Mississippi proficiency levels dip, as expected, on new test
(AP) — Nearly half of Mississippi high school students met or exceeded expectations in English last year, while about 27 percent did so in algebra I, according to test results released Thursday.
On the bottom end, Clarksdale and Yazoo City had no students who met or exceeded expectations in algebra, while at the top end, more than two-thirds of students reached those levels in Gulfport, Forrest County and Enterprise.
Formerly, students had to pass four subject area tests to graduate, but in 2014, the Board of Education approved alternative paths to a diploma.
[...] students who failed the algebra exam could still graduate if they had done well enough on the biology, English and history exams.
Wright and state assessment director J.P. Beaudoin said that even though Mississippi won't give the PARCC again, they want teachers to use the results to help identify strengths and weaknesses of individual students and help them improve.