Earlier this week, the Petal School District released its 2017-2018 Accountability Dashboard, an in-house study that ranks certain data – including scholarships and engagement – that isn’t represented on certain statewide results.
“We’re trying to tell our own story in our district and our community,” Superintendent Matt Dillon said. “If we just relied solely on what the Mississippi Department of Education holds us accountable for, I think we’re doing an injustice, because we’re doing so much more than that.”
“The Accountability Dashboard shows both quantitative and qualitative data. I think this is a more detailed look, and it shows multiple things that are important to us.”
The dashboard, which is conducted and compiled by in-house school officials, shows ratings in five indicators: Student Learning, College and Career Readiness, Hope and Well-Being, Financials and Teacher Quality.
Student Learning
The Accountability Dashboard shows that Petal School District placed No. 1 in Mississippi in both English and Language Arts and Math, with an overall 89.25 percent passing rate in the MAAP English and a 93.5 percent passing rate in MAAP Math. Other state assessments include U.S. History (78.6 percent proficiency, compared to the state average of 53.8 percent) Biology I (75.9 percent to state’s 62.5 percent), 8th-grade Science (83 percent to state’s 64 percent) and 5th-grade Science (83.3 percent to state’s 67.5 percent).
According to numbers from the Northwest Evaluation Association – a non-profit organization that has assessed more than 4.5 million students – Petal School District’s reading percentile is 89 percent overall, far above the national average of 50 percent. Petal’s math percentile is 88 percent overall, again above the national average of 50 percent.
“This is data we use that compares us across the nation, so that’s important to us,” Dillon said. “We want to be ‘Mississippi Great,’ but we also want to be competitive nationally, and that’s a way for us to measure and mark what we’re doing there.”
The district had a pass rate of 99.7 percent on the MKAS2: Third Grade assessment, above the state pass rate of 93.2 percent.
College and Career Readiness
Approximately $9.5 million in scholarship opportunities were available to students during the last school year.
“That’s important for us, to give our kids the opportunity to go anywhere they’d like to go,” Dillon said.
In Advanced Placement, 332 AP courses were taken during the school year, with a 51.5 percent pass rate.
The 11th-grade average ACT composite score was 18 statewide, 21 nationally, and 20.2 in Petal in 2017. In 2018, the composite score was 17.8 statewide, 21 nationally and 19.5 in Petal.
Hope and Well-Being
Dashboard data shows that 74.7 percent of Petal School District students feel safe, 71.8 percent of students feel engaged and 80.9 percent of students participate. Ninety-two percent of parents agree that the district’s decisions are made with the best interest of students in mind, 96 percent of parents agree with the direction of the district and 92.3 percent of parents say Petal is their school district of choice.
Financials
Budget-wise, the majority of the school district’s funding sources come from the state, followed by local sources, federal monies and 16th-section funding.
Per-pupil expenditures for 2018 are as follows: 60.9 percent for instructional, 14 percent for operations and transportation, 9.4 percent for administration, 8.1 percent for non-instructional, 4.8 percent for debt and 1.8 percent for technology.
Teacher quality
On the staff of the school district, there are 105 members with a Bachelor’s degree, 210 with a Master’s degree, 14 with a Specialist degree and six with a Doctorate. The district boasted a 95.3 teacher attendance percentage for the 2017-2018 school year.
