Oxford and Lafayette County school districts both received A grades from the Mississippi Department of Education’s accountability grades program.

The rankings, released on Tuesday, are based on accountability results from the 2023-2024 school year.

The Lafayette County School District earned 738 points, the 16th-highest district in the state. Oxford’s overall score was 732, placing it in the top 20 highest districts in the state.

The LCSD received A’s across the board for each school in the district. The individual school scores were: Lafayette High School (799), Lafayette Upper Elementary (454), Lafayette Elementary School (524), and Lafayette Middle School (493).

“After the previous historic year, we wanted to focus on consistency; maintaining the same level of excellence in our
classrooms,” said Superintendent Jay Foster. “We studied and visited many districts known for their continued high scores, and we learned and implemented some techniques in our curriculum and classroom. We are happy to know the effort is paying off.”

In the OSD, Oxford High School (786), Oxford Early Childhood Center (515), Bramlett Elementary (515), Della Davidson (513) and Central Elementary (486) all received A ratings. Oxford Middle School (411) and Oxford Intermediate (423) each received a B.

Each year, schools are given points for their overall performance and growth on statewide tests, as well as a district’s graduation rate. The grades and points awarded to each school and district are determined by several categories, including improvement on state tests from year to year, if students are graduating within four years and how well schools are doing in helping their lowest-achieving students make progress towards proficiency in reading, math, history and science.

Each school is awarded a point total and a letter grade, which are then averaged to determine the overall point total and letter grade for the school district.

In the LCSD, 54.5 percent are proficient in reading, 72.9 percent are proficient in math, 85.8 percent are proficient in history and 75.1 percent are proficient in science. Lafayette’s graduation rate is 89.6%.

In the Oxford School District, 62.1 percent of students are proficient in reading, 69.4 percent are proficient in math, 85.5 percent are proficient in history and 73.3 percent in science according to the MDE’s standards. Oxford’s graduation rate is 90.4%.

“I am incredibly proud to share that Oxford School District remains an A district—an achievement we’ve maintained every year since the current accountability model has been in existence,” said OSD Superintendent Bradley Roberson. “Since the pandemic, our students and staff have achieved remarkable gains, with ELA proficiency increasing by 12.1%, math proficiency rising by 13.7%, science proficiency improving by 7.1%, and history proficiency showing an outstanding increase of 27.1%.

“These results demonstrate the power of continuous improvement and the unwavering commitment of our educators to meet the needs of every student. Despite challenges such as a 28.1% poverty rate and the increasing diversity of student needs, including those receiving specialized services, our district’s accountability score has increased each year. I believe the best is yet to come as we continue to build on these gains and strive for excellence for all students.”

Statewide student assessment data make up a large part of accountability grades. In 2023-24, the overall percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced reached an all-time high in mathematics, English Language Arts and science.

The components of the state’s accountability system are based on state and federal law and State Board policy.

They include:

• Student proficiency and growth rates in ELA and Mathematics in grades 3-8
• Growth of the lowest performing 25% of students in ELA and Mathematics
• Science proficiency in grades 5 and 8
• English Learner progress toward becoming proficient in the English language
• Performance on the ACT and high school Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History assessments
• Student participation and performance in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education programs and dual credit/dual enrollment courses
• Four-year graduation rate