ALABAMA (WKRG) — The Alabama Department of Education has released its annual report, which details student performance in terms of academic achievement, academic growth, and graduation rate, while providing a look at proficiency in multiple school subjects.
WKRG looked at how Mobile County Public Schools students performed in the 2021-22 school year and compared it to the last school year, 2018-19, that was not impacted by COVID-19.
MCPS students received an overall score of 80 for the 2021-22 school year, a few points down from the 83 overall score after the 2018-19 school year. No total score was reported for 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The website states, “Due to the impact of COVID-19, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) issued a waiver to Alabama on June 9, 2021, waiving its obligation to report accountability results for the 2020-2021 school year. “
The site also gives a full breakdown of how each calculation is calculated.
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement reflects test scores for students in classes taking statewide tests. Third through eighth graders take tests in reading and math, while fourth, sixth, eighth, and eleventh graders take a science test in addition to reading and math.
academic growth
Academic growth is a measure of how students are progressing from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Comparing the two years of WKRG, students in the 2020-21 school year saw greater growth than previous years.
completion rate
The graduation rate also seems to be rising steadily. No numbers were provided for 2019-20 or 2020-21, but MCPS has seen approximately a two-point increase in completion rates. It is a measure of the proportion of students who graduate with a diploma after entering high school as ninth graders.
Another interesting calculation is “chronic absenteeism,” which is determined by “the percentage of students in grades K-12 who have missed a total of 18 or more days (excused or unexcused) of enrolled time.” In Mobile County it is 30.93. For the state of Alabama, it is 17.86.
Skills in art, math and science of the English language were also taught. This is calculated from the “percentage of students with valid results in the state evaluation of the ELA [math, science] who score in proficiency levels three or four.”
From the 2018/19 to 2021/22 school year, knowledge in all three subjects fell significantly. The percentages for each and two school years are as follows:
ELA
| 2018-19 | 2021-22 |
| 39.38% | 41.05% |
mathematics
| 2018-19 | 2021-22 |
| 43.11% | 20.66% |
Science
| 2018-19 | 2021-22 |
| 36.99% | 33.72% |
In the 2018-19 school year, MCPS had 85 schools with 54,229 students. According to the 2021-22 report, MCPS increased by one school (86) while around 3,000 students were lost for a total of 51,658.
The state of Alabama received an 84(B) grade for the 2021-22 school year with a 90.68 graduation rate. Since letter-quality transcripts became available in 2017, the state has received grades of 79, 80, 84, and this year, an 84. You can see how your child’s school has fared from year to year on the state website.
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