Christy Vandevere, test coordinator for the Yazoo County School District, has announced that county kindergarten students have made a Top 10 list.
In last week's school board meeting, Vandevere said that the school district is among the top 10 districts in the state with the greatest scale score point gain (249 points) on the MKAS 2 Kindergarten Readiness Post Test from August 2015 to May 2016.
“The average score for students entering kindergarten at Linwood Elementary and at Bentonia-Gibbs Elementary School was well below the recommended score 531 score,” she told the trustees. “In May, both elementary schools had an average scale score that indicated kindergarten students were ready to transition to first grade.”
On the MJKAS2 third grade reading summative assessment, Vandevere said Bentonia-Gibbs had a 94.9 percent pass rate on the first administration of the test, and Linwood had a 93.5 percent on the first administration of the test. Passing the MKAS2 Reading Summative Assessment is a requirement for promotion to fourth grade. Students who do not pass the test are given two retest opportunities prior to school beginning in the fall.
Yazoo County ranked among the top 25 percent in the state on the assessment.
On the subject of accountability, Vandevere said the county school district is a “C” district for the 2014-2015 school year. Accountability for the 2015-2016 school year will go to the State Board of Education for approval Aug. 18.
“Those grades should be released by the end of August,” she said. “The state of Mississippi has transitioned from less rigorous tests in 2013-2014 to more rigorous tests in 2014-2015 so that students meet the Career and College Ready Standards. You will see most districts drop with the implementation of more rigorous assessments.”
Mississippi's schools have had three different assessments in the last three years.
“With the upcoming 2016-2017 year, scores should begin to improve. Yazoo County School District's administration, staff and students have high expectations and we know what it takes to get there.”
