Both the East and West Tallahatchie public school districts received failing grades based on standardized state testing conducted during the 2018-19 school year.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Mississippi Department of Education released its annual A-F accountability system grades, which reflect how well schools and school districts are performing.
On a districtwide basis, for a second straight year, the East Tallahatchie School District received an F.
The West Tallahatchie School District dropped from D in 2018 to F this year.
Charleston Elementary School fell from D in 2018 to F this year.
Charleston Middle School maintained the F grade for a second year.
R.H. Bearden Elementary School in Sumner held its own with a D grade for a second year.
Improvements were seen at both local high schools.
Charleston High School and West Tallahatchie High School improved from a grade of F in 2018 to D in 2019.
The state tests, aligned to the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards, are administered annually to students in grades 3-9 and in high school.
MDE said the accountability grades are based, in part, on how well students perform and progress from year to year on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program tests for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, particularly the lowest-performing 25% of students. The accountability system factors in how well students perform on science tests in grades 5 and 8, and the progress that English learners make toward achieving proficiency in the English language.
Performance grades for high schools and districts include the four-year graduation rate; student performance on biology, U.S. history and ACT tests; and student participation and performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge, and dual credit/dual enrollment courses.
For the 2018-19 school year, 31 Mississippi school districts received an A, 35 got a B, 35 graded a C, 23 rated a D and 19 were at F.
For the 2017-18 school year, 18 districts received an A, 42 were rated B, 37 were a C, 28 graded at D and 22 got an F.
Area A-rated school districts for the 2018-19 school year include Oxford School District and Lafayette County School District.
Area B-rated districts are Grenada School District, South Panola School District and Senatobia Municipal School District.
Districts in the area rated at C are Calhoun County School District, Tate County School District, Greenwood Public School District, Coffeeville School District, Cleveland School District, Quitman County School District, North Panola School District and Sunflower County Consolidated School District.
Area D-rated districts include Water Valley School District, Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District and Carroll County School District.
Among other F-rated districts are Clarksdale Municipal School District, Coahoma County School District, Leflore County School District, North Bolivar Consolidated School District and West Bolivar Consolidated School District.
All of the grades were declared unofficial Tuesday pending State Board of Education approval on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Under state law, when a school district receives an F for two consecutive years, the Commission on School Accreditation and State Board of Education may decide an extreme emergency exists in the district and can request that the governor declare a state of emergency for the district to be taken over by the state. In such a case, the local school superintendent would be replaced by a state-appointed administrator and the local school board would be replaced by the state board. A takeover is not mandatory, but the state does have that option under law.
For more in-depth information about the accountability performance results, including outcomes for every public school district and individual public school in the state, visit the MDE website, https://mdek12.org/OPR/Reporting/Accountability/2019 and click on "2019 Accountability Report."
This story has been updated.
