School Focus (Fall 2022)

Welcome Contributors

A new school year is beginning, and we at the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) are excited to have Dr. Kim Benton (p. 8) stepping in as the interim state superintendent of education.

Mississippi has seen tremendous growth in education un der the leadership of Dr. Carey Wright, who retired in June. We are committed to continuing and advancing the many gains our schools have made under Dr. Wright’s leadership, and we are confident Mississippi students will continue to thrive be cause of the dedication of our administrators and teachers.

This issue highlights Mississippi’s 2022 administrator, teacher and parent of the year. Administrator of the year Kara Killough (p. 10) champions for her teachers and students and strives to create a fun, positive learning environment as the principal at Northwest Rankin Elementary. Skye Morgan, a history teacher at Petal High School and the 2022 teach er of the year, uses her theater background to help students find their voice (p. 18). Parent of the year Tara Denevan (p. 32) strives to impart the importance of community service to her own children.

MDE continues to provide tools to support our educators, such as the Mississippi Educator and Administrator Profes sional Growth System (p. 30), workshops aimed at helping schools targeted for additional support better understand their data (p. 24) and MDE coaches who collaborate with early learning collaboratives (p. 4).

This issue recognizes the continued achievements in our schools. Seventy high schools received the 2021 College Suc cess Award (p. 8), 73.9% of third graders passed the initial ad ministration of the third grade reading assessment (p.29) and Mississippi was one of only five states (p. 9) recognized for high-quality pre-K by the National Institute for Early Educa tion Research (NIEER).

We hope you have a fantastic 2022-2023 school year, and please let our MDE staff know how we can support you.

Wendy Clemons Associate State Superintendent Mississippi Department of Education

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Kim S. Benton

Associate Editor Jean Cook Managing Editor Brock Turnipseed Editor Heather Craig

Designer Chris McMillen Writers Heather Craig Will Graves Brock Turnipseed

All photos were submitted by the MDE or their respective districts unless otherwise noted.

On the Cover

Tupelo Public School District students Jenahsis Fields (front), Charles Rhea (middle) and Ghali Kettani (back) work on projects in their classroom computer lab.

Photo credit: Ryan Coon, Tupelo Public School District

Table of Contents

Collaborating for Learning

MDE

Heather Craig

People often think of pre-K and kindergarten education as fun and games, but Mississippi — who has supported early learning class rooms with coaching collabora tions since 2015 to help them meet state benchmarks — takes this play

quite seriously.

During the 2021-2022 school year, the Department of Early Childhood at the Mississippi De partment of Education (MDE) host ed 330 learning collaboratives with more than 30 coaches who help en sure teachers and students across the state are equipped with all the

activities, equipment and knowl edge they need to help preschool ers and kindergartners engage in play that results in both learning and preparation for literacy and other early childhood landmarks.

Dr. Jill Dent, director of Early Childhood at MDE, says educators are able to build trust with their

coaches because their assigned coach works alongside them for multiple school years.

“We start by building a relation ship with the teachers, who quick ly learn that we are there to help them with anything from room arrangement and materials to les son planning and question asking,” Dent said.

The MDE plans to hire 10 more coaches for the coming year, along with a number of support staff to help with the program.

Michael Mozee, who supports teachers in North and South Mis sissippi, says it has always been important to him to see male ed ucators in the classroom, so he dedicated his life to early child

hood learning, starting his career at Isable Elementary School as a pre-K teacher.

Mozee also says that trust is the most valuable aspect of the teach er-coach relationship. “Of all the things we want to do for them, we know that building trust is every thing because we sincerely want to help them give their students what they need,” he said.

“It is usually a learning experi ence for the coaches more so than the teachers. We are assistants who are able to offer support through our strengths-based coaching method, and that starts with learn ing what the teachers need to serve their students well,” Dent said.

Heather Lyons, pre-K coordina

tor in the Lamar County School Dis trict, just completed her fifth year with Sandra Watkins, the coach for her school’s collaborative.

“[Watkins] is really gifted at coming alongside teachers. She takes the time to get to know them and build trust. She is able to take the assessment components and help teachers grow,” Lyons said.

The combination of professional development, coaching and family engagement opportunities that the coaching collaborations create for classrooms and centers across the state does more than improve the quality of the programs — the con certed effort at supporting teach ers also results in improved reten tion rates.

Opposite page: Longleaf Elementary (Lamar County School District) teachers make story time active to keep students engaged. Above: An Oak Grove (Lamar County School District) teacher gets on her students’ level to engage their attention. Photos by Rory Dyle, MS First

“It is such a great opportunity to grow staff for the long term with out adding more overhead. It has proven to reduce teacher turnover in our programs. We had seven new hires last year who are all return ing; that gives us 13 total who are all coming back from teaching here previously. Teachers feel a sense of support and collaboration in the coaching opportunities,” Lyons said.

Mozee explains that his role as a coach is to provide activities, meth ods and guidance to the teachers in his collaborative.

“I say support as a verb, and I fo cus on giving support from the per spective of a teacher,” Mozee, who worked in pre-K and kindergarten for almost 10 years, said.

Dent, Lyons and Mozee all agree that the coaching collaboratives result in success for students and teachers across the state.

“Teachers are welcoming and open to resources, information gathering and other help to create the best environment for their stu dents,” Dent said.

“We begin by observing and giv ing feedback, but the most import ant thing we do is modeling,” Mo zee said of his coaching experience.

“The method of learning, observing, offering feedback and modeling is truly the key to successfully bridg ing our students’ learning from toddler years to pre-K and kinder garten.”

“Adults often think that pre-K and kindergarten are all fun and

games, but play truly is the work of a child. There is a lot that goes into teaching children and making sure they are learning while having fun. The coaching collaboratives help us make sure that learning is hap pening,” Lyons said.

We start by building a re lationship with the teachers, who quickly learn that we are there to help them with anything from room arrangement and materials to lesson plan ning and question asking.

-Dr. Jill Dent director of Early Childhood at MDE

Above: Longleaf Elementary students (Lamar County School District) practice sight words during carpet time.

Above: Students at Oak Grove Primary (Lamar County School District) share their magnetic creation with their teacher. Below: Lamar County School District’s (LCSD’s) Heather Lyons helps students with their early reading skills during outdoor playtime.

Benton Named Interim State Superintendent

The Mississippi State Board of Edu cation (SBE) appointed Dr. Kim Benton to become interim state superinten dent of education, succeeding Dr. Car ey Wright who retired on June 30 after more than eight years as Mississippi’s state superintendent of education.

Benton moves into the role after serving as the interim chief academ ic officer/deputy state superintendent for the Mississippi Department of Edu cation (MDE). She brings 40 years of ex perience working in public education in Mississippi, starting as a teacher’s assistant and then as a teacher, prin cipal and executive director of special populations and federal programs in the Meridian Public School District. She previously served as MDE’s chief

academic officer for six years before retiring from the agency in 2018.

Benton subse quently worked as a consultant and trainer for the Aca demic Development Institute, providing leadership services to multiple state education depart ments and Regional Comprehensive Centers and the National Comprehen sive Center, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, she served as associate professor in ed ucational leadership at William Carey University and as interim superinten dent for the Mississippi Schools for the

Deaf and Blind.

