonymous said...

JPS should be ashamed. Not only are they a failing school system, they also won't even man-up and acknowledge reality.

Anonymous said...

Too bad there isn't a legal recourse for the taxpayers. Their ROI stinks. In fact, the district should be paying THEM for lost property values since the schools are so bad.

Anonymous said...

Things are even worse than I thought. Wow!

Shadowfax said...

When will you suckers get the message. None of that is important. None of it matters. All that matters is getting the jobs and being in line for lifetime retirement benefits. Nothing else is of value and there is no other goal. First, you get in power, in charge. Then, you dole out the jobs to those who look like you. Once you control the money, you control the jobs, and, the fact that the systems all go down the shitter has no meaning whatever.

Buck Cooper said...

Wow. A "ship of fools; the entire system?" I went to the PTA meeting at Casey last night, and as a parent enjoyed learning about work I can do on the campus beautification committee and the arts integration that's taking place in my child's kindergarten class. I talked with his teacher, and with other parents, and we agreed that we were very happy with the school. There are hundreds of committed parents, teachers and administrators who are working together to make Casey a good place for our children to go and learn. And people making glib comments that denigrate the entire system are just flat out wrong. It's unfortunate, and it hurts all of us who live in the metro area.
I agree that the city's schools could be better, but so does everyone involved with them. And a lot of us are actually working to improve them for the sake of our children and their classmates.

Kingfish said...

Its an A school. It should be doing pretty well as you stated.

Anonymous said...

Casey is an exception to the rule. The rule is Wingfield, Forest Hill, Whitten, Key, etc. Crappy schools, and that's being polite.

My family taught in JPS until very recently. The problem is that for those few teachers that care, really care about teaching, their hands are tied when it comes to discipline. The kids don't get it at home and the district won't allow it in the schools. No accountability = the mess we have now.

Anonymous said...

9:50AM, you are absolutely correct. I am a retired JPS teacher, and what I have watched is more and more good teachers leaving the field. They leave not because they no longer care, but because they are so frustrated with not being able to teach in chaos.



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