MDE has received questions from several superintendents about this year’s required federal and statewide assessments. Please note the following reminders:
Required Assessments and Accommodations for Full-Time Virtual Learners
- Districts are required to administer all federal and statewide assessments to public-school students this school year, including the 3rd Grade Reading Assessment and high school assessments for Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History.
- Schools are expected to provide safe testing accommodations to full-time virtual learners who are able go to their school campus to test. Virtual learners are strongly urged to be tested, though schools cannot require students to show up for testing.
- The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has provided districts with pandemic-related flexibilities to make it easier to administer the assessments and to schedule in-person testing for virtual learners.
Assessments and Accountability
- Schools and districts will not be assigned A-F letter grades for their performance in the 2020-21 school year because MDE will not have sufficient data to calculate grades based on state and federal requirements. However, MDE will publish school- and district-level performance data, including assessment results and the student participation rate in statewide assessments.
- Though the U.S. Department of Education waived the requirement that schools test 95% of students this year, the MDE expects all schools to ensure the maximum participation possible. This year’s statewide assessments will provide districts with crucial information to implement sound instructional plans for the 2021-22 school year, identify where accelerated learning for students is most needed, and set professional development priorities. The 2020-21 assessment results will also inform future decisions about the accountability system.
Passing Requirement Waivers for 2021-22
- Current 3rd graders are not required to meet a passing score on the reading assessment to be promoted to 4th grade for the 2021-22 school year. Students still must meet all other district requirements for promotion.
- High school students who take required end-of-course high school assessments including Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History are not required to meet a passing score to meet high school graduation requirements. Students must meet all other state and district requirements to graduate.
- Current career and technical pathway students are not required to meet a passing score on the MS-CPAS3 assessment. However, Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators who are administered a national certification exam are required to meet a passing score for Perkins V accountability. At this time, the U.S. Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has not approved any waivers for career and technical education accountability for the 2021-2022 School Year. Therefore, the MDE is planning to compute local district summary reports for the 2021-2022 School Year, and each district will be evaluated on national certification performance.