As MDE’s chief academic officer, Benton was in charge of implementing several hallmark initiatives, includ ing the Early Childhood Collaborative Act, the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards and the Literacy Based Promotion Act.

“Dr. Benton has worked alongside Dr. Wright during most of her tenure and has been instrumental in helping to lead the state’s successful educa tion reform efforts,” said Rosemary Aultman, SBE chair. “The Board is confident Dr. Benton will continue the progress we have made in public edu cation over the past decade as we be gin the search for a permanent state superintendent.”

70 Mississippi High Schools Receive National Award

Seventy Mississippi high schools received a prestigious 2021 College Success Award recognition from GreatSchools.org for excelling at pre paring students to enroll and succeed in college as determined by available data in each state.

GreatSchools.org is the nation’s leading nonprofit for providing school information to parents and families and has conducted the College Suc cess Award annually since 2018.

Mississippi schools recognized for 2021 are among 1,838 high schools from 25 states that demonstrated a successful track record of graduating

students who enroll in two- or fouryear college, are ready for college-lev el coursework and persist on to their second year. School, district and state education leaders in these 25 states were undeterred by the COVID-19 pan demic’s challenges and provided the critical data transparency needed to help communities understand paths to success from high school to college.

The College Success Award is pos sible because Mississippi is among states leading the nation in both col lecting and transparently sharing in formation on how students perform after high school, which is valuable

information for families, educators and policymakers.

“We applaud Mississippi schools for prioritizing high-quality public educa tion, putting students on the path to bright futures,” said Jon Deane, CEO of GreatSchools.org. “Over the past two years, students, parents, teachers and communities have relied on one anoth er like never before. We congratulate and thank everyone for their unwavering pur suit of college success for all students.”

To learn more about the College Success Award, visit www.greatsch ools.org/mississippi/college-suc cess-award.

Benton

Mississippi Recognized for High-Quality Pre-K

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) recog nized Mississippi in its latest report on pre-K quality as one of only five states whose state-funded pre-K pro gram meets all 10 quality standards for early childhood education.

The latest ranking is published in the NIEER report, The State of Pre school 2021. The annual survey pro vides an in-depth look at state-funded education for 3- and 4-year-olds na tionally and in each state with a focus on enrollment, spending and 10 poli cies that support quality education.

NIEER evaluated Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaborative (ELC) programs, which are partnerships among school districts, Head Start agencies, child care centers and non-profit organiza tions. The program has grown from 11 collaboratives serving 1,700 children in 2014 to 30 collaboratives that will serve 6,000 children in 2022-23.

Because of the quality of the ELCs, Mississippi has consistently been one of only several states meeting all NIEER standards.

The Mississippi Legislature passed the Early Learning Collaborative Act in 2013, which provided $3 million to establish a limited number of collabo ratives in underserved areas through out the state. Funding increased in subsequent years based on the pro gram’s immediate success reaching $8 million by 2020-21 and doubled to $16 million in 2021-22.

The Mississippi State Board of Ed ucation has made increasing access to high-quality early childhood ed ucation one of its top priorities. The Mississippi Department of Education has partnered with the W.K. Kellogg

Foundation to build the state’s early childhood education infrastructure through coaching and professional development and by providing guid ance and support to school districts. State funds now support these efforts.

“The quality of Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaborative program has made our state a national leader for early child hood education,” said Dr. Carey Wright, the now-retired state superintendent of education for Mississippi. “Research con sistently shows that high-quality early childhood education has a long-term im pact on student achievement. Children who participate in high-quality pre-K programs achieve higher levels of school readiness, reading proficiency by third grade and higher graduation rates.”

The proportion of Mississippi 4-yearolds enrolled in ELCs rose from 3% in 2016-17 to 7% in 2020-21. When com bined with Head Start (27%) and special

education pre-K programs (3%), approx imately 37% of Mississippi 4-year-olds attended public early childhood edu cation programs in 2020-21. COVID-19 disruptions caused 337 fewer children to enroll in collaboratives in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.

“The pandemic has made it even clearer that such preschool programs are essential for young children and their families,” said W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D., NIEER’s founder and senior co-director. “Mississippi is moving in the right direction, doubling the state investment in preschool to enable more children to attend the program in the coming years.”

Mississippi’s national ranking for pre-K improved since last year from 39th to 38th for access and 42nd to 39th in state spending per child.

Read the State of Preschool Report at NIEER.org.

Killough Builds Strong Community to Champion for Students Administrator

Brock Turnipseed

Kara Killough believes you can not educate a child until you connect with them.

She reflects back to sixth grade in the Rankin County School Dis trict (RCSD) and the connection she formed with her teacher, Pam John son. Little did she know that would ignite a passion for education that has impacted many and earned her the 2022 Mississippi Administrator of the Year.

“She really got to know us beyond what we could do academically. She believed in us, supported us, encour aged us, got to know our families and really kept in touch with us,” Killough said of Johnson. “She started building that relationship with us and poured into us to make us believe that we could do anything. I knew if she had that kind of impact on me, then I wanted to have that same impact on other students as well.”

Killough has done the same for numerous RCSD students, teachers and administrators over the past 13 years as principal at Northwest Rankin Elementary (NWRE) and ear lier as assistant principal starting in 2004, when NWRE restructured and opened as a kindergarten through fifth grade school.

For Killough, who had been an ad ministrative intern at Flowood Ele mentary and before that a fifth grade

OF THE YEAR

Northwest Rankin Elementary (NWRE) principal Kara Killough presents first grader Madelyn Mohler a Random Acts of Kindness Student of the Month certificate. Killough was named 2022 Mississippi Administrator of the Year for the NWRE, located in the Rankin County School District (RCSD).

math and social studies teacher at Northwest Rankin Middle School, and her principal, Dr. Charlotte Young, it served as an opportunity to build the school’s culture.

“There were many lessons we learned and things we realized we could have done differently,” Killough said. “Over 18 years, we’ve been able to tweak and change things to fit the culture that we wanted to continue to define.”

Killough said Young brought laughter and fun into the learning environment, something she has continued to incorporate into NWRE as principal. Making learning fun helps Killough and her staff connect with students, leading to an environ ment where students want to learn.

NWRE Assistant Principal Jill Lay said a positive, welcoming environ ment resonated when she joined the school three years ago.

“You can see it in the pictures on the walls, in the way teachers greet you, in the way students greet you

and in the way everyone says ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon’ with smiles on their faces,” Lay said. “You have days when you’re just not feel ing at your best, but on those days we rally around you and support you even more. It’s a very positive envi

Confetti flies at NWRE as Killough (front row, third from left), school staff and RCSD administration celebrate the school earning an A rating on the Mississippi Schoolwide Accountability System in 2018.

The positive mindset in our elementary school is crucial because they are going through so many changes in their ele mentary years. Having a positive outlook, to me, is a non-negotiable in an el ementary school where it is so needed.

