As he slowly transitions out of office, interim State Superintendent of Education Dr. John Jordan spoke to the Laurel Leader-Call editorial board Wednesday about the new state accountability rating system among other matters.

It was announced Tuesday that Tom Burnham, who previously held the post in the mid-1990s, would succeed Dr. Hank Bounds as superintendent. Burnham, currently dean of the School of Education at the University of Mississippi, will be in his new role by the end of the year.

Jordan, himself a longtime state education leader, called the appointment of Burnham a “good move.”

“He’s very experienced and well respected,” Jordan said. “It’s great news because he won’t have to relearn the system. It’s an unyielding system, and the learning curve will not be as steep.”

But, it didn’t take long for Jordan to get to the matter at hand —the public education system in the state of Mississippi.

While noting that a recent cut in funding was a “critical issue,” Jordan said community support was even more important.

“When there’s a lack of support, the effectiveness of the schools fall, the school goes down and the community goes down,” he said, noting he’s seen it in areas across Mississippi. “Those little towns died because the public schools died.”

Jordan said a lack of resources “makes it more difficult, but we have to start focusing on getting back to what’s important.” He noted that improving underperforming schools and helping teach every child to read by the third grade are on that list.

Jordan said a way to help improve the schools is by introducing a new accountability plan. While formerly schools were ranked on a Level 1 through Level 5 basis, they will now receive different labels including:

• Star School

• High Performing

• Successful

• Academic Watch

• Low Performing

• At-Risk of Failing

• Failing

“”Over time, this will be as easy to understand as the numbers,” Jordan said. “It was easy to say you were a Level 5 school. Everyone knew what that meant.”

In the same respect, everyone will understand what a Star School is versus a Failing school, he added.

“(Under the previous accountability system), Mississippi kids were measured against other Mississippi kids,” he said. “It was based on the lower standard curriculum we had in the state of Mississippi.”

Jordan said that come the state board’s approval on Nov. 19, school children in Mississippi will now be measured against others in the nation.

“Schools that enjoyed a Level 4 or 5 status will now not have that set bar at that level,” he said. “But, my time in education has taught me that children can rise to meet that national standard.”

Jordan said schools that have previously performed well on state accountability will now have to work a little harder. He noted that only two school districts, one in Northeast Mississippi and one on the Gulf Coast, had received Star status.

“The curriculum is more rigorous,” he said, adding that the new tests will require more critical thinking versus knowledge of trivial facts.

According to information provided, the new accountability rating system will follow a simple formula called the Quality of Distribution Index (QDI). The formula is: QDI = % Basic + (2 X % Proficient) + (3 X % Advanced).

That result will include the number of students who score basic on the test, plus two times the number of those who score proficient, plus three times the number of those who score advanced. A scale between 0 and 300.

If the school or district meets appropriate academic gain, that will also be acknowledged in their rating so that if a school or district scores below 100, they are failing or, if they meet the appropriate academic gain, low performing.

The rest of the system is as follows:

• 100-132 (At Risk Of Failing, Academic Watch)

• 133-165 (Academic Watch, Successful)

• 166-199 (Successful, High Performing)

• 200-300 (High Performing, Star School/District)

Jordan noted that the high school completion index would also be factored in with Successful, High Performing and Star districts needing a graduation rate of 75 percent or higher.

“It’s not an unachievable goal, and it will be phased in over a four year period,” he said. “For those who are near the top now, there will be new bar to reach each year for four years. After four years, you can measure yourself against any school in the country.”

Jordan said it’s a very different model that “is shining a new light on where we are.”

“Successful is good,” he said. “High Performing is unbelievably good and something you should be so very proud of because it’s very hard to achieve.”

Jordan noted that this model was “more realistic” than the No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) model.

Set to leave office at the end of the year, Jordan said he has “100 days to tell people what I’ve been thinking for 35 years.”

Jordan said he was a senior at Yazoo City High School in 1970 when the public school was desegregated following Christmas break.

“It’s been one of the great social changes and process changes that has ever taken place,” he said. “It’s been distracting on education in a sense, but it’s the only place in society that has tried it.”

Jordan said those color barriers, which he believes still exist in church and business, must be broken in order to keep the public education system alive.

“Only a united community can demand excellence,” he said. “We don’t need more money. We need equity in the community. We need everyone to start pulling in the same direction or these little towns in Mississippi will continue to struggle.”

Jordan said there is also a disconnect between K-12 education and the community college or university level. He said he believes there should be a redesign on the high school level to “erase the stigma we live with” between the two educational paths.

“Everybody wants preschool education,” he said. “We should have school from ages 4 to 16. At age 16, students can receive a standard diploma. If they want to go to a very difficult four-year school, during that last year, there should be rigorous, top notch learning for children. We should also connect those students with technical and workforce development skills at the community college.”

When asked about extending the school year, Jordan noted that some students could excel at 90 days while others need 240 days.

“During the first 30 days (of the school year), we should give our teachers the best, most knowledge, research-based training,” he said. “Then, students could learn more in 150 days than in the old system’s 180 days.”