City schools determined to improve
Philadelphia Public Schools have shown significant progress in the 2022-2023 school year, even though they maintained a "C" accountability rating as the Mississippi State Board of Education announced last month, school officials said.
“Despite maintaining the same grade as last year, the school district improved by 36 points with an overall rating of 573 from the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program,” said Dr. Shannon Whitehead, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Public School District.
“This is a pretty high growth considering it only takes around 50 points to reach the next leveling.”
Whitehead expressed pride in this growth, especially since Philadelphia Elementary School was only 1.6 points shy of a "B" rating.
“I will never forget that number,” Whitehead said. “We were excited to see that, although we were heartbroken that we were just 1 point away, but we see that as a way to fight back.”
Whitehead attributes the school’s improvements to the hard work of teachers, students, and parents who embraced the idea of becoming a Science of Reading School with structured literacy practices.
The district also saw substantial improvements in math, science, and history, thanks to high-quality materials in classrooms and teachers' dedication to creating effective lesson plans.
Whitehead also touted interventions that identify areas where a student is at a deficit and offer them one-on-one or group sessions targeted at closing those gaps based on the student's needs.
“Each nine weeks, we look at our students who may be struggling in a certain subject area and we target those students with focus intervention, reteaching those students particular standards, and giving them extra strategies and extra one-on-one time with teachers, interventionists, and tutors. That helps improve our reading and math tremendously,” she said.
Participation rates improved as well, with fewer suspensions and increased student attendance.
“We started having more focus on positive behavior incentives, getting kids to come to school and doing the right things,” Whitehead said. “We know having a keen focus on positive behaviors stops from having suspensions and the more kids are in school, the more they learn.”
Despite these improvements, there’s still room for growth, particularly in English Language Arts, she said.
Whitehead plans to focus on specialized training for faculty and staff teaching reading. Her goal is to have the district recognized as a "Science of Reading District" by the Mississippi State Department of Education, emphasizing high-quality reading materials and teacher training.
“I think this is an area where we can make significant gains,” she said.
Philadelphia Public School District's instructional focus is on Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), including integrating robotics into the curriculum to foster 21st-century thinking skills and innovation.
Whitehead believes that by building upon the progress made and by maintaining effective instructional processes and positive relationships with students, the district can achieve an "A" rating. She’s confident that with the right resources and leadership, they can reach their destination.
The state’s accountability grades are based on student progress from year to year, and the district recorded an 83.3% graduation rate.
MAAP measures student performance in English/Language Arts, and mathematics in grades three through eight, science in grades five and eight along with English II, Algebra I, Biology and U.S. History in high school.