- Kara Killough

ronment. Having fun is important be cause we want our students to walk through the door with a smile and know we are going to challenge them academically but have fun while do ing it.”

Connecting with students and be ing in tune with their social and emo tional needs plays an integral role, something she learned from Johnson.

Building and maintaining those connections takes a village ap proach, and Killough sees NWRE as a family unit striving for a common goal. That family branches into the home, where she connects to parents through the school’s social media ac

counts and home challenges families have to complete together.

The NWRE family has thrived during her 13 years as principal, growing from academic watch iden tification into an A-rated school on the Mississippi Statewide Account ability System in 2018. Killough said she held a big celebration to mark the culmination of the long journey.

Positive reinforcement is critical at all levels, especially in elemen tary school, which is why Killough was proud that NWRE implement ed a positive behavior, intervention and support (PBIS) program and progressed to Tier 2 status, the only

RCSD school to achieve that designa tion.

“The positive mindset in our el ementary school is crucial because they are going through so many changes in their elementary years,” Killough said. “Having a positive out look, to me, is a non-negotiable in an elementary school where it is so needed.”

Because of the school’s varying age ranges, Killough said she con siders the older NWRE students the “seniors” of the building and partners them with younger students.

“We have a diversity of ages, abil ity levels, socio-economic levels and

Left: Killough (left) and Assistant Principal Jill Lay delivered treats to teachers during the holiday season. Right: Killough, presents third grader Jaxon Bomgardner with a bike he earned for his hard work during third grade state tests. Killough and the NWRE staff used the theme Champions to challenge each student to be present, arrive on time and work hard on their state test. Students earned tickets that could be used for various door prizes.

demographics,” Killough said. “But when we come into our school, we all have a common theme: We are respectful of each other, and we all have the goal to grow as much as we can and enjoy what we are doing.”

Lay said NWRE has been success ful because of the culture and trust between the staff and students.

“You can’t have a successful school without a great leader who empowers her staff. She does a fan

tastic job of relationship-building because she’s transparent. When you have that transparency and ev eryone trusts you and the decisions you’re making, they are going to fol low you,” Lay said. “We don’t always get it right, but it all goes back to that relationship and them knowing that you have their backs. They know that about Kara. They know, at the end of the day, she is going to make deci sions that are best for them.”

Lay knew when Killough was named RCSD Administrator of the Year that she would receive the state award. Still, Killough was honored and humbled.

“There are amazing principals and educators taking their build ings to unbelievable levels,” she said. “I’m honored to be selected. I never thought this recognition would come to me because I feel like it’s just what I’ve been called to do.”

Killough (front row, center) takes a photo with former NWRE students who returned to the school for a walk through prior to grad uating from Northwest Rankin High School this spring.

MDE Adds 44 New Student Advisory Council Members

Tupelo SD

Haley Bertolet

Rankin County SD

Madelyn Berry Joshua Bowman

Sunflower Consolidated SD Tyren Boyd

Jackson Public SD

Chantity Braddock

Dorianne Hines Chaz Jimenez Jasmine Taylor Kelsi Williams

Mississippi Achievement SD

Tren’Derryious Byest Tylan Crockett

Ashantis Wigley

Oxford SD

Ria Contractor

Pascagoula-Gatier SD

Nadia Corder

Sophia Cuellar

Ja’Kaylee Minor Ja’Shaylee Minor

Union Public SD Rowan Feasel

Lamar County SD Avery Foret Abby Fulmar Columbia SD Elizabeth (Myers) Foxworth Devyn Peters

West Jasper SD Laila Goins

Jackson County SD Hannah Heffner

Pontotoc County SD Lindy Holley McComb SD Madison Jones

Noxubee County SD Braylen Jones

Newton County SD Holley Kiker

Rankin County SD Qadre Latiker

Jefferson Davis County SD Latayzha Lockhart

West Tallahatchie SD Liyah McCord

Hattiesburg Public SD Adamari Posadas

Long Beach SD Christina Strahan Stokley Sawyer

Mississippi School of Mathematics and Science Mandy Sun Richard Zheng

Enterprise SD Michael Tvarkunas

Madison County SD Almia Valentine Yasmine Ware

Laurel SD Xavier Washington

Petal SD Renthony Wilson

Biloxi Public Schools Monica Young

Hattiesburg Public SD Adamari Posadas

Kosciusko SD Reagan (Thomas) Smith

Meridian Public SD Mikayla Smith

Poplarville SD Tucker Smith

Pontotoc County SD Laterius Williams

The Mississippi Department of Ed ucation (MDE) added 44 students last school year to the State Superinten dent’s Student Advisory Council. The council includes students in grades 11 and 12 or first year of college to serve as members for a term of two school years.

More than 200 students from across the state completed the initial applica tion step, and 76 submitted complete applications. The 44 selected will join the 85 students who are returning to the council from the previous school year or who qualified for the council by becoming a semifinalist for the ju nior Mississippi State Board of Educa tion representative.

Students from different backgrounds, school sizes and regions in Mississippi were able to share their opinions and offer advice about educational opportu nities and policy in Mississippi with Dr. Carey Wright, the state superintendent of education, who retired in June.

“Members of the Student Adviso ry Council offer tremendous insight about their educational experiences and contribute valuable ideas about how to advance public education in Mississippi,” Wright said. “They are an excellent model for their peers across the state.”

The council’s purpose is to provide a forum for Mississippi’s students to offer diverse perspectives to the state super intendent. The selected students act as liaisons between MDE and public-school students from across the state. New members joining in 2022-23 were an nounced in October.

Full council meetings are held at least twice during the school year.

Two

Two Mississippi students are among the 58th class of U.S. Presidential Schol ars, which recognizes 161 high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, the arts and career and technical education (CTE) fields.

The Mississippi scholars are Pet al High School (Petal School District) senior Ritchie Hao-Zun Yang and Pillow Academy (Greenwood) senior Dia Chawla.

Dr. Carey Wright, state superin tendent of education, who retired in June, said the students, their families and schools should be proud of this national recognition.

“This honor recognizes the achievements of our nation’s most committed students who fully dedi cate themselves to academic and per sonal excellence,” she said. “I congrat ulate these students for earning this national honor.”

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects schol ars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excel lence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as a demonstrated commitment to community service and leadership.

“Our 2022 Presidential Scholars rep resent the best of America and remind us that when empowered by education,

Students Named

there are no limits to what our young people can achieve,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today, I join President Biden to celebrate a class of scholars whose pursuit of knowledge, generosity of spirit and exceptional talents bring our nation tremendous pride. Throughout one of the most trying periods in our nation’s history and amid our recovery from the pandemic, our students have once again demonstrated their strength and that they have so much to contrib ute to our country. Thanks to them, I know America’s future is bright.”

Senior Amy Zhang of Starkville, the Mississippi State Board of Educa tion’s outgoing senior representative, was a semifinalist for the award along with Kylar DeLoach of Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Jeffrey Jordan of Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Sarah Leroux of Madison Central High School in Madison, Madeline Pitre of Biloxi High School in Biloxi, Wesley Smalley of Florence High School in Florence and Yujie Yang of Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg.

