Letters of intent to apply in the 2018 application cycle were submitted to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board for 17 new charter schools. The proposed charter schools would be located in the following school districts: Amite County (2), Canton, Cleveland, Holmes County, Jackson (5), Leflore County (3), Moss Point, North Bolivar, Rankin County, and Vicksburg-Warren.
In the 2016-2017 school year, 425 vouchers were available for children with special needs (under the Education Scholarship Account or ESA program). A second lottery was held in January 2017 to distribute 134 vouchers that had become available since the beginning of the school year, indicating that almost one-third of the vouchers originally available were …
Vouchers Do Not Guarantee Admission to Private Schools Read More »
Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School was approved yesterday by the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board as the first charter school in the state to be located outside of Jackson. Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, the school will serve 150 students in kindergarten through second grade. Thereafter, Clarksdale Collegiate plans to add a grade each year and …
Calculating achievement growth of Mississippi students has been complicated in recent years by changes in assessments from year to year. In 2015, Mississippi discontinued its use of PARCC assessments and developed the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP), which is aligned to the state’s college- and career-ready standards. The PARCC tests were widely criticized in Mississippi and in …
Three charter school applicants have moved to the final stage of consideration in the 2017 application cycle. A team of evaluators will assess detailed school plans and hold in-person interviews with applicants seeking to open charter schools in the Canton, Clarksdale, and Sunflower County school districts. Approvals/denials will be announced at the board’s September 11 meeting. • …
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) announced that 92% of 2016-2017 third graders met the requirements of the Literacy-based Promotion Act to move to fourth grade. Results of Spring 2017 testing: 92%, or 36,057 students, met or exceeded the passing standard, scoring at or above Performance Level 2 on the reading and language portions of the …
Nine charter school applicants submitted letters of intent to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board indicating they plan to participate in Mississippi’s 2017 charter school application process. The proposed charter schools would be located in the following school districts: Canton, Clarksdale, Columbus, Greenwood, Holmes County (2), Jackson (2), South Pike, and Sunflower County.
An annual report on the 2015-2016 performance of Mississippi charter schools was approved by the authorizer board at its December 5 meeting. This report includes assessment results, comparative data on proficiency and academic growth for charter schools and Jackson Public Schools, financial and organizational performance data, and charter school accountability ratings. Midtown Public Charter School earned a state rating of …
The most critical point of Mississippi’s school funding revamp is getting a formula-driven base student cost that accurately reflects the amount required to provide at least an adequate education for a typical child for the current year and into the future, and that accounts for changes in the cost of education that are due to inflation or new demands placed …
Objective Formula for Base Student Cost is Essential Read More »
The 2016 application cycle has closed with no new authorizations for charter schools in Mississippi. The next application period should begin in January of 2017. Today’s board action, on a vote of 4-2, denied the application of Ohio-based I Can Schools, which had sought to open three K-8 charter schools in Jackson. Other 2016 applicants were eliminated in earlier …
