Vicksburg’s public schools will receive their first ratings in two years Monday, as the state’s new educational accountability system is unveiled.

The new system, which uses seven descriptive terms to rate the schools’ and the district’s performance, replaces the numbered levels, from 1 to 5, that had been in use since 2003.

The results

The Vicksburg Warren School District’s ratings will be published Monday in The Vicksburg Post.

It rates schools in terms of academic success and competitiveness nationally, whereas the old system measured schools against others in Mississippi.

It “is like the difference between competing for a state championship and a national championship,” said newly-appointed Mississippi Superintendent of Education Dr. Tom Burnham in a statement Nov. 12. “It is just like Ole Miss and MSU football competing for state bragging rights compared to competing for national bragging rights. There’s a big difference!”

The new ratings are Star, High Performing, Successful, Academic Watch, At-Risk of Failing, Low Performing and Failing.

Results for the Vicksburg Warren School District will be published in The Vicksburg Post Monday.

The system for rating schools was revised to go along with tougher curriculum and standardized tests put into place by the Department of Education and local schools districts two years ago to more closely align Mississippi educational demands with national expectations.

Students were tested in 2008, but schools were not rated because growth from one year to the next is part of the rating system. Other factors are student test scores and high school graduation rates.

Burnham cautioned that, in the national arena, many Mississippi schools will not at first see the middle-to-high ratings they formerly saw.

Where more than 50 percent of schools formerly were rated Level 4 or 5 — the highest levels — only about 4 percent of the state’s schools are expected to see Star ratings, with another 17 percent reaching High Performing. About 20 percent are expected to be rated Successful, a mark that puts them at about the national average.

Ratings will improve over time, Burnham predicted.

“While recognizing the difference between the old accountability ratings and these new ratings is important, it is more important for us to rally behind our ‘team’ of students, teachers and administrators and help them strive for the new goals the State Board of Education has set for our state,” Burnham said. “Rising to this challenge will require hard work, but the future of our students and our state are well worth it.”

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By Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com