Of the 3.7 million students ex pected to graduate from high school

this year, more than 5,000 candidates qualified for the 2022 awards deter mined by outstanding performance on the College Board SAT or ACT ex ams or through nominations made by chief state school officers, other partner recognition organizations and YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.

As directed by Presidential Execu tive Order, the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families liv ing abroad, as well as 15 chosen atlarge, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in CTE.

Created in 1964, the U.S. Presiden tial Scholars Program has honored over 7,900 of the nation’s top-per forming students. The program was expanded in 1979 to recognize stu dents who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, literary and per forming arts. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize stu dents who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and tech nical education fields.

The Presidential Scholars Class of 2022 were recognized for their out standing achievement with an online recognition program.

SBE Approves New Early Learning Collaboratives

The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) voted to add five new early learning collaboratives (ELCs) to the current list of 30 to provide high-quality early child hood education pre-K programs to 4-year-old students. This ELC expansion is made possible by $5.9 million in state

funds to be used by June 2025. State funding for the ELC program has steadily increased over the years starting with a $3 million appropriation in 2013-14 when the program began to $24 million for the 2022-23 school year. The total state appropriation for the ELC program so far is $70.3 mil

lion.

Biloxi ELC, Hollandale ELC, Jefferson County ELC, Lowndes County ELC and Pass Christian ELC were added in August.

Hinds ELC (Jackson Public Schools), Noxubee ELC, Senato bia ELC, Holmes ELC, Leland ELC, Long Beach ELC and Pontotoc

Pre-K Partners ELC (Pontotoc City only) were added in April.

The new ELCs will serve more than 3,500 pre-K 4-year-olds in 52 new classrooms and 136 existing classrooms. More than 6,800 total ELC students will be served in the 2022-2023 school year.

The Early Learning Collabora tive Act of 2013 established the ELC program, which provides funding to local communities to establish, expand, support and fa cilitate the successful implemen tation of quality pre-K early child

hood education and development services. The main goal of estab lishing ELCs is to better prepare preschoolers for kindergarten.

In spring 2022, 65.12% of ELC students met the end-of-year tar get score, compared to 61.53% of students in other public pre-K classrooms, which included a va riety of class configurations, in cluding Title I, self-contained spe cial education and other school district pre-K programs.

In 2022, the National Insti tute for Early Education Research

(NIEER) recognized Mississippi as one of only five states that met all quality standards for pre-K.

“One of MDE’s top goals is for every child to have access to a high-quality early childhood pro gram, and the expansion of ELCs in the state helps us do that,” said Dr. Kim Benton, interim state su perintendent of education. “This continual investment from Missis sippi lawmakers supports greater outcomes for students and the state as a whole.”

Advanced Placement Achievement Rate Improves

Mississippi’s graduating class of 2021 achieved a 39.1% qualifying score rate for Advanced Placement (AP) exams, an increase from the previous year’s achievement rate of 38.2%.

AP courses are college-level courses offered by trained high school teachers. Students can earn three college credits for every AP exam they pass with a qualifying score of 3 or higher.

Among the class of 2021, 18.2% (4,972) of graduates took a total of 10,865 AP exams during their high school experience, according to the College Board’s AP Cohort Report for Class of 2021. Though achieve ment on AP increased, the number of students taking AP exams de clined. Among the class of 2020, 20.7% (5,235) of graduates took a

total of 11,526 AP exams.

Though the class of 2021 saw a drop in AP participation, overall, the number of Mississippi students taking AP courses and passing AP exams have both nearly doubled since 2013.

“AP courses provide students with a rigorous level of learning and help them develop the study skills they need to be successful in college,” said Dr. Carey Wright, re cently retired state superintendent of education. “The AP experience also helps colleges and universities identify students who can master college-level material.”

Mississippi’s AP policy entitles students who score 3 or higher on an AP exam to earn at least three college credits at any Mississippi public university or community

college. This policy has the poten tial to save Mississippi families millions of dollars on college tui tion. In Mississippi, public and pri vate high school students earned 5,914 AP qualifying scores of 3, 4 or 5 in 2021. These scores translate into a potential savings of close to $5.2 million in tuition for students and their families because each qualifying score is worth at least three college credits.

Research shows AP students are better prepared for college and more likely to graduate college in four years than non-AP participant peers. Students earning college credit can save what they would otherwise have to pay for another year of college.

Teacher

OF THE YEAR

Giving Students a Voice: 2022 Teacher of the Year Uses Theater Background to Help Students

Heather Craig

Spending a single minute listen ing to 2022 Mississippi Teacher of the Year (MTOY) Skye Morgan describe her teaching philosophy is enough to con vince you of her passionate commit ment to her students’ futures and cre ating a classroom environment where they can find and use their voices.

Morgan, a U.S. History teacher at Pet al High School (PHS), said that comes easier in history classrooms where top ics lead to civil discourse and differenc es of opinions, but it can also apply to any classroom environment.

“We are talking about really simple things: the way a teacher organizes their classroom, the way the teacher sets expectations for conversations and discussions. Allowing students to use their voice is really important,” she said.

Morgan describes her path to be coming a teacher as nontraditional. With a freshly earned degree in the ater production, she worked in that field for a few — as she describes — unfulfilling years before her former theater teacher and speech and de bate coach, Kelly Garner, asked Mor gan to substitute for her classes while she was on maternity leave.

Then only 22, Morgan did not know what to expect teaching students so close to her own age. The outcome

Petal High School (PHS) U.S. History teacher Skye Morgan (right) celebrates receiving 2022 Mississippi Teacher of the Year (MTOY) with Kelly Garner, her former theater, speech and debate coach and current mentor and colleague.

Morgan, second from left, is pictured receiving PSD Teacher of the Year.

surprised her.

“When Ms. Garner came back, I was so sad! I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re ready to come back?’” Mor gan recalls. After that experience, Morgan felt called back to the class room and earned a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Southern Mississippi. She then taught in the Richton School District and North Forrest High School be fore being hired at her alma mater.

As a former theater, speech and de bate student, it was only natural that Morgan would excel as a teacher in those areas, but teaching history came into her life as yet another surprise.

“I loved the constitution and consti tutional law. I loved presidential rheto ric, so I just put history on my license to give myself more opportunities during the recession,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s tips for cultivating civil discourse in classrooms:

• Organize your classroom in a way that promotes discussion.

• Set expectations for discussions and how students respond to one another.

• Give students examples of how to disagree in ways that create growth and change.

• Allow students to speak up: Don’t merely expect compliance; give stu dents an environment where they feel safe to use their voice.

• Allow students to voice opinions not just with the teacher, but also in discussion with other students.

• Model the ways you would like to see discourse occur in our society rather than what our leaders are modeling right now.

• Model civil discourse in your discussions with other teachers and school leaders.

• Provide plenty of opportunities for students to practice civil discourse and encourage them as they make progress.

After being hired to teach speech and debate at PHS, the principal called two days before school started to assign Morgan a U.S. History class.

Morgan was hesitant, but the new administrator encouraged her to go ahead with the assignment. Morgan has had U.S. History on her schedule as her primary class ever since.

