The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) invites public comment to amend the state’s Consolidated State Plan, also known as Mississippi Succeeds, as required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), 1965, amended as the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015.
The amendment addresses three main areas:
- Changes required through the approved ESEA COVID-19 Addendum
- Proposed changes to the exit criteria for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools
- Program changes to portions of the plan that were updated since the initial approval in 2019 (i.e., changes related to EL standards and the addition of ACT WorkKeys as a college and career-ready indicator in the accountability model).
The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) required all states to resume their accountability systems and identification of schools for support and improvement for the 2021-22 school year but allowed states to request a one-year addendum plan to adjust for missing data.
The USDE approved temporary adjustments that allowed the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to address the following:
- If growth cannot be calculated because of a missing prior-year score from the spring of 2020, the prior-year score will be pulled from the 2018-19 school year to calculate growth. For students who took Algebra I in the 8th grade during the 2019-20 school year and did not test in the spring of 2020, the students’ proficiency and growth score in math from the 2018-19 school year was used in the math component calculations.
- To change the frequency for identifying schools in need of improvement and the timelines and criteria for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) schools to exit school improvement status.
Therefore, the USDE requires states to finalize temporary adjustments to accountability and school improvement approved by the USDE to address COVID-19 related issues. The purpose for this amendment is to address COVID-19 Addendum temporary adjustments, revise the exit criteria for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) to include a growth criterion, and to revise components of the following programs:
- Title I, Part A
- Title I, Part C
- Title I, Part D
- Title II, Part A
- Title IV, Part A
The MDE worked closely with the state’s Accountability Task Force, Technical Advisory Committee, and the Center for Assessment to review and analyze assessment data to ensure the COVID-19 Addendum was technically sound and presented an accurate picture of the academic performance of Mississippi students.
View the amended Mississippi Consolidated State Plan – February 2023.
Public comments will be accepted through 5 p.m. Feb. 6. Comments may be submitted to MSSucceeds@mdek12.org or by mail to Mississippi Department of Education, P.O. Box 771, Jackson, MS 39205-0771.