Columbus Municipal School District administrators spent two hours Friday evening pouring over state test results and explaining to board members their plans for improvement in the upcoming year.
The district, as a whole, received a “D” classification from the Mississippi Department of Education this week, with only two of the district’s seven schools — Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School and Franklin Academy Medical Sciences and Wellness Magnet School — improving their ranking.
Of particular concern was the performance of Columbus High School, which received an “F,” with sharp declines in test scores as well as the graduation rate.
“One of the things that really bothers me is the high school ought to be our showcase,” CMSD Board President Tommy Prude said. “If we were an assembly line and our product came through the high school, we’d have a defective product.”
New CHS principal Jill Savely, who replaced former principal Scott Hallmark in June, acknowledged there’s “a lot of work to do” at the high school.
She and many principals said building walk-throughs, part of Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell’s “Believe and Achieve Systemic Learning Improvement Initiative,” are already making a difference.
The plan calls for administrators and school coaches to walk through the building five times a day, making random stops in classrooms and recording targeted observations ranging from student engagement to classroom management and the use of technology.
Savely called the walk-throughs “non-negotiable” and said she has seen high levels of engagement and interaction between students and teachers, and parental involvement is increasing. But she said the school must do a better job of using test data to shape lesson plans and monitor student growth.
Freda Dismukes, who was named principal of Columbus Middle School in June, said though the school received a “D” based upon last year’s test scores, students and teachers are “taking ownership” this year.
Her strategies for improvement include reserving Mondays through Wednesdays as “protected instruction days,” and drawing upon the success of other districts for guidance.
When questioned by Prude about whether there is a violence issue at the middle school, she said she doesn’t think there is a big problem but acknowledged there is a small percentage of troublemakers.
“We are a microcosm of our society and representative of Columbus,” Prude said. “We have to accept that.”
The elementary school principals also made presentations, with new Cook Principal Tim Wilcox saying he is confident his school will score in the 170s next year on the state department of education’s 300-point Quality Distribution Index.
Cook’s QDI this year was 153, raising its ranking from academic watch to successful, earning it a “C” classification.
His plans include fully implementing the Reading Renaissance program to speed reading improvement, utilizing professional development communities and master/mentor coaching, using assessments to identify trends and issues and fixing problems immediately.
Wilcox said he anticipates a five percent test score increase in each testing group this year, and he believes his team is motivated to make that happen.
“It’s very easy for one teacher to destroy the efforts of an entire grade level,” Wilcox said. “Our goal is to bring them all up.”
Nancy Bragg, principal of Sale Elementary International Studies Magnet School, said Sale narrowly missed being a high-performance school again this year but was still ranked successful, receiving a “C” classification.
“I will not stand up here and make excuses for not being a star school,” Bragg said.
Part of Sale’s challenge is moving high-achievers to even higher performance, she said, because the MDE rankings are based upon being able to show increased student growth each year.
She identified “authentic literacy” as a challenge area and said the school will continue to work on vocabulary, writing and reading comprehension in the upcoming year.
But she praised her staff for their closeness and dedication to children.
“You’ve got to care about what you’re doing,” Bragg said. “Those children know we love them.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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