Despite having many years of suc cessful teaching under her belt, Mor gan is humble about her effect in the classroom and what it means to re turn to the classroom every day, even when things may not go well.

“It’s all about your spirit, right? You’ve chosen the most fulfilling profession there is, but you’re not going to feel fulfilled daily; there’s going to be really challenging days.

It’s so important to let go of that day and not deem it a failure. It’s just an obstacle that you’ve got to climb over,” Morgan said.

“You’ve got to go back in the class

- Si Thompson

room the next day with better spirits. You can’t let each failure define who you are as a teacher or how valuable you are as a teacher,” she said.

When asked how often Morgan

Left: Morgan is pictured with her first period class after being chosen as PHS’ teacher of the year.

[Morgan] is in a continual state of improvement and is happy to share every idea that has been classroom-tested with any educator who needs it. She is supported by a remarkable group of teach ers in her PLC. In this setting, everyone is a cheer leader for everyone. Working together to best serve students and grow one another as educators is the fundamental action of her PLC.

applies this philosophy in her own career, she quickly responded, “Every day. I have to tell myself that every day. My class will leave, and I will say to myself, ‘Well, that was a mess!’”

Morgan’s students respond to her perseverance and humility positively. “Another class walks in, and I have the opportunity to redo [the lesson]. When that mess of a class walks in the next day, I’m just real with them and say ‘That did not go how I wanted it to. Can we try it again?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it again!’”

Garner, Morgan’s speech and de bate mentor, describes her as “one of the most optimistic people I know. She always sees the good in her students and co-workers and makes friends wherever she goes.”

While Morgan passionately be lieves life as a teacher is one of perse verance and maintaining good spirits, her MTOY platform proves that her intentions for her students stretch far enough to affect them for the rest of their lives.

Garner says, “[Morgan] has always been a champion for a cause. Even as a high school student back in the 1990s, she was standing up against bullies and creating a safe environ ment for her fellow classmates. It is not surprising to me that she is still doing this today within her classroom, creating an arena so her students can practice the art of civil discourse and learn to be participants in our demo cratic society.”

Morgan’s former history teach er and current mentor Si Thomp son, now retired, said “No matter so cio-economic or cultural differences, [Morgan] believes all people have in trinsic worth. Her students are able to navigate through her practical princi ples to learning with her compassion ate and quirky demeanor.”

Of all Morgan’s daily teaching ac tivities, one that she is most proud of

Right: Morgan (middle) was joined by her husband, Joel, and mother, Melodie Dickin son, at the MTOY ceremony in Jackson this spring.

is the professional learning commu nity (PLC) she is a part of at PHS. It is an opportunity for her and the other history teachers to meet daily to dis cuss their methods and collaborate on ideas.

“[Morgan] is in a continual state of improvement and is happy to share every idea that has been class room-tested with any educator who needs it. She is supported by a remark able group of teachers in her PLC. In this setting, everyone is a cheerleader for everyone. Working together to best serve students and grow one another as educators is the fundamental ac

tion of her PLC,” Thompson said.

Morgan looks forward to the op portunity to share her platform of civ il discourse on a national level.

“Allowing the classroom to become a proxy for our democratic system is super important to me. We can’t rely on our political and social leaders to model [civil discourse] anymore,” Morgan said. “We — classroom teach ers and families — have to take that back and show students that civil dis course is important.

“We can disagree, and what will come out of that is growth.”

Milken Award Winner

Pearl River Central High School (PRCHS) lead teacher Chayna Adams recently received the surprise of a life time when she was awarded an unre stricted $25,000 Milken Educator Award at an assembly in the school gym.

The Milken Educator Awards, cre ated by the Milken Family Foundation in 1987, recognizes teaching excel lence publicly not only to inspire edu cators, but also to show students and

communities about the importance of joining the teaching profession. The prestigious honor has been awarded at more than 60 schools across the nation in the 2021-22 school year and has been described as “the Oscars of Teaching.” More than $140 million in funding, including $70 million in in dividual $25,000 awards, has been de voted to the overall initiative, which includes powerful professional learn

ing opportunities throughout recipi ents’ careers.

Adams, along with PRCHS stu dents and staff, thought they were assembled to receive congratulatory remarks from the Mississippi Depart ment of Education (MDE) regarding the school’s commendable Algebra I scores. Instead, Milken Educator Awards Senior Program Director Greg Gallagher and MDE Director of Educa

Pearl River Central High School (PRCHS) teacher Chayna Adams (middle) is recognized for receiving a Milken Educator Award by (l-r) Greg Gallagher, senior program director of the Milken Educator Awards; Mississippi Department of Education Director of Educator Talent Acquisition and Effectiveness Dr. Courtney Van Cleve; Pearl River Central High School Principal Kimberly Alford; and Pearl River County School District Superintendent Alan Lumpkin.

Gallagher looks on as Adams shares some thoughts with the students, colleagues and visiting dignitaries who just witnessed her Milken Educator Award surprise. “We have the best kids we could ever want to teach on this campus,” she says. “Thank you for making our job so easy!”

tor Talent Acquisition and Effective ness Dr. Courtney Van Cleve joined in the surprise to recognize Adams for her work as a model educator for the state and nation.

“Ms. Adams has done an extraor dinary job challenging her students to meet and exceed high academic standards,” said Dr. Carey Wright, the retired state superintendent of educa tion. “She is a wonderful example of our dedicated Mississippi educators who work hard every day to help stu dents learn and succeed.”

Adams’ students and colleagues learn more than academics in her care; she teaches them pride, re spect and commitment. After years of teaching math and heading the math department at PRCHS, Adams is now the school’s lead teacher, responsible for academic tier, schoolwide data and coaching support for instruction al staff. She coaches new teachers in instructional practices, organization al skills, student interventions and data analysis. Adams also coordinates

school-level professional development based on school and state data. To support the school’s goals for constant improvement of academic and behav ior goals, Adams plans and organizes schoolwide incentives for students who meet weekly and monthly targets.

“As a lead teacher, Ms. Adams serves as a model for her peers and works dai ly to elevate and strengthen the teach ing profession,” said Van Cleve. “She is a worthy recipient of this year’s Milken Award. I join her students, school and community in congratulating her for this accomplishment.”

Adams’ data-driven classroom ex perience has served her well in her advancement into instructional lead ership. As an algebra teacher, Adams used a wide variety of creative, handson strategies that support learning for students at all levels, including small group instruction, scaffolded partner activities, guided notes, whiteboard workouts, math Jeopardy and match ing games. She tracked results on unit and district assessments on a data

wall and adjusted her instruction to address learning gaps. Adams con stantly reinforced positive behaviors in the classroom and communicated with parents about both concerns and successes. Her dedication to student outcomes delivered notable results: The algebra pass rate at PRCHS is 94%, and students in the bottom 25% con sistently meet growth and proficiency targets on state assessments.

