Hattiesburg Public School District students showed marked improvements on their English Language Arts and mathematics state test results for third grade through high school students for the 2017-18 school year.
While accountability “grades” will not be released until October, the state tests are a component with the release of the district’s proficiency level for the past school year. State test grades are given on five levels: minimal, basic, pass, proficient and advanced. Proficiency scores are the total of students who received proficient and advanced scores. About 30.6 percent (compared to 16.4 percent the previous year) of the Hattiesburg School District’s 350 third-grade students who were tested in ELA received a proficient score, while 4.3 percent (compared to 1.1 percent the previous year) earned advanced scores. Of the same students tested in mathematics, 29.9 percent (21.3 the previous year) scored proficient and 8 percent (3.2 the previous year) scored advanced.
Approximately 29.6 percent (16.4 the previous year) of fourth-grade students tested received a proficient score and 5.6 percent (1.1 the previous year) tested advanced out of 324 students tested. Around 28.7 percent (13.4 the previous year) scored proficient on the math test and 7.4 percent (3.9 the previous year) received advanced scores. Around 20.4 percent (21.3 the previous year) of the 339 fifth-grade students who were tested in ELA received a proficient score, while 2.1 percent (3.3 the previous year) earned advanced scores. On the math test, 16.8 percent (15.4 the previous year) scored proficient and 5.3 percent (the same as the previous year) scored advanced.
Approximately 17.2 percent (19.1 the previous year) of sixth-grade students tested received a proficient score and 10.1 percent (9.2 the previous year) tested advanced out of 308 students tested in ELA. In math, 31.8 percent (24.2 the previous year) scored proficient and 12.7 percent (2.5 the previous year) scored advanced. Of the 266 seventh-grade students taking the ELA test, 19.2 percent (12.4 the previous year) scored proficient and 6.4 percent (5.2 the previous year) earned advanced scores. However, on the math test, 28.8 percent (23.9 the previous year) scored proficient and 6.7 percent (6.9 the previous year) received advanced scores.
Approximately 18.2 percent (15.5 the previous year) of eighth-grade students taking the ELA test scored proficient and 2.5 percent (the same as the previous year) scored advanced of the 275 students tested. On the math test, 23.4 percent (24.2 the previous year) scored advanced and 5.1 percent (3.3 the previous year) scored proficient. Of the 230 Hattiesburg High School students taking the English II test, 21.7 percent (13.2 the previous year) scored proficient and 6.5 percent (2.5 the previous year) scored advanced. With 230 students taking the Algebra I test, 21.7 percent (11.5 the previous year) scored proficient and 6.5 percent (2.6 the previous year) scored advanced.
The number of students scoring proficient and advanced counts toward the school district’s overall accountability score.