As math department chair, Adams led instructional rounds, conducted data analysis, coached new teach ers and led the professional learning committee. During pandemic school closures, she used virtual meetings to check in with her department weekly and created video and interactive dig ital lessons for teachers to use with students. Consulting with the math coach at the MDE, Adams led the re design of all levels of the school’s al gebra curriculum to align with state standards, increase rigor and make content accessible to remote-learning students. She has written test items for Algebra I for state assessments and presented at state and national con ferences. Colleagues often observed in Adams’ classroom to learn from her skillful classroom management and instructional strategies.

Adams, who earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2009 and a master’s in educational leadership from Arkansas State University in 2014, has taught seven graduating classes at PRCHS, and many former students at tribute their successes to her, especially with their college and career choices. She taught the school’s math ACT prep class, using individualized instruction plans to ready students for the import ant college entrance exams. Adams connects with all students regardless of their math abilities and often attends sports, family events and other activi ties outside the classroom.

Deciphering

THE DATA

Office of School Improvement Workshop Helps Schools Analyze Data

Brock Turnipseed

Data is critical in helping schools design plans that best meet the needs of their students. However, these plans can miss the mark with out access to the proper data or the

ability to understand the picture the data is painting.

The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) Office of School Improvement (OSI) helped Compre hensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Targeted Support and Improve

ment (TSI) and Additional TSI (ATSI) schools better understand data by piloting an Interventions 101 training this spring in conjunction with the Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit.

The training, held in three

Opposite page: Interventions 101 attendees collaborate on improvement plans during a May training in Biloxi. Top: Interventions 101 training attendees at the Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit in Starkville listen as Dr. Dana Sey mour, a program evaluator for the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), guides them through understanding trends in data. Bottom: Dr. Seymour leads an Interventions 101 training in Biloxi for the MDE Office of School Improvement. The trainings help schools targeted for improvement better understand data and use it to guide their improvement plans.

monthly sessions in Starkville, Can ton and Biloxi, focused on finding evidence-based interventions for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Dr. Dana Seymour, a pro gram evaluator at MDE, led the training and said all educators do not fully understand the terms strong, moderate and promising ev idence outlined by ESSA.

Seymour has held this training for larger audiences, but focusing on these identified schools allowed the sessions to target the specific sub groups they are trying to reach in their improvement plans.

“I’ve been to the trainings and heard this before, but I did not really digest (the information) in the same way I did in this smaller setting,”

Noleen Clark, previous OSI coordina tor of school improvement programs, said. “It brought it to life and helped in understanding it better.”

Training to utilize data for build ing capacity and improving instruc tion is one support offered to CSI, TSI and ATSI schools.

Schools are identified for CSI if they rank in the lowest 5% of Title I

schools or have a graduate rate less than or equal to 67%.

Schools were identified for TSI be cause their subgroup is in the lowest 50% of overall accountabil ity index, is in the lowest quartile of three-year av erage gap-to-goal and has scores in the lowest quartile of three-year improvement toward gap-to-goal closure.

ATSI schools have a three-year average sub group performance at or below that of all students in the lowest-performing schools (i.e., the bottom 5% of Title IA schools).

According to Dr. Sonja Robertson, OSI executive director, the Interven tions 101 pilot allowed for training that targeted the identified schools’ individual needs.

“It was important to try to hone in on specific components or aspects of data analysis and look at what the ev idence is telling them based on their specific intervention and what their

actual outcomes are looking like at that given time,” Robertson said.

The training adds another lay er of evidence-based intervention

The first session, held in March, focused on examining data for deter mining what needed implementing.

“When they came in, they were very much like, ‘We need to improve all of our read ing scores,’” Seymour said. “We started looking at the data, and we said, ‘Actual ly you don’t. It’s your stu dents who have identified special needs who are the population you really need to focus on.’”

the schools can use to impact their areas of need. These schools have been using funding to implement evidence-based interventions since being identified for school improve ment between fall 2018 and fall 2019.

Because the sessions built off each other, Robertson said schools were asked to commit to all three sessions and to send the same team to each training.

Seymour found it not only important to show the schools how to analyze the data, but also to have it in a format they could analyze. Numerical data in a pivot table made interpreting the data difficult, but that same data pre sented in a visual format made the information and trends stand out.

A better understanding of the data helped the following month when the schools discussed research literacy, where to find interventions and how to know what is needed.

Above: Seymour leads Interventions 101 training attendees in Canton through a discussion on determining who is responsible for analyzing data.

The data helps you focus so you can select some high-yield strategies. Without knowing exactly where the highest areas of need are, you could be throwing a lot of time and money on a peripheral problem.

- Dr. Dana Seymour

“The data helps you focus so you can select some high-yield strate gies,” Seymour said. “Without know ing exactly where the highest areas of need are, you could be throwing a lot of time and money on a peripher al problem.”

Seymour said schools spend money on resources and programs that fail because they haven’t properly interpreted the data and identified the problems. Attendees brought programs they were con sidering purchasing, and they could do thorough research into those programs and evaluate the claims versus the cost.

Those decision-making tools were applied in the final session when dis

tricts created their individual imple mentation plans.

“You spent this time looking at your data and finding interventions with good evidence to support that they’re effective, but if you don’t implement it well, it will fail,” Sey mour said. “The third session basi cally examined how each phase of an implementation looks. Session two gave them the tools to make a decision, and they had to come to session three with an intervention in mind so we could write a plan to implement it.”

The smaller sessions allowed them to leave with a more individu alized plan they could take back to their districts.

“We have a lot of turnaround where we have to send (the im provement plans) back. But in these trainings, we talked about the strat egies they are funding and the goals they’re reaching for with those strat egies,” Clark said. “They must identify the evidence level and the research that backs it. Those were the things that were brought out and refined in this process.”

As OSI looks to hold the training again in the future, Robertson said if they can help the schools they serve better understand their data and im prove their outcomes, then “it’s well worth it.”

Participants work through an activity during an Interventions 101 training in Biloxi.

MDE Adds 49 Veteran Educators to MTAC

Aberdeen SD

Michelle Williamson

Bay St. Louis-Waveland SD Robin Craft Whittney Landrum

Biloxi SD

Michael Burkett Blakely Fore

Clarksdale Municipal SD Amanda Workman

DeSoto County SD Toni Coleman Gwenda Whitfield

George County SD Della Morgan

Gulfport SD Jennifer Wilson

Harrison County SD Angel Klobe

Hazelhurst City SD Veronica Wylie

Jackson Public SD Vicki Latham Lynsey McQueen Kandice Taylor

Lafayette County SD Penelope Allen Christina Hill Misty Wright

Lauderdale County SD Angie Wilkinson

Laurel SD Janie Brown Bianca Knight

Long Beach SD Rebecca Bradley

Lowndes County SD Emily Edgar

Madison County SD Lori Wilson

Midtown Public Charter Schools Alfongelia Wallace

Monroe County SD Kayla Tucker New Albany SD Jacqueline Shirley

Forty-nine experienced and highly regarded professionals from across the state were added to the Mississippi Teacher Advisory Coun cil (MTAC).

Formed in 2016, the MTAC now includes 300 educators representing schools in urban and rural settings and an array of content areas, in cluding general education, arts, spe cial education and career and tech

nical education.

The purpose of the MTAC is to provide feedback to the state super intendent of education on the initia tives of the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), the Mississippi State Board of Education and the state Legislature. The MTAC empow ers teachers to discuss topics criti cal to their success in the classroom and how the MDE can assist.

North Bolivar Consolidated SD Rena Brackin Eric Bridgett

North Panola SD Alyxandria Chaivre

Oxford SD Jaleesa Mackey

Pass Christian SD Launa Murray

Petal SD Brittany Goff Gwen Anne Merrill Shanna Nesser

Pontotoc County SD Kayla Brown

Rankin County SD Amy Landfair Lindsey Martin Kimberly Watson

Scott County SD Amanda Posey Tate County SD Jaymee Jarrett

Tupelo Public SD Cheryl Dexter Maria Foster Ashley Nash Moton Dedra Wray

Vicksburg-Warren SD Kristy Brannon

West Bolivar Consolidated SD Shana Merideth Bolden

West Point Consolidated SD Stephany Watson

Yazoo County SD Haley Crenshaw

“Hearing directly from teachers about their classroom experiences has helped me set priorities and has informed statewide decisions about policy, resources and professional development,” Dr. Cary Wright, the state superintendent of education who retired in June said.

MTAC members will continue working with interim state superin tendent Dr. Kim Benton this fall.

Miss. Third Graders Find Success on Reading Assessment

The Mississippi Department of Ed ucation (MDE) announced that 73.9% of 31,068 Mississippi third graders re ceived a passing score on the initial ad ministration of the third grade reading assessment for the 2021-22 school year.

The passing rate presents a prelimi nary snapshot of third graders’ literacy proficiency as schools emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time Mis sissippi third graders took the assess ment in a normal school year was April 2019 when 74.5% of 34,998 students passed the initial test.

“The hard work of teachers, students and parents to overcome academic setbacks caused by the pandemic is paying off. The initial pass rate on this year’s third grade reading assessment is nearly the same as the pre-pandem

ic pass rate,” said Dr. Carey Wright, the recently retired state superintendent of education. “I celebrate this accomplish ment and acknowledge there’s more work to be done.”

In accordance with the Litera cy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA), third graders who do not pass the initial ad ministration of the reading test are giv en up to two attempts to retest. After the final retest in 2019, 85.6% of third graders passed the test. Students did not test in 2020 due to the pandem ic. The test was given in 2021, but the passing requirement was waived so no retests were administered.

The LBPA became law in 2013 to im prove reading skills of K-3 students in public schools so every student com pleting the third grade is able to read at

or above grade level. The LBPA requires Mississippi third graders to pass a read ing assessment to qualify for promo tion to fourth grade. An amendment to the law in 2016 raised reading-level expectations starting in the 2018-19 school year, requiring third graders to score at level 3 or higher on the read ing portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program English Language Arts assessment.

Some students may qualify for good cause exemptions to be promoted to fourth grade.

Final district-level pass rates will be published in the fall in the Litera cy-Based Promotion Act Annual Report of Performance and Student Retention for the 2021-22 school year.

Professional Growth System

Fosters Continuous Development, Collaborative Support for Educator Effectiveness

Will Graves

The Mississippi Department of Ed ucation (MDE) Office of Educator Effec tiveness (OEE) encourages and supports effective instruction and leadership in public schools by overseeing the Missis sippi Educator and Administrator Profes sional Growth System (PGS).

What makes the PGS unique in its ap proach to educator professional develop ment is the program’s focus on continu ous improvement.

Administered at the school district level, the PGS is geared toward improving student outcomes by going beyond the traditional annual performance evalua tion many veteran teachers and admin istrators may be accustomed to. The key word signifying the PGS’s overarching goal is growth.

“The PGS is designed to improve stu

dent achievement by providing teachers and administrators with observations and feedback to inform continuous im provement,” said Dr. Courtney Van Cleve, MDE’s state director for educator talent acquisition and effectiveness.

As a specially designed profession al development system for Mississippi’s public educators and administrators, the PGS fosters a collaborative relationship between the educator or administrator and their mentor observer. The program launched in 2016 and has been refined through four feedback-informed phases.

The PGS’s main component is to pro vide educators with meaningful coaching, actionable feedback and targeted profes sional learning. This is achieved through evidence-based observations, which help guide constructive feedback that fosters positive professional growth. This compo nent, the heart of the PGS, enables school

leaders to assess performance and iden tify the top priorities for both individual and schoolwide professional learning.

Beyond the observation and feed back aspect of the system, Van Cleve said the PGS also utilizes annually sub mitted data to inform decision-making at the state level.

“We support the use of effectiveness data in decision-making statewide, such that we ultimately ensure that every school has effective teachers and lead ers, which is outlined in goal number four in our State Board of Education strategic plan,” Van Cleve said.

Licensed educators and administra tors must receive annual on-the-job per formance assessment per the statewide public school accountability standards, so Van Cleve said MDE requires school districts to submit PGS data annually as an indicator of educator and administra

Left: Dr. Courtney Van Cleve, director of the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE’s) Division of Educator Talent Acquisi tion and Effectiveness, explains the components of the Mississippi Educator and Administrator Professional Growth System (PGS) and their alignment with public school accountability standards during an informational presentation at the Columbus Municipal School District (CMSD). Middle and Right: Members of the CMSD Future Teachers Club participate in professional development to prepare for their future as educators in Mississippi. MDE’s Office of Educator Effectiveness provided expert advice and direction for the students to better understand and receive the most benefit from the PGS.

tor effectiveness.

In the PGS, educators receive multiple observation and feedback cycles per year, with teachers undergoing three observa tions and administrators undergoing two. Receiving feedback from multiple PGS cycles throughout the year allows educa tors and administrators to continuously refine their instruction and leadership.

With annual PGS data being gathered in each school district, school leaders can better identify opportunities for improve ment on individual, school and district levels. The Columbus Municipal School District (CMSD) has been actively utilizing the PGS from the beginning. Although the initial implementation was challenging, the system has been a game-changer for supporting CMSD educators’ capacity to grow professionally in the art of teaching.

As with any new program or initia tive, growing pains are part of the imple mentation, outcome and feedback cycle, which informs program improvement. As an early adopter of the PGS, CMSD ex

perienced the challenges of getting the growth system functioning smoothly in the early stages of implementation. Once the PGS became more familiar to edu cators and administrators, the district began to see a shift in overall program acceptance and efficiency, ultimately helping school leaders realize the growth system’s potential to help educators take pause and reflect on their daily prac tice with board-approved standards and classroom expectations.

The PGS was so well received by CMSD educators and administrators that the MDE OEE was invited to intro duce the growth system to the district’s Future Teachers Club, a learning expe rience the district felt was essential for preparing the next generation of Mis sissippi educators. The pared-down, informational PGS session acquainted the upper-class high school students with professional development through a continuous improvement model and discussed professional expectations

based on state teaching standards.

PGS feedback does more than just facilitate the growth of educators and administrators across the state. School district feedback to MDE about the PGS framework and its delivery makes the system a continuously evolving program that meets the professional needs of educators and administrators in public schools. According to CMSD, it ultimately helps improve student outcomes.

The PGS is grounded in its mission to help educators reflect on their teaching or administration experience by provid ing observations and continuous feed back that imparts opportunities to grow professionally and become more effective teachers and school leaders. The PGS pro vides growth at every level of school lead ership, and the mentor-like instructional feedback relationship allows administra tors and teachers to work collectively to improve student outcomes.

Parent

OF THE YEAR

Denevan Extends Helping Hand to Support OSD Teachers and Students

Will Graves

The Mississippi Department of Ed ucation (MDE) has named Tara De nevan, a parent in the Oxford School District (OSD), the recipient of the 2022 Mississippi Parent of the Year award.

Denevan and her husband of 17 years, Shane, are the proud parents of son Brody, a upcoming freshman at Oxford High School (OHS), and daughter Lyla, a upcoming fifth grad er at Central Elementary School. The family has been part of the OSD since Brody began pre-kindergarten, and Denevan’s involvement with the dis trict has grown ever since.

As an active parent with children attending two different campuses, managing busy schedules and still finding time to volunteer and be pres ent to support school activities can be a challenge, especially with Brody running on the OHS cross country team and Lyla participating in com petitive dance. No matter how full the family’s personal schedules might become, Denevan said she feels led to help any way she can and appreciates OSD staff for allowing her to give back to the community.

“There’s not really a set title for what I do or even one particular thing I do, I’m just able to be there,” Dene van said. “The OSD strongly encourag es parent involvement, and they have supported me and allowed me to be

2022 Parent of the Year Tara Denevan (center) and husband Shane are the proud parents of Lyla (front left) and Brody (right). As longtime community members of the City of Oxford, the Denevans regularly support the Oxford School District, the University of Mississippi and Ole Miss athletics.

present within the schools. Because of that, I’m able to see the needs first hand and can get things done to help them help more children. Just like anybody, when I see a need I go after it and take care of it. You find a way to help where you can.”

Denevan has served as a substi tute teacher and held many leader ship roles with OSD’s parent teach er organizations (PTOs) throughout the years. With each campus in the district having its own PTO, Dene van was afforded more opportuni

ties to participate in different proj ects and committees at both of her children’s schools.

One service project Denevan cre ated – Charger Christmas Kids – pro vides Christmas gifts to students and families in need. The project started five years ago and has con tinued to grow.

“One of my children was at Oxford Elementary School, and the school counselor came to me and said, ‘Tara, we have 11 kids who I don’t have Christmas gifts for. Is there anything that you can do to help?’,” Denevan explained. “The month before we

had done a big canned food drive for Thanksgiving, and I just asked what all they needed. She said different churches in the community and other organizations would take some kids, but there were 11 that she didn’t have sponsors for, so I said ‘Yes,’ asked for clothing sizes, names and ages, and told her we would figure it out. I just started texting close friends and oth er PTO members, and within two days we had full Christmas wish lists pur chased for these 11 kids.”

Though the project has been a sig nificant undertaking as it has grown, it has become a community effort

in the City of Oxford to ensure every child in the OSD has a happy holiday season. Denevan now has an entire team of parents who help organize the service project, and the Oxford com munity steps up to help shop for chil dren to fulfill their Christmas wishes. Denevan credits the growth and suc cess of Charger Christmas Kids to the support of the Oxford community and the hardworking team of parents who make it all possible.

“Charger Christmas Kids has grown from 11 kids five years ago to over 300 kids this past year. Every year it has grown,” Denevan said. “We’re about to

(From left) Lyla, Tara, Shane and Brody Denevan attend an Ole Miss Football game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.

have seven schools in our school dis trict, but for now we serve all six OSD schools, where counselors, adminis trators and teachers provide us with children’s names and their wish lists. We purchase for every single child in that family, and they are all provid ed with new coats, new shoes, new clothing and sometimes toiletries. We’ve even had people sponsor beds and mattresses. Anything that these children need or want, this communi ty provides for them. If it wasn’t for them, this program and its mission would be nothing.”

With all of the ongoing projects and responsibilities Denevan manag es, she truly enjoys just being around the students, teachers and parents of the OSD. However, she says she wants to use her involvement to show her children the importance of caring for others, extending a helping hand whenever possible and spreading love throughout the community.

“Anytime that I can get in the schools and spend one on one time with the kids is probably my favor ite,” Denevan said. “Through Charger Christmas Kids, I’ve seen my own kids come to me when they notice a class

Top left: Tara and Shane Denevan celebrate son Brody’s (center) academic achievement at an honors ceremony at Oxford Middle School (OMS). Brody was recognized for being add ed to the OMS Principal’s Honor Roll for the 2021-2022 school year. Top middle: Tara and Shane Denevan share a special moment with daughter Lyla (center) after she was named high score champion and earned more awards at a Star Dance Alliance competition. Top right: The Denevan family attends an Ole Miss football game in Oxford. Above: The Oxford School District Charger Christmas Kids volunteers take a quick break from sorting and delivering gifts to highlight the occasion with a group picture. Tara Denevan (front left) credits every member of the team for making the Christmas gift program a success.

mate in need. It makes me proud as a parent to know that they care about others. If none of what I do makes a difference to anyone else, at the

end of the day my children are more aware of the needs of others around them, so I feel I’ve done my job as their mother.”

Mississippi Class of 2021 Improves Advanced Placement Achievement Rate

Mississippi’s graduating class of 2021 achieved a 39.1% qualifying score rate for Advanced Placement (AP) exams, an increase from the previous year’s achievement rate of 38.2%.

AP courses are college-level courses offered by trained high school teachers. Students can earn three college cred its for every AP exam they pass with a qualifying score of 3 or higher.

Among the class of 2021, 18.2% (4,972) of graduates took a total of 10,865 AP exams during their high school expe rience, according to the College Board’s AP Cohort Data Report for Class of 2021 issued today. Though achievement on AP increased, the number of students taking AP exams declined. Among the class of 2020, 20.7% (5,235) of graduates

took a total of 11,526 AP exams.

Though the class of 2021 saw a drop in AP participation, overall, the number of Mississippi students taking AP cours es and passing AP exams have both nearly doubled since 2013.

“AP courses provide students with a rigorous level of learning and help them develop the study skills they need to be successful in college,” said Dr. Car ey Wright, who retired as the state su perintendent of education in June. “The AP experience also helps colleges and universities identify students who can master college-level material.”

Mississippi’s AP policy entitles stu dents who score three or higher on an AP exam to earn at least three college credits at any Mississippi public univer

sity or community college. This policy has the potential to save Mississippi families millions of dollars on college tuition. In Mississippi, public and pri vate high school students earned 5,914 AP® qualifying scores of 3, 4 or 5 in 2021. These scores translate into a potential savings of close to $5.2 million in tuition for students and their families because each qualifying score is worth at least three college credits.

Research shows AP students are bet ter prepared for college and more likely to graduate college in four years than non-AP peers. Students earning college credit can save what they would oth erwise have to pay for another